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https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2019/03/26/endangered-species-matter/

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Why Endangered Species Matter

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was established in 1973 to protect "imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend" and help them recover.

The Trump administration has put forth a number of proposals that would weaken the ESA. These include measures to allow for the consideration of economic impacts when enforcing the ESA, ending the practice of automatically giving threatened species the same protection as endangered species, and making it easier to remove species from the endangered list.

In a way, this is nothing new because the ESA has been under attack for decades from construction, development, logging, water management, fossil fuel extraction and other industries that contend the act stifles economic development. But between 2016 and 2018 alone, there were almost 150 attempts to undercut the ESA; and last year, from July 8 to 22, Republicans in Congress or the Trump administration introduced 24 such measures and spending bill riders.

These bills included efforts to remove the gray wolf's protected status in Wyoming and the western Great Lakes; a plan to remove from the endangered list the American burying beetle that lives on oil-rich land; and a strategy to roll back protection of the sage-grouse, which also inhabits oil-rich land in the West and whose numbers have declined 90 percent since the West was first settled. The Trump Administration recently opened up nine million acres of sage-grouse habitat to drilling and mining.

Endangered species, if not protected, could eventually become extinct-and extinction has a myriad of implications for our food, water, environment and even health.
Extinction rates are accelerating
Ninety-nine percent of all species that have ever lived have gone extinct over the course of five mass extinctions, which, in the past, were largely a result of natural causes such as volcano eruptions and asteroid impacts. Today, the rate of extinction is occurring 1,000 to 10,000 times faster because of human activity. The main modern causes of extinction are the loss and degradation of habitat (mainly deforestation), over exploitation (hunting, overfishing), invasive species, climate change, and nitrogen pollution.

There are also other threats to species such as the pervasive plastic pollution in the ocean-a recent study found that 100 percent of sea turtles had plastic or microplastic in their systems.

Emerging diseases affecting more and more wildlife species such as bats, frogs and salamanders are the result of an increase in travel and trade, which allows pests and pathogens to hitch rides to new locations, and warming temperatures that enable more pests to survive and spread. Wildlife trafficking also continues to be a big problem because for some species, the fewer members there are, the more valuable they become to poachers and hunters.
How many species are endangered?
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, over 26,500 species are in danger of extinction. This includes 40 percent of amphibians, 34 percent of conifers, 33 percent of reef-building corals, 25 percent of mammals and 14 percent of birds. In the U.S., over 1,600 species are listed as threatened or endangered.

A 2018 report by the Endangered Species Coalition found that ten species in particular are "imperiled" by the Trump administration's proposals: California condor, giraffe, Hellbender salamander, Humboldt marten, leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles, red wolf, rusty patched bumble bee,

San Bernardino kangaroo rat, West Indian manatee, and Western yellow-billed cuckoo.
The web of life
While it may seem unimportant if we lose one salamander or rat species, it matters because all species are connected through their interactions in a web of life. A balanced and biodiverse ecosystem is one in which each species plays an important role and relies on the services provided by other species to survive. Healthy ecosystems are more productive and resistant to disruptions.

A recent study found that extreme environmental change could trigger an "extinction domino effect." One of the study's authors said, "Because all species are connected in the web of life, our paper demonstrates that even the most tolerant species ultimately succumb to extinction when the less-tolerant species on which they depend disappear." So saving one species means saving its habitat and the other species that live there too.

"When you lose one species, it affects the ecosystem and everything around it gets a little bit more fragile while it adapts to change," said Kelsey Wooddell, assistant director of the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability. "Even if it's not a keystone species [a species that others in an ecosystem depend on], its loss will weaken the functionality of the entire ecosystem, which just makes it easier for that ecosystem to stop working."
What are the consequences of extinction? Altering ecosystems through cascading effects
If a species has a unique function in its ecosystem, its loss can prompt cascading effects through the food chain (a "trophic cascade"), impacting other species and the ecosystem itself.

An often-cited example is the impact of the wolves in Yellowstone Park, which were hunted to near extinction by 1930. Without them, the elk and deer they had preyed upon thrived, and their grazing decimated streamside willows and aspens, which had provided habitat for songbirds. This left the stream banks susceptible to erosion, and a decline in songbirds allowed mosquitoes and other insects the birds would have eaten to multiply. When the wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995, they once again preyed on the elk; plant life returned to the stream banks and along with it, birds, beavers, fish and other animals. (Note: David Bernhardt, acting secretary of the Department of the Interior, just announced a proposal to strip gray wolves of their endangered status in the Lower 48 states.)

Kelp forests are another classic example. They play an important role in coastal ecosystems because they provide habitat for other species, protect the coastline from storm surges and absorb carbon dioxide.

Yet kelp forests are rapidly getting mowed down by exploding numbers of purple sea urchin. California sea otters eat the purple sea urchins that feed on giant kelp. These otters used to number in the hundreds of thousands to millions, but their population has been reduced to about 3,000 as a result of unchecked hunting in the 19th century and pollution. Moreover, in 2013 the sunflower starfish, which also eats purple sea urchins, began dying because of a virus that was likely exacerbated by warmer waters. Without the sea otter and the sunflower starfish predators, the purple sea urchin began feasting on the kelp forests, which declined 93 percent between 2013 and 2018. (A new study found that kelp forests are now also threatened by ocean heat waves.) The explosion of sea urchins not only damaged the kelp ecosystem, it also had serious impacts on Northern California's red urchins that are valued for sushi. Fish that need the kelp forests for spawning, such as sculpin, rock cod and red snapper may become vulnerable in the future as well.

As another example, Wooddell explained that on Guam, after the invasive brown tree snake was accidentally introduced to the island in the 1950s, 10 of the island's 12 endemic bird species went extinct. "Typically birds eat seeds and spread seeds elsewhere on the island but that is no longer a functioning ecosystem," she said. "So the forest and the trees have decreased a lot. And Guam is covered in spiders because the birds are not there to eat them."
Losing apex species has multiple effects
Eliminating the large predators at the top of the food chain, the "apex species," may be humans' most serious impact on nature, according to one study. These large species are more vulnerable because they live longer, reproduce more slowly, have small populations, and need more food and a greater habitat area. Scientists say their loss has played a role in pandemics, fires, the decline of valued species and the rise of invasive ones, the reduction of ecosystem services, and decreased carbon sequestration.

Elephants are an apex species that may go extinct in our lifetime, as a result of tourism, habitat loss and poaching for ivory. This could dramatically change ecosystems in Africa and Asia. Through consumption and digestion, elephants disperse more seeds farther than any other animals; this fosters the growth of plants and trees that birds, bats and other animals depend upon for food and shelter.

Elephants also dig water holes that all animals share, and they fertilize the soil with their rich dung, which provides food for other animals.

The loss of apex species can also affect wildfires. After rinderpest, an infectious virus, wiped out many plant-eating wildebeest and buffalo in East Africa in the late 1800s, plants flourished. During the dry season, this over-abundance of vegetation spurred an increase in wildfires. In the 1960s, after rinderpest was eliminated through vaccinations, the wildebeest and buffalo returned. The ecosystem went from shrubbery to grasslands again, decreasing the amount of combustible vegetation, and the wildfires decreased.
Jeopardizing pollination
Seventy-five percent of the world's food crops are partially or completely pollinated by insects and other animals, and practically all flowering plants in the tropical rainforest are pollinated by animals. The loss of pollinators could result in a decrease in seed and fruit production, leading ultimately to the extinction of many important plants.

Flying foxes, also known as fruit bats, are the only pollinators of some rainforest plants. They have been over-hunted in tropical forests with several species going extinct. One study noted that 289 plant species, including eucalyptus and agave, rely on flying foxes to reproduce; in turn, these plants were responsible for producing 448 valuable products.

Bees pollinate over 250,000 species of plants, including most of the 87 crops that humans rely on for food, such as almonds, apples and cucumbers.

But in recent years, large populations of bees have been wiped out by the mysterious "colony collapse disorder" wherein adult honeybees disappear from their hive, likely in response to numerous stressors.

Over the last 20 years in the U.S., monarch butterflies, which pollinate many wildflowers, have decreased 90 percent. The rusty-patched bumble bee, another important pollinator and the first bee species to be put on the endangered list, now only occupies one percent of its former range.

Insect populations overall are declining due to climate change, habitat degradation, herbicides and pesticides. A 2014 review of insect studies found that most monitored species had decreased by about 45 percent. And a German study found 75 percent fewer flying insects after just 27 years. As insect populations are reduced, the small animals, fish and birds that rely on them for food are being affected, and eventually the predators of fish and birds will feel the impacts as well. One entomologist who had studied insects in the rainforest in the 1970s returned in 2010 to find an up to 60-fold reduction. His study reported "a bottom-up trophic cascade and consequent collapse of the forest food web."
Endangering the food chain
Plankton, tiny plant and animal organisms that live in the ocean or fresh water, make up the foundation of the marine food chain. Phytoplankton are critical to the health of oceans and the planet because they consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen during photosynthesis.

In 2010, researchers found that phytoplankton had decreased 40 percent globally since 1950, and attributed the decline to rising sea surface temperatures. The scientists speculated that the warming surface waters did not mix well with the cooler, deeper waters rich in nutrients that phytoplankton need. In addition, zooplankton are very sensitive to slight changes in the amount of oxygen in the ocean, and may be unable to adapt as areas of low oxygen expand due to climate change.

The quantity and quality of plankton also affects the nutrition of other creatures further up the food chain. In the Mediterranean Sea, the biomass of sardines and anchovies declined by one-third in just ten years. One scientist speculated that this is because the sardines' and anchovies' normal plankton had disappeared, so they had to resort to eating a less nutritious species of plankton with fewer calories. Changes in plankton quality could be a result of water temperature, pollution or lack of nutrients, but scientists are not exactly sure why the plankton makeup in some places is changing. If it is due to global warming and pollution, some say the situation could worsen.

However, Sonya Dyhrman, a professor in Columbia University's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences who studies phytoplankton with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is more sanguine about the future. "Microbes like phytoplankton can adapt, can acclimate, and can evolve, so I worry less about lineages of phytoplankton going extinct and more about how phytoplankton community composition will change in the future ocean," said Dyhrman.

A different community composition of phytoplankton could change the food web structure, but Dyhrman is not really worried about the total collapse of fisheries. She is concerned, however, that "there could be changes in ocean ecosystems and we don't really know what those changes will be. What will the architecture of that ecosystem look like in the future? The problem is, the ocean is already changing and we don't understand the architecture of the ecosystem right now well enough to predict what will happen in the future."
Losing nature's therapeutic riches
More than a quarter of prescription medications contain chemicals that were discovered through plants or animals. Penicillin was derived from a fungus. Scientists are studying the venom of some tarantulas to see if one of its compounds could help cure diseases such as Parkinson's. One molecule from a rare marine bacterium could be the basis of a new way to treat to melanoma.

Scientists have so far identified about 1.7 million different types of organisms, but between 10 and 50 million species are thought to exist on Earth.

Who knows what substances or capabilities some of these species might possess that could help treat diseases and make human lives easier?
Destroying livelihoods
According to a study for the U.N., the continued loss of species could cost the world 18 percent of global economic output by 2050.

Already, a number of industries have been economically impacted by species loss. The collapse of bee populations has hurt many in the $50 billion-a-year global honey industry. Atlantic cod in the waters off of Newfoundland formed the basis of the local economy since the 15 th century - until overfishing the cod destroyed the livelihoods of local fishermen.
What you can do about extinction
Extinction is hard to see. We may not realize how much of the natural world has been lost because the "baseline" shifts with every generation. Past generations would regard what we see as natural today as terribly damaged, and what we see as damaged today, our children will view as natural.

Wooddell believes the most important thing one can do is to put pressure on Congress and elected leaders to create land management, pollution and other sustainable policies that will protect biodiversity and the environment. However, because it's unlikely that these kinds of top-down policies will be instituted in the current political climate, she recommends mobilizing grassroots community groups to create "bottom-up" policies.

Here are some other things you can do to protect endangered species and prevent extinction:

Eat less meat. Soybean production is one of the main causes of deforestation, and most soybean meal is used for animal feed.

Buy organic food because organic farmers use only non-synthetic or natural pesticides on their crops. Synthetic pesticides may be toxic for other organisms.

Choose sustainable seafood. The Marine Stewardship Council provides a list of certified sustainable fish for responsible eating.

Compost food waste. In New York City, the compost is used for urban farming and gardening, which provide habitat for pollinators.

Buy wood and paper products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, to ensure they're harvested from responsibly managed forests.

Don't buy products made from endangered or threatened species, such as tortoise shell, ivory, coral, some animal skins, and "traditional" medicines.

Be aware of the source of palm oil used in countless food and cosmetic products. Many tropical forests are being razed for palm oil plantations. If a product contains palm oil, make sure it's from a deforestation-free plantation.

Reduce your use of plastic.

If you have a garden, plant native shrubs and flowers that attract butterflies and other pollinators. Milkweed is particularly helpful for monarch butterflies.

Set up a beehive.

Diversify your diet. Eating these 50 foods will promote biodiversity and a healthier plant.

Support and get involved with organizations that are helping endangered animals.

Join the Center for Biological Diversity and use their Take-Action Toolboxes.

Correction: This post was updated on April 3, 2019 to remove a sentence about cownose rays devastating scallop populations off of North Carolina. It turns out that other studies have challenged those findings.

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The Endangered Species Act is under attack. If we don't protect endangered species, their extinction will impact our food, water, environment and health.

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https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-endangered-species-act

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16 U.S.C. §1531 et seq. (1973)

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The lead federal agencies for implementing ESA are

The law requires federal agencies, in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and/or the NOAA Fisheries Service, to ensure that actions they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat of such species. The law also prohibits any action that causes a "taking" of any listed species of endangered fish or wildlife. Likewise, import, export, interstate, and foreign commerce of listed species are all generally prohibited.

Endangered Species and EPA

The Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) implements key portions of the Endangered Species Act. OPP regulates the use of all pesticides in the United States and establishes maximum levels for pesticide residues in food, thereby safeguarding the nation's food supply.

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support delivery of services > public affairs > official information dissemination > public information & outreach > provide public information

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Summary of the Endangered Species Act | US EPA

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The Endangered Species Act focuses on conserving threatened and endangered plants and animals. One way EPA helps protect endangered species is through regulating the use of pesticides, and establishing maximum levels for pesticide residues in food.

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https://www.npr.org/2021/10/22/1048492610/poachers-killed-african-elephants-for-their-tusks-so-elephants-stopped-growing-t

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During the Mozambican civil war, both sides financed their efforts by poaching elephants for ivory. Now, scientists say that drove some elephants to evolve tusklessness.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Our next story begins in a place many of us are familiar with - up awake, watching a YouTube video at 3 in the morning. That's where Princeton evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton found himself a few years ago.

SHANE CAMPBELL-STATON: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute - they had this video that was called "The Tuskless Elephants Of Gorongosa." And I was like, ooh, what's this?

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

Gorongosa - that's a national park in Mozambique.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Some elephant populations seem to be missing their tusks.

CORNISH: You see; while most African elephants have tusks, some female African elephants are born without them and never grow them.

MCCAMMON: But the number of tuskless elephants was multiplying in Mozambique during and after the country's decades-long civil war, which ended in 1992.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Large-tusked elephants in Gorongosa were killed for their ivory, which was sold to buy arms and ammunition.

MCCAMMON: Around 90% of the elephants there were killed, but many female elephants without tusks survived and thrived.

CORNISH: Campbell-Staton had heard all of this before.

CAMPBELL-STATON: But then I realized that there wasn't actually a lot of empirical data about what the response was from, you know, what the genetic basis of the trait was. Was it genetically inherited at all?

CORNISH: So he made some calls and assembled a team.

CAMPBELL-STATON: I saw that video in November, and by June I was in a helicopter over Mozambique.

MCCAMMON: Campbell-Staton and his team worked with local researchers who had tracked elephants for decades. They found that the tuskless trait was genetic, found in the X chromosome, and it was deadly in males. So if a tuskless mom had babies...

CAMPBELL-STATON: She has a 50% chance of passing the trait on to her offspring. So 50% of her daughters will be tusked. Fifty percent will be tuskless. Fifty percent of her sons will be tusked, but that other 50% would die.

CORNISH: The upshot, which they published this week in the journal Science, is that females without tusks are pretty likely to have tuskless babies, which is why the trait was becoming so prevalent.

FANIE PELLETIER: It's one of the most detailed example of how human activity can influence the genes of a population.

CORNISH: That's Fanie Pelletier, a wildlife biologist in Canada who wasn't involved in the work.

PELLETIER: The reason why that's important is because if you stop the killing right now, you know, the time it would take for the population to, you know, restore that traits would be much longer now that there's been a change in the genes than if it wasn't.

MCCAMMON: Those changes can ripple through ecosystems. Campbell-Staton points out that other species in Gorongosa rely on elephants having tusks to dig up holes for water and strip bark from trees.

CAMPBELL-STATON: You know, people during the Mozambican Civil War were not thinking about the evolution of elephants, I imagine, in the slightest. You know, yet those actions - right? - during that 15-year period had all these cascading consequences, all the way up from, you know, a single gene to an entire ecosystem health.

CORNISH: Consequences that are still continuing nearly 30 years after the war.

(SOUNDBITE OF INSTUPENDO'S "LIGHT LOCK")

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Poachers killed African elephants for their tusks. So elephants stopped growing them

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During the Mozambican civil war, both sides financed their efforts by poaching elephants for ivory. Now, scientists say that drove some elephants to evolve tusklessness. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Our next story begins in a place many of us are familiar with - up awake, watching a YouTube video at 3 in the morning.

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https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2021/05/28/rip-harambe-twitter-reactss-cincinnati-gorilla-5-years-later/7479869002/

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Five years, 1,825 days and (almost) 3 million minutes.

That's how long Harambe the gorilla has been gone. He was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden by an emergency response team protecting a 3-year-old boy who fell into his exhibit.

His death sparked controversy and Harambe soon became a social media icon. And Twitter still hasn't forgotten him.
A look back: Harambe's strange, surprising second life
Here's a look at what happened to the gorilla five years ago:

When did Harambe die?

Harambe died on May 28, 2016. He was 17 years old, and had celebrated his birthday the day before.

How did Harambe die?

The gorilla was shot and killed after a 3-year-old boy fell into Gorilla World at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Zoo President Thane Maynard had previously said the child crawled through a barrier and fell an estimated 10 to 12 feet into the moat surrounding the habitat.

Harambe grabbed the boy and dragged him around. The child was with the animal for about 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team deemed the situation "life-threatening," Maynard said.

"The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he's gone," Maynard said. "We've never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency situation."

Why was Harambe killed?

Fearing for the child's life, the zoo's response team shot and killed Harambe, according to Maynard.
Where the gorillas live: Two years after the killing of Harambe, Zoo redoubled efforts to save gorillas in the wild
Maynard said though Harambe didn't attack the child, the animal's size and strength posed a great danger.

"In an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect," he said. "At the instant he would be hit, he would have a dramatic response."

What happened to the child who fell into Harambe's enclosure?

The 3-year-old child who fell into Harambe's enclosure was hospitalized for a short period of time but escaped from the incident relatively unscathed.
A closer look: Who was Harambe?
Family: Boy who fell into gorilla exhibit 'doing just fine

The 450-pound silverback western lowland gorilla is nearly impossible to forget - the internet has made sure of that. We've seen him immortalized on baseball jerseys, honored on Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer's cleats and celebrated on an Elon Musk musical track.

And, as always, Harambe is trending on Twitter on the anniversary of his death. Here's a look at some of the top posts:

Gone, but never forgotten

The beginning of the end

RIP Harambe

Legends never die

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Remembering Harambe: Cincinnati Zoo gorilla 5 years after his death

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Five years, 1,825 days and (almost) 3 million minutes. That's how long Harambe the gorilla has been gone. He was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden by an emergency response team protecting a 3-year-old boy who fell into his exhibit. His death sparked controversy and Harambe soon became a social media icon.

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/endangered-species-1

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The United States's Endangered Species Act (ESA), signed into law in 1973, has helped revive the populations of nearly 300 species.

The ESA protects animals that are classified under federal law as "endangered"-at risk of going extinct-and "threatened"-at risk of being endangered.

2023 marks the ESA's 50th anniversary. In half a century, the law has created legal pathways for federal and local governments to work together to save species such as the bald eagle, the American alligator, the Florida manatee, and the peregrine falcon.

Most recently, the wolverine, a type of weasel, was added to the ESA because its existence is threatened by climate change and the loss of its habitat.

Here's how the ESA works, and why conservationists say it's more important than ever.

How endangered species are protected

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service are the two government agencies primarily responsible for implementing the ESA.

To award a species ESA protection, these agencies take into consideration destruction to a species' habitat, whether it has been over-consumed, threats from disease or predation, whether human actions put it in danger, and any policies currently protecting it.

A federally protected species is typically listed with a "critical habitat" designation that outlines where ecosystems should be left untouched. The law also requires a research and management plan be formed to monitor a species' population.

It is illegal under the ESA to capture, hunt, shoot, or otherwise harm an animal that's listed as endangered or threatened.

Conservation successes

Bald eagles are a poster child for the ESA and just one of the species to have seen tremendous population growth through conservation. In the 1960s, only about 500 bald eagles existed in the continental U.S. The birds ate fish infected with the pesticide DDT that was found in waterways. This chemical interfered with their ability to produce eggshells strong enough to hatch their young.

Captive breeding programs, habitat protection, and a ban on DDT helped restore bald eagle populations. Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates more than 300,000 bald eagles live in the U.S.

The ESA also played a critical role in restoring populations of American alligators. After facing threats to their habitat and being excessively hunted, there only an estimated 100,000 individuals thought to exist across the South. Today, there are over a million, and the alligator was removed from the endangered species list in 1987.

Some species status on the endangered species list is unclear-as populations rebound, many are facing intensifying threats from habitat loss or climate change.

The whooping crane, North America's tallest bird, can only be found in the U.S and Canada. It's thought 10,000 once existed in a habitat that spanned from the Great Plains to the Gulf Coast. In 1941, just 21 cranes were still alive. Today, the population is over 500 and listed as endangered, but scientists are debating whether it should be reclassified as threatened, a move that would loosen restrictions on habitats some scientists argue are increasingly at risk.

Conservation challenges

Critics have argued that the act is expensive and ineffective because it protects over 1,300 species. Several federal courts have heard and rejected arguments that the ESA is unconstitutional. Members of Congress have tried to weaken the law, and spending cuts to federal agencies have limited how effectively scientists can monitor species' health.

In October 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially removed 21 species from the ESA, saying they were likely extinct. Many had been added to the endangered species list in 1973 and may have already been extinct at the time they were listed.

One species, the ivory-billed woodpecker, was last seen in 1944 but remains a hotly debated scientific mystery. Initially considered for delisting, the bird remains on the list as scientists continue to debate its survival.

The ESA remains critical for protecting endangered species. Studies show the rate of extinction is increasing around the world. Nearly a third of plants and 40 percent of animals in the U.S. are existentially threatened, according to research done by the environmental group NatureServe.

In a press release announcing the 21 presumed extinct species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service highlighted the important role the ESA plays of protecting species "before declines become irreversible."

National Geographic Explorer Joel Sartore photographed these Galliformes as part of the National Geographic Photo Ark. Learn more at natgeophotoark.org

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From bald eagles to alligators, this historic conservation bill has helped save iconic American species from extinction for 50 years.

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/what-happens-when-captive-us-elephants-live-alone

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On a raw December day, as Christmas music blares over loudspeakers, an African elephant named Asha walks in tight circles in an enclosure at Natural Bridge Zoo, a roadside attraction in Virginia. Her living quarters consist of a barn and three outdoor yards-a fenced patch of grass about 90 by 40 feet, a dirt patch with a few logs scattered about, and a yard where she gives rides to children for $15 and her massive feet have worn a ring into the grass. Her space is barren-no shrubs, trees, or watering holes.

Elephants, like humans, are social animals. In the wild, females typically live in herds of eight or more, yet Asha, who's nearly 40 years old, has been confined mostly alone for more than 30 years.

Three decades ago and thousands of miles away, an inmate entered solitary confinement in California's Pelican Bay State Prison, in Crescent City, California. He had no documented psychiatric problems when they locked him in the 80-square-foot room, barren except for a toilet, a sink, and a bed.

The prisoner spent more than 22 hours a day for several months in the white, concrete cell, lit by the glow of an overhead fluorescent light. Within weeks, a prison psychiatrist noted that he couldn't sleep. He was haunted by a desire to kill someone-or himself. During one hallucinatory episode, he repeatedly kicked the cell door. He said "entities" were visiting him. "I can see them through the walls, black evil," he said. "I fear I'm going to die."

In 1993, inmates at Pelican Bay filed a class action lawsuit against the prison over what they alleged were inhumane conditions. Federal judge Thelton Henderson agreed. He ruled that prison officials had violated the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, in part because of the suffering inflicted by solitary confinement. Inmates "can go weeks, months or potentially years with little or no opportunity for normal social contact with other people," Henderson wrote. During a tour of the prison, he noted that "some inmates spend time simply pacing around the edges of the pen; the image created is hauntingly similar to that of caged felines pacing in a zoo."

Decades of research indicates that anyone who spends more than 10 days in involuntary solitude suffers at least some emotional, cognitive, social, and physical health effects, ranging from trouble sleeping to panic attacks and hallucinations. Neuroscientist Bob Jacobs of Colorado College, who has studied both human and animal brains, says other social mammals may react similarly. "In general, all mammals follow the same basic blueprints in terms of brain structure and function," he says.

In the United States, at least nine elephants now live alone-in unaccredited roadside businesses such as Natural Bridge Zoo and in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). In some facilities with lone elephants, their handlers believe they're better off alone, but in others, the elephants show signs of stress and depression.

"From everything we know about the brain, there's no reason to think that an elephant brain would react any differently to solitary confinement than a human brain," Jacobs says. For better or for worse, he says, brains of all types are designed for specific environments, and they're sensitive to changes in those environments.

Natural Bridge Zoo owner Karl Mogensen says Asha has a good life at the zoo. "She was a product of a culling operation in '85," he says. "She's what we call a family elephant-totally bonded to us and the people [here], has a tremendously good life ... We're very comfortable with the way we take care of her." She has constant attention and "beautiful facilities," he adds. "Yes, she is solitary, but she's a family pet."

On its Facebook page, the zoo has positioned itself in opposition to "radical" animal groups who would take Asha away. "In a perfect world, she would be in Africa, FREE," the zoo wrote in June 2018. "But because of the ivory trade, poaching, and deforestation, these incredible animals face certain destruction." (African elephants are endangered, mainly because of poaching.)

In a recent review of scientific literature, Jacobs hypothesizes how sparse, captive environments affect large-brained mammals such as elephants. Of course, elephants are difficult to study: "You don't want to have a laboratory animal that's capable of killing you," he says. Scientists can't create controlled experiments for such large animals in a laboratory, and they can't put them in an MRI scanner and take a look inside their massive skulls. As a result, Jacobs says his research is a matter of extrapolating based on the conditions that elephants live in and how other animals' brains respond to stress and different environments.

Few laws or regulations prevent elephants from isolation. The AZA requires that zoos with female elephants must "have a minimum of three females (or the space to have three females)"-meaning that a zoo can maintain its accredited status even if it has one elephant, as long as the facility has enough space for three elephants. Elephants ideally would be grouped together, AZA president Dan Ashe told National Geographic last year, but he added, "sometimes animals don't want to be in a group." The Animal Welfare Act, which is enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has multiple regulations addressing the social needs of animals, including primates, dogs, and marine mammals-but none for elephants.

Captive elephant numbers have been dwindling in the U.S., and as more elephants in zoos are dying than being born, the number of solitary elephants will increase. More than 30 North American zoos have phased out their elephant exhibits since the 1990s for various reasons, including the cost and difficulty of caring for elephants.

"You're going to have facilities that are down to one elephant," says Delcianna Winders, Animal Law Program director at Vermont Law School. Will they decide to send them to sanctuaries where they'll be with other elephants? "Or are they going to assert that they're too old to move and just keep them alone?"

The AZA, which oversees conservation breeding programs for African and Asian elephants, acknowledges that zoo populations can't be sustained without an influx of new animals from wild populations-a contentious position itself as it often involves the breakup of elephant families.

An elephant never forgets

In the wild, much of elephants' brain stimulation comes from other elephants, says Joyce Poole, an elephant behavior specialist and National Geographic Explorer. They're always moving-listening, sniffing, playing-whereas solitary captive elephants are "not very animated"-they have no other elephants to interact with and nowhere to explore, she says. (Read about Poole's African Elephant Ethogram, the most comprehensive audiovisual library ever made of African savanna elephant behavior.)

Male elephants spend 10 to 14 years with their mothers before going off to form their own bonded " bachelor groups." Females stay with their mothers all their lives, in multigenerational social groups as large as 50.

"Growing up in a social context, or in a family, is critical to their development," Poole says, and social interactions remain central to their well-being throughout their lives.

That may be related to certain features of elephants' brains. Their cells, or neurons, have particularly long, branching dendrites, which may suggest that elephants process information more deeply and contemplatively than other mammals. They have as many neurons in their cerebral cortex as humans, and they have relatively larger pyramidal neurons, a type of cortical neuron central to cognitive processes, according to Lucy Bates, an elephant cognition scientist. (To learn more about how elephants communicate, check out our elephant call guide.)

While it's not known for sure, these features may also help explain why elephants have strong memories, particularly in a social context. Some evidence suggests that after up to 27 years of separation, captive elephants can still recognize the smell of their mother's urine. In the wild, elephants can distinguish between the calls of family members and strangers; they can recognize the voices of at least a hundred other elephants; and they can record the locations of as many as 17 different family members. By contrast, humans are thought to be able to hold about seven items in their short-term memory at once.

The fact that elephant "brains are so adapted to this kind of social processing [of] information just demonstrates how important family and social interaction ... is to them," Bates says.

Changes in the brain

At Natural Bridge Zoo, Asha spends hours circling her yard, grazing quietly.

Veterinarian Philip Ensley, who worked with elephants at San Diego Zoo for nearly 30 years, visited the zoo in September to observe her and assess her health for the nonprofit Free All Captive Elephants, one of many animal advocacy groups that has criticized Asha's conditions. In a private report shared with National Geographic, he noted that Asha swayed back and forth, shifted her weight off certain limbs (potentially indicating arthritis or joint disease, which are common in captive elephants), and appeared "unstimulated" and "detached."

"It is inappropriate in the field of care and management of captive elephants to keep a female alone," he concluded in the report. The lack of a companion "is causing Asha to suffer."

The stresses of captivity can change the brain, Jacobs says. In captive wild animals, one effect can be stereotypies-repetitive, seemingly pointless behaviors, such as a monkey pulling its hair out. They're most often displayed by bored, social animals in captivity and are rarely seen in the wild. For a solitary captive elephant, the loss of control over its environment and the lack of stimulation caused by long-term isolation can trigger pacing, head bobbing, rocking, or swaying, among other repetitive behaviors.

In a 2017 report on solitary captive elephants in 14 nationally accredited zoos in Japan, it was noted that nearly all displayed stereotypic behaviors.

"If there's a behavioral issue or a psychological issue, there's a neural issue underlying it," Jacobs says. Repetitive behaviors, according to studies in humans and other animals, have been associated with disruption in the basal ganglia, a part of the brain that helps control voluntary movements.

In swaying or pacing elephants, their basal ganglia likely are so disrupted that they can't stop these repetitive actions, Jacobs says. (This is also true for humans who have conditions involving basal ganglia damage, such as Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, he says, which can cause involuntary movements and debilitating tremors.)

For wild animals in captivity, that kind of brain damage is believed to be associated with a lack of stimulation. "The brain thrives on stimulation," Jacobs says. Without it, dendrites shrink from lack of use, and capillaries decrease in diameter, reducing blood flow to the brain. A 2018 study on the effects of prolonged isolation on the brains of mice found a 20-percent reduction in their neurons. "'Use it or lose it'-it applies to muscles, but it also applies to the brain," he says.

Stress, whether it's caused by isolation or something else, also activates the body's fight-or-flight stress response, which releases cortisol into the bloodstream, giving the body a boost of energy to respond to the perceived threat. When the fight-or-flight response is stimulated continuously, it eventually damages nerve cells in the hippocampus, which is central to learning and memory. In humans, a compromised hippocampus is often associated with depression, bipolar disorder, and other stress-related illnesses.

'Why is this even still allowed?'

An elephant alone in captivity has "nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to see, no one to communicate with," Poole says.

"Why is this even still allowed for these animals that we know so much about? Why aren't our laws doing something about it?" says Vermont Law School's Delcianna Winders.

When pushed to surrender solitary elephants to sanctuaries, zoos may argue that the animal is better off staying put. She's too old, too sick, or doesn't like the company of other elephants, they say. That's the argument Bronx Zoo makes for Happy, a 51-year-old Asian elephant who's at the center of a case brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) arguing that she's entitled to legal rights, including freedom from imprisonment.

Bronx Zoo has a second elephant, named Patty, who also is kept alone. Happy and Patty don't get along, according to zoo officials, though they can see each other through the fence separating their enclosures and occasionally touch each other. Director James Breheny says Happy "is more comfortable with her keepers and with safe barriers between her and other elephants" and that those who criticize her situation "know nothing of our individual animal, her personality, preferences, or tendencies."

The NhRP contends that Happy would enjoy the company of other elephants, having lived with a companion named Grumpy for 25 years until that elephant's death in 2002. New York's highest court has agreed to hear Happy's case, but a date hasn't been set.

When an elephant is too sick or old to be moved, or has a disease that can be passed to other animals, it may have to be held alone, says Joshua Plotnik, president and executive director of Think Elephants International, a conservation group that studies elephant behavior. In these cases, consideration should be given to the individuality of the animal to ensure a life that's as full as possible.

"Just like if you if you have pets, each dog or cat has a different personality-it is the same for elephants," Plotnik says. For elephants that show they need a challenge, keepers might invent more complex foraging activities; for eager-to-please animals, they might focus more on positive reinforcement.

Transferring elephants can be risky, and a number have died during or shortly after being moved, though the causes of their deaths have been hotly debated.

But when elephants settle in at sanctuaries, many formerly solitary, submissive, or shy animals open up-increasing their interactions with others and reducing their stereotypies. Within six months of her transfer to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, an elephant named Sissy-who had killed one of her handlers at Frank Buck Zoo, in Gainesville, Texas, and was characterized as "antisocial"-formed close friendships with other elephants; more than 20 years later, she's thriving peaceably.

After 10 years alone in Alaska Zoo, an African elephant named Maggie became one of the most social members of the herd at the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary, in California, according to Catherine Doyle, the director of science, research, and advocacy. Zoo officials had predicted that because she was sometimes aggressive toward her former companion, who died in 1997, she might not get along with other elephants. (PAWS now has one elephant in isolation because her Asian elephant companions died. As a sanctuary, PAWS does not breed or buy elephants.)

What can be done?

In some cases, the Endangered Species Act has been used to push zoos into providing companions for solitary animals. The law prohibits harming endangered species, which includes "significantly impairing essential behavior patterns." For elephants, socializing with other elephants is part of their nature, Winders says, so housing an elephant alone may violate the law.

There's precedent with other social animals. In 2019, for example, a Maryland court ruled that Tri-State Zoological Park violated the Endangered Species Act by keeping lions and lemurs on their own. While a case involving a solitary elephant has yet to be tried, a lawsuit in 2015 came close: The Animal Legal Defense Fund sued San Antonio Zoo under the Endangered Species Act for keeping its Asian elephant, Lucky, alone for more than two years after her companion died. But after the lawsuit was filed, the zoo introduced two additional elephants as companions, and the fund moved to dismiss its lawsuit.

In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly nearly put an end to Natural Bridge Zoo's elephant rides when it banned "direct contact with dangerous captive animals." The bill originally referred to elephants, as well as tigers, lions, bears, and others, but after campaigning by zoo owner Mogensen, supported by Delegates Daniel Helmer and Tony Wilt, elephants were removed from the bill before the Assembly passed it.

The future is uncertain for captive elephants in the U.S., especially as the debate intensifies over whether certain highly intelligent, social species should be in kept captivity at all. "The more evidence you look at ... the more you have to come to the conclusion that it is not ethically justifiable to keep these animals in captivity," says neuroscientist Bob Jacobs, reflecting on his latest research. Even large zoos are "way too small" for such large animals, he says, but solitary elephants held in small enclosures-"that's probably about as bad as it could get."

Wildlife Watch is an investigative reporting project between National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners focusing on wildlife crime and exploitation. Read more Wildlife Watch stories here, and learn more about National Geographic Society's nonprofit mission at natgeo.com/impact. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to NGP.WildlifeWatch@natgeo.com.

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'Nothing to do, nowhere to go': What happens when elephants live alone

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Research shows that solitary confinement is damaging to the human brain. The same is likely true for elephants.

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https://youtu.be/C1Jud3zOcL4

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ANIMALS in danger of EXTINCTION in 2021 🐬⚠️

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https://www.npr.org/2022/04/26/1094870315/the-endangered-species-act-is-failing-to-protect-a-bumble-bee-environmentalists-

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The rusty patched bumble bee is endangered and losing some of its last habitat, an Illinois prairie. A multi-million dollar airport expansion is stalled because of a last-minutes sighting of the bees.

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

In Northern Illinois, a multimillion-dollar airport expansion on a rare patch of prairie threatens an endangered bumble bee, and environmentalists say the Endangered Species Act is not helping protect it. Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco reports.

JUANPABLO RAMIREZ-FRANCO, BYLINE: Mary Griswold was recently at a makeshift party outside of the Chicago Rockford International Airport. The group celebrated the emergence of the rusty patched bumble bee, a federally endangered species since 2017.

MARY GRISWOLD: The queen is supposed to come out of hibernation around this time, so that's one of the things that got us motivated to come out today.

RAMIREZ-FRANCO: This celebration was the latest in a series of events organized by a grassroots campaign trying to save a rare remnant prairie which is also the site of a proposed $50 million expansion at the Rockford Airport. The bee was found on the prairie last fall, and that was enough to temporarily halt construction. It also triggered an Endangered Species Act consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Rob Telfer is with the Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves. He says saving the bumble bee is linked to saving its habitat.

ROB TELFER: The problem is the Endangered Species Act does not protect remnant prairies.

RAMIREZ-FRANCO: In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided against designating critical habitat for the rusty patched bumble bee. That additional protection would require federal agencies to determine that a project using federal dollars would impact threatened or endangered species or their critical habitat. The service concluded that habitat destruction is not the bee's main threat, calling the bee a habitat generalist. That decision ushered in a legal challenge by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The group's Lucas Rhodes argues that habitat remains key.

LUCAS RHODES: The tool is there. It's in the Endangered Species Act. But the Fish and Wildlife Service is just not using that tool in this particular circumstance to protect the bee's habitat, and that's the problem.

RAMIREZ-FRANCO: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would not comment for this story, citing the lawsuit. Neither would airport officials, though they did confirm that the consultation is now in its final phase, and the service has 135 days to deliver a final decision.

The rusty patched bumble bee was once common throughout much of the Midwest and Northeast United States into Canada. It's now disappeared from nearly 90% of its native range.

Margarita Lopez-Uribe teaches entomology at Penn State and has been studying bees for more than two decades. She says habitat loss is a major driver of the bee's demise.

MARGARITA LOPEZ-URIBE: So a lot of areas that used to have very diverse floral resources have now been converted to agriculture or, you know, through urbanization. And basically, there is not a lot of food available.

RAMIREZ-FRANCO: Lopez-Uribe adds that, on top of the habitat loss, pesticides and the unknown effects of climate change further complicate life for this bumble bee. The airport has installed a chain-link fence and added a large no trespassing sign to deter people from getting on the land while it's in legal limbo. Conservationist Rob Telfer says he's fine letting the legal process play out, but says the prairie and the bee are worth fighting for.

TELFER: We're out here for a few acres because that's all that's left because we've been giving these tiny little pieces to different projects for, you know, hundreds of years, and we're running out of space.

RAMIREZ-FRANCO: In the meantime, environmentalists and the airport officials are waiting to see if summer on the remnant prairie here will be filled with the sound of bumble bees or bulldozers.

For NPR News, I'm Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco in Rockford.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAURYN HILL SONG, "DOO-WOP (THAT THING)")

Copyright © 2022 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

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The Endangered Species Act is failing to protect a bumble bee, environmentalists say

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The rusty patched bumble bee is endangered and losing some of its last habitat, an Illinois prairie. A multi-million dollar airport expansion is stalled because of a last-minutes sighting of the bees. ROB SCHMITZ, HOST: In Northern Illinois, a multimillion-dollar airport expansion on a rare patch of prairie threatens an endangered bumble bee, and environmentalists say the Endangered Species Act is not helping protect it.

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https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/04/26/how-scarybirds-are-flying-to-the-rescue-of-endangered-marine-life

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Scarybirds fly to the rescue of endangered species

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Researchers seek new ways to reduce the environmental impact of fishing #Ocean

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https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220425-three-critically-endangered-sumatran-tigers-killed-in-indonesia

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Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) - Three critically endangered Sumatran tigers were found dead in western Indonesia on Sunday after being ensnared by traps, police said, dealing another blow to the species' rapidly declining population.

Rampant deforestation has reduced the tigers' natural habitat and increasing conflict with humans has left only several hundred of the endangered species remaining in the wild, according to estimates.

Two of the dead tigers were first found by local conservationists in Aceh -- which sits on the the northern tip of Sumatra island -- before police were alerted, conservation officials said.

Authorities found the two intact tiger carcasses next to each other with their feet ensnared by steel slings at a palm oil plantation in East Aceh district, a police statement said.

A few hours later, police found a third dead tiger about 500 metres (1,600 feet) away from where the other two tigers were discovered. Its feet were also ensnared by a sling and the body had started to rot.

"Our initial suspicion is that the tigers died after being caught by a boar trap, because when we found them their feet were ensnared by thick steel sling," local police chief Hendra Sukmana said in a statement late on Sunday.

Officials will conduct autopsies to determine the causes of the tigers' deaths.

"We strongly condemn this incident... if the tests reveal there's intentional action that caused the deaths of these protected species, we will take strict action," head of Aceh conservation agency Agus Arianto told AFP on Monday.

Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 400 believed to remain in the wild.

Up to 10 tigers are killed yearly, according to the Indonesian forestry ministry.

Tigers are also targeted by poachers for their body parts that are widely used in traditional medicine -- particularly in China -- despite overwhelming scientific evidence that they have no beneficial value.

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Three critically endangered Sumatran tigers killed in Indonesia

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Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) - Three critically endangered Sumatran tigers were found dead in western Indonesia on Sunday after being ensnared by traps, police said, dealing another blow to the species' rapidly declining population. Rampant deforestation has reduced the tigers' natural habitat and increasing conflict with humans has left only several hundred of the endangered species remaining in the wild, according to estimates.

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https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/04/woman-pleads-guilty-to-animal-cruelty-in-horrible-up-puppy-mill-case.html

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ROCK, MI - A woman accused of running a "horrible" puppy mill in the Upper Peninsula pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 27, just days before her jury trial was set to begin, officials said.

Rebecca Johnson, of Rock, was not offered a plea deal and pleaded guilty to the original charges of one count of abandoning/cruelty to 25 or more animals, a 7-year felony; and one count of misdemeanor unregistered animal shelter/pound, according to a news release from the Delta County Prosecutor's Office.
RELATED: See dogs a year after 217 rescued from 'horrible' U.P. puppy mill
"Our office wanted to make it a priority that she be held accountable for the conditions those animals lived in," Delta County Acting Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Wickham said in a statement. "No plea offer was ever even considered in this circumstance."
RELATED: RELATED: See horses, dogs rescued from 'horrible' U.P. puppy mill RELATED: 100 puppies born after dogs seized from alleged U.P. puppy mill RELATED: RELATED: Woman accused in U.P. puppy mill case violated bond by getting another dog Woman who owns alleged U.P. puppy mill charged with animal cruelty State police rescue 134 dogs from 'horrible' U.P. puppy mill
The case began on Aug. 24, 2020, when a horse got loose from Johnson's property in Rock and was running along a roadway. Michigan State Police trooper Lisa Kanyah, of the Gladstone Post, responded to the incident, secured the horse and returned it to the property. While on the property, she observed many dogs that appeared to be underweight with matted fur and living in their own feces in outdoor kennels. Some of the dogs appeared to be injured.

A search warrant was obtained later that day and 135 dogs, including 69 puppies, and 23 horses were seized. The animals were sent to the Delta Animal Shelter where they were evaluated and treated. Several of the dogs were pregnant. More than 100 puppies were born. In total, more than 250 animals were rescued.

At the time, Delta Animal Shelter called the conditions they were living in and the state of the animals "horrible."

On July 11, 2021, Johnson forfeited her ownership of the dogs and horses, which allowed the shelter to begin adopting them out.

"This is a win for the whole community," Wickham said. "The way the people of Delta County responded to the needs of these animals is just incredible. Law enforcement and the volunteers at Delta Animal Shelter made this case such a success, both inside and outside the courtroom."

The plea canceled Johnson's jury trial, which was scheduled to begin Monday, May 2. She will be sentenced at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, in the 47th Circuit Court.

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Woman pleads guilty to animal cruelty in 'horrible' U.P. puppy mill case

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ROCK, MI - A woman accused of running a "horrible" puppy mill in the Upper Peninsula pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 27, just days before her jury trial was set to begin, officials said.

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https://www.nj.com/essex/2022/04/nj-veterinarian-charged-with-animal-cruelty-for-mistreating-dogs-in-his-care-authorities-say.html

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A Newark veterinarian faces animal cruelty and other charges after investigators said he failed to perform surgery on a dog that later died and kept puppies with infectious diseases caged together.

Ehren Seth Yablon, who owns Newark Veterinary Hospital on Wilson Avenue, allegedly told the owner of an English Bulldog named "Princess" that the dog needed surgery after she brought the pet in on June 28, 2021, due to a bloody discharge.

When the owner returned the next day, the owner was told that her dog died during surgery. "A necropsy done by another veterinarian showed no surgery was ever performed," Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, said in a statement.

Yablon, 44, of Hillside, is also accused of neglecting to properly care for three husky puppies. One of the dogs had tested positive for canine parvovirus, a highly infectious disease, Stephens said.

"It is alleged that despite the diagnosis, the three puppies were caged together in his office. One died in the same kennel with the two siblings," Stephens said.

The prosecutor said Yablon also charged the dog owner for services that were never rendered and refuse to release the surviving puppies until he was paid.

Yablon was charged and released with a May 17 court date. Stephens said state officials may suspend Yablon's license to practice pending the resolution of the criminal complaint and a hearing before the state's Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.

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N.J. veterinarian charged with animal cruelty for mistreating dogs in his care, authorities say

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A Newark veterinarian faces animal cruelty and other charges after investigators said he failed to perform surgery on a dog that later died and kept puppies with infectious diseases caged together.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-01-17/hong-kong-arrests-2-ex-air-crew-for-breaking-covid-19-rules

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By ZEN SOO, Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected.

The city will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small mammals, according to officials from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. The pet shop employee tested positive for the delta variant on Monday, and several hamsters imported from the Netherlands at the store tested positive as well.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, animals do not appear to play a significant role in spreading the coronavirus. But Hong Kong authorities said they are not ruling out transmission between animals and humans.

"We cannot exclude the possibility that the shopkeeper was in fact actually infected from the hamsters," said Edwin Tsui, a controller at the Centre for Health Protection.

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"If you own a hamster, you should keep your hamsters at home, do not take them out," department director Leung Siu-fai said at a news conference. "All pet owners should observe good personal hygiene, and after you have been in contact with animals and their food, you should wash your hands."

"Do not kiss your pets," he added.

As a precautionary measure, customers who purchased hamsters from the store after Jan. 7 will be traced and be subject to mandatory quarantine and must hand over their hamsters to authorities to be put down, officials said.

They said all pet stores in Hong Kong must stop selling hamsters and that about 2,000 small mammals, including hamsters and chinchillas, will be killed in a humane manner.

Customers who bought hamsters in Hong Kong from Dec. 22 will be subject to mandatory testing and are urged not contact others until their tests have returned negative. If their hamsters test positive, they will be subject to quarantine.

Hong Kong has been grappling with a local omicron outbreak traced to several Cathay Pacific crew members who dined at bars and restaurants across the city before testing positive for the omicron variant.

The government announced late Monday that two former flight attendants have been arrested for leaving their homes during quarantine and later being confirmed to have coronavirus infections. It did not identify their employer, but said the two arrived from the U.S. on Dec. 24 and 25 and "conducted unnecessary activities" while under medical surveillance.

The arrests came after Cathay Pacific said it had fired two crew members for breaching coronavirus protocols. It previously apologized and called their actions "extremely disappointing." The company had to cut back on flights - both passenger and cargo - in January because of tightened virus curbs.

The two have been released on bail and will have their case heard in court on Feb. 9. If convicted of violating anti-epidemic regulations, they could face up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollars ($642).

Previously in Hong Kong, some air and sea crew members could isolate at home under quarantine exemptions. Regulations were tightened on Dec. 31 to require crew members to isolate in a designated quarantine hotel for about a week.

This story has been corrected to say 2,000 small animals will be killed, including hamsters. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that 2,000 hamsters will be killed.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Hong Kong to Kill 2,000 Animals After Hamsters Get COVID-19

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By ZEN SOO, Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/10/21/maryland-zebra-owner-charged-animal-cruelty/6116448001/

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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The owner of a herd of zebras was charged Tuesday with animal cruelty after three zebras escaped his Maryland farm, including one found dead in an illegal snare trap.

Jerry Lee Holly, 76, of Upper Marlboro has been charged with three counts of animal cruelty, news outlets reported. Holly is accused of inflicting "unnecessary suffering or pain on a zebra" and failing to provide the zebras with "nutritious food in sufficient quantity" or give them "proper shelter."

The exotic animal trader is the owner of a 40-zebra herd that was moved to Maryland from Florida in late summer, Prince George's County Animal Services Chief Rodney Taylor.

Three zebras escaped in August and one was found dead last month, officials said. Animal control has been trying to catch the two zebras that remain at large by setting up a feeding station and an 8-foot corral.
A daring escape and tragic death: One of the Maryland zebras on the loose caught in snare trap
Charging documents state Holly was charged after the dead zebra was found just outside the fence enclosing his herd. If the caretaker had attended to the herd, it should have been seen or heard while dying, investigators wrote.

Investigators said another dead zebra was found in the farm's enclosure on Tuesday.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Holly.

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Two Maryland zebras still at large after owner is charged with animal cruelty

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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The owner of a herd of zebras was charged Tuesday with animal cruelty after three zebras escaped his Maryland farm, including one found dead in an illegal snare trap. Jerry Lee Holly, 76, of Upper Marlboro has been charged with three counts of animal cruelty, news outlets reported.

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https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/the-link-between-animal-cruelty-and-human-violence

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https://www.bbcearth.com/news/can-captive-animals-ever-truly-return-to-the-wild

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For some species, the road to release is a long one.

In many ways, humans have vastly improved how we treat captive wildlife. Once Romans routinely tortured and slaughtered lions, leopards, rhinos and even elephants in the Colosseum and bear-baiting was commonplace across Europe until the 19th century.

Today, with circus animals increasingly becoming a thing of the past (especially now the British government has banned them entirely) , what happens too all those newly-freed animals that spent their lives in zoos and circuses or as pets? Can any animal, after years in captivity, ever be freed?

Young orangutans ready to be released into the wild © International Animal Rescue

Even a lifetime in the most humane zoo will have left animals too affected by years of sheltered existence. Captive animals seldom learn crucial survival skills and often are too habituated to human contact. Lacking a natural fear of humans, they are vulnerable to poachers and ill equipped for life in the wild.

No case makes this more heartbreakingly obvious than the story of Keiko, the orca star of Free Willy (1993). A massive letter-writing campaign demanding his freedom led to Keiko being flown to Iceland in 1999 for release. Unfortunately, Keiko was ill-equipped for survival in the wild. Captured at a very young age and too accustomed to human contact, several attempts to help him join a wild pod failed. In the end, Keiko swam into a harbor in Norway, actively seeking the company of humans. He never managed to integrate with a wild population, struggled to hunt, and eventually died of pneumonia in 2002.

"Release to the wild is not automatically in the best interests of the animal," says Dr Chris Draper head of animal welfare and captivity at Born Free - a charity that campaigns to keep animals in the wild. "The damage was done when that animal was brought in from the wild in the first place; it is dangerous to assume can could be released without just adding to the misery."

Release to the wild is not automatically in the best interests of the animal"

Dr Chris Draper Head of Animal Welfare and Captivity at Born Free

For fish, reptiles, and amphibians, reintroduction can be fairly straightforward: frogs for example can often be bred in huge numbers in the lab and released to the wild. But with complex mammals such as primates, large cats, elephants, dolphins and whales, who may require years of instruction from their mothers, and an entire group of other members of their species in which they can thrive as adults, reintroduction is far more difficult.

"For the longest time, the idea of returning animals such as large mammals to the wild was just off the table, but now we're seeing people in the field questioning the long-held belief that it's impossible to return captive animals to their natural habitat," says Katie Moore, deputy vice president of conservation and animal welfare for NGO the International Fund for Animal Welfare . "Yes, in a lot of cases it is still impossible, especially if the animals have been traumatised or were very young when captured. And you need to be very careful about introducing diseases to a wild population. But for some animals, if we proceed scientifically and thoughtfully, it can be done."

Consider the African Lion and Environmental Research Trust (ALERT) in Zimbabwe, which for 15 years has worked to introduce lions to the wild. "Yes, lions can become habituated to humans, but we make sure the ones we released are not habituated," says Dr Norman Monks, CEO of ALERT.

Their method of release involves multiple stages, which eventually sees the release of wild offspring from previously captive adults. First, lions that have been habituated to humans are released into a large enclosure with prey species to hunt. Next, those animals (which are never handled by humans again) eventually form a pride and produce new cubs. Then those cubs, who have grown together and formed social bonds, are eventually released as a pride.

"This is important, as we would not want to put these cubs into the wild if they were not a cohesive pride that would care for each other." Because lions are highly social animals (and the only social species of cat), and their innate need to live within a pride needs to be taken into account when preparing them for release to the wild.

Many other groups are challenging old notions and working to develop new techniques tailored to the needs to different species to achieve what was once thought impossible, such as the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust, Wildlife Vets International, and Born Free.

Wild release is easier for some animals than others, and the needs of individual species need to be carefully taken into account.

"One species that would be incredibly problematic is polar bears. They live in a highly specialised environment, and need to learn the skills to survive in that environment from their mothers. Learning those skills in a pre-release context would be next to impossible," says Dr Draper. "But other kinds of bears seem to be reasonably successful when released back to the wild. But it depends so much on the individual animal: the age it was captured, whether it was bred in captivity, its experiences in captivity, any kinds of trauma, health, early nutrition. There is just no magic recipe."

Workers at International Animal Rescue release a slow loris into the wild after spending its life as a pet © International Animal Rescue

For many species, just as with lions, often the key is to release animals in groups. "Even chimpanzees that have lived in laboratories for many years can do pretty well when released in groups onto protected islands," says Dr Draper.

Since 2006, conservationists at Orangutan Rescue in Indonesia have taken in orangutan infants who often have been kept as pets after their mothers were shot by famers for raiding crops. In the wild, an orangutan would spend up to nine years with its mother; an extraordinarily long time, even for a primate. This means orphaned orangutans require an exceptional amount of nurturing and education. Infants will spend anywhere from five to ten years at the centre being taught key survival skills such as how to climb trees, crack coconuts, fish for termites, and also that they need to fear threats such as spiders, snakes - and humans.

We try to be hands-off as much as possible. We try not to let them get attached to us, because we need them to learn not to trust people"

Karmele Llano Sanchez Program Director of Orangutan Rescue at International Animal Rescue

"We try to be hands-off as much as possible. We try not to let them get attached to us, because we need them to learn not to trust people," says Karmele Llano Sanchez, program director of Orangutan Rescue at International Animal Rescue. "The key is that they learn more from each other than they do from us: one animal will learn a skill very quickly, and then go on to teach others. This is how they can re-learn how to be orangutans again. It takes many years and a lot of effort, but it has been surprisingly successful - I didn't think the release program would go as well as it is. Even wild orangutans that have been brought to us after forest fires with injuries, or who have gone through starvation, can be brought back into good health and returned to the wild."

Rehabilitating an orangutan doesn't come cheap: with the costs of animal care at $250 a month, it may cost $5,000 or $10,000 to eventually release an animal, and their operations are always limited by funds.

There however is an upside to the high costs that come with caring for orangutans. "Yes the costs are high, but the money goes mostly to paying guides and trackers that follow them in the wild once we release them - we employ a lot of people," says Sanchez. "This way we can get the buy-in of the community. It is ultimately an excellent way to provide an alternative income to hunting or logging."

This points to one of the biggest challenges with reintroduction: finding suitable habitats in a world where hunting, logging, poaching and agriculture are erasing the wild places of the world.

"Demand for palm oil is growing, and so the problem of orphaned orangutans is only going to get worse because Malaysians are producing palm oil for the rest of the world," says Sanchez.

"The dream is to never say never, but the reality of the world we live in means that even if the animal is physically capable of doing this, finding suitable release sites is extremely challenging," says Dr Draper. "But we have to try. Yes, it is time consuming and it is expensive, but if it is possible, we have to try, simply because is the right thing to do."

For some animals, reintroduction will always be difficult, such as baby elephants, or pet cheetahs, both of which habituate to human care very quickly, says Moore of IFAW. But we've only just started to challenge old ideas about reintroduction, and we have much to learn.

"If we don't push boundaries we will never know what is possible," she says.

Featured image by Getty

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Can captive animals ever truly return to the wild? | BBC Earth

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With circus animals increasingly becoming a thing of the past (especially now the British government has banned them entirely), what happens to all those newly-freed animals who have spent their lives in zoos and circuses or as pets? Can any animal, after years in captivity, ever be freed?

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/waza-zoos-accused-of-mistreating-animals-wap-report

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In a new report, an animal welfare group has flagged hundreds of zoos affiliated with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) for mistreating animals, including making big cats perform in gladiator-style shows, elephants play basketball, and diapered chimpanzees ride scooters.

WAZA, founded in 1935, is a global organization of zoos and aquariums that promotes conservation and animal welfare. Unlike the U.S.-based Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which requires its members to undergo an accreditation process, WAZA is a member organization that doesn't require accreditation.

According to Gavrielle Kirk-Cohen, WAZA's director of communications, the organization relies on its accrediting member associations to enforce their standards among their member zoos and aquariums. Becoming a WAZA member requires filling out an application, submitting letters of support from two other WAZA members, and paying a fee. Zoos, for example, must pay 2,500 euros, or nearly $2,800.

According to the report, by World Animal Protection (WAP), an international nonprofit organization that promotes welfare and humane treatment, 75 percent of WAZA's 1,241 members-including those defined by WAP as "indirect" members (zoos or aquariums that belong to WAZA-member associations)-offer at least one animal-visitor interaction. WAZA, which doesn't recognize indirect members, claims only 400 members worldwide. Such contact, the report notes, can be damaging for animals' mental and physical well-being and often requires training methods such as premature separation from mothers, physical restraint, and pain- and fear-based conditioning.

"Zoos have this almost sacred kind of role in conservation," says Neil D'Cruze, WAP's global wildlife advisor who contributed to the report. "It's time for [WAZA] to take a step back and take the leadership role that we as visitors, let alone WAP as an NGO, need them to take."

D'Cruze says WAP included indirect members in the report because it believes WAZA should, at a minimum, outline a code of ethics and animal welfare policy for those zoos and aquariums, which it doesn't now.

The report's researchers identified a dozen venues of particular concern, which they visited alongside researchers from the animal advocacy organization Change For Animals Foundation. These venues include African Lion Safari in Canada, Cango Wildlife Ranch in South Africa, and SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas. WAP considers SeaWorld to be an indirect member because it's accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which is a member of WAZA.

The WAP report criticized African Lion Safari, which also features other African animals, for offering elephant rides.

Representatives from African Lion Safari did not respond to a request for comment.

The report said Cango Wildlife Ranch "offers visitors the chance to pet cheetahs and servals in an enclosed yard, taking selfies with the animals under the supervision of staff members."

Tammy Moult, assistant director of tourism at Cango Wildlife Ranch, said they "were absolutely broken" at Cango's inclusion in the WAP report. "We started doing substantial research on [WAP] and found a lot of scorned and unhappy ex-employees, donators, contributors, and many cracks and holes in the organization became clear without much effort," she said in an email. "The 'facts' are grossly unfounded and irresponsible."

WAP notes that SeaWorld San Antonio offers shows and opportunities to swim, pet, and pose with dolphins, which respond to commands from trainers.

In an emailed statement, SeaWorld San Antonio spokesperson Suzanne Pelisson-Beasley wrote, "Accredited zoos and aquariums like SeaWorld play an important role in raising the bar on animal welfare practices, advancing vital conservation efforts, and facilitating marine mammal rescues."

The AZA, of which SeaWorld San Antonio is an accredited member, says the facility meets or exceeds their accreditation requirements. "Accredited facilities, like SeaWorld San Antonio, hold themselves to high standards and are still only a fraction of facilities that hold and display animals," AZA president and CEO Dan Ashe wrote in an emailed statement.

In a statement, WAZA said WAP's report was incorrect and that the organization takes animal welfare seriously. "WAZA is in accord with WAP that such practices have no place in a modern zoo or aquarium," the statement says. "Unfortunately, the report contains a number of inaccuracies, including naming institutions which are not WAZA members and thus which WAZA has limited jurisdiction over."

Two of WAP's venues of concern-Dolphin Island in Singapore and Jungle Cat World in Canada-are not WAZA members, according to Kirk-Cohen. Jungle Cat World lost its WAZA membership last year after it resigned from Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA). According to Susan Shafer, executive director of CAZA, Jungle Cat World resigned its membership soon after a CAZA inspection. She couldn't comment on the inspection's findings, which are confidential. Kirk-Cohen says it's unclear if Dolphin Island was ever a WAZA member.

D'Cruze says Dolphin Island and Jungle Cat World were members when WAP compiled their report earlier this year and are listed as members in WAZA's 2017 annual report-the most recent available report. Dolphin Island still has the WAZA logo on its website.

Pointing fingers

Of the 1,241 venues WAP surveyed, 940 were, by its definition, indirect members. The main point of contention between WAZA and WAP is over these indirect members. According to Kirk-Cohen, zoos and aquariums WAP listed as indirect members in the report are not members, and WAZA can't impose its ethics standards on non-members.

"It is misleading to state that the remaining seven [of the 12 venues of particular concern] are 'indirect WAZA members,'" she says. "We're quite limited in capacity in what we can do, especially when it comes to non-members," she says.

But D'Cruze insists that WAZA has a responsibility toward these indirect members and that they can punish direct members who accredit unethical indirect members. "[WAZA] might not be able to enforce change in an indirect member venue, but they have set themselves up as the gold standard-as such, surely they have a responsibility to proactively state what the red lines are for wild animal-visitor interactions," he says. "It has a critical role that it should not shy away from."

CAZA's Shafer says quibbling over membership technicalities is not the answer here. "The big issue is not what label one organization has or another organization has," she says. "It's can we learn something from this to help improve the conditions of the animals?"

WAZA's code of ethics and animal welfare, which is binding for members, states that if they use wild animals in presentations, they must "focus on natural behavior" and "not demean or trivialize the animal in any way." Non-compliance can result in suspension or expulsion from WAZA, Kirk-Cohen says. She says that during the past year three members have had their WAZA membership terminated after losing accreditation with their regional or national association.

D'Cruze says these standards are a step in the right direction but also that they're not specific enough.

"It's really great, and there's some really positive language in there that helps set the scene, but where's the specifics?" he says. "What actually constitutes unnatural and demeaning?"

"Considering the vast range of species our members take care of," Kirk-Cohen says, it's not possible to provide a list of unnatural or demeaning behaviors, but they're ones animals wouldn't exhibit in the wild, Kirk-Cohen says. WAZA relies on accrediting associations to set more specific standards.

Stressful experiences

World Animal Protection's report describes venues that offered encounters where visitors can stroke, kiss, and cuddle with big cats, shows where humans "surf" on the backs of dolphins, and performances in which elephants paint pictures with their trunks. The most common interaction was petting-offered by 43 percent of facilities, most often with mammals and reptiles. About a third offered walking or swimming through an enclosure, 30 percent had performances involving wildlife, and 23 percent had hand-feeding experiences, in which tourists can provide food and water for captive wild animals, which brings them into direct-potentially dangerous-contact with them.

These experiences are inherently stressful for animals, says Nancy Blaney, director of government affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

"Some facilities just kind of bill this as wildlife tourism, and it's really nothing of the sort," she says. "Wildlife tourism is the kind of thing where you go and you see wildlife in their own environs, in their own milieu-not where you go and you get to take your picture with the tiger, or you get to interact with a monkey that's dressed up in street clothes, or kissing an orangutan, or something like that. That is not wildlife tourism; that's exploitation." ( Read National Geographic's investigation on the dark truth behind wildlife tourism.)

Wild animals belong in the wild, but in some instances-for example, when an animal's been a rescued from a roadside zoo-that's not possible, D'Cruze says. The problem, he says, is when an organization "slips over into commercial use and entertainment."

"Getting [animals] to the point where they're completely safe around people involves a whole level of different training and breaking of the animal's spirit," D'Cruze says. "There's a difference between a domesticated species like a cat or a dog that's been changed over thousands of years biologically and behaviorally to be around people, and an animal that's been broken to be tame."

Wildlife Watch is an investigative reporting project between National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners focusing on wildlife crime and exploitation. Read more Wildlife Watch stories here, and learn more about National Geographic Society's nonprofit mission at nationalgeographic.org. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ngwildlife@natgeo.com.

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Hundreds of zoos and aquariums accused of mistreating animals

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Many "gold-standard" zoos and aquariums worldwide let visitors pet, feed, and take selfies with animals, a new report finds.

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For much of the past year and a half, many of us felt like captives. Confined mostly within monotonous walls, unable to act out our full range of natural behavior, we suffered from stress and anxiety on a massive scale. In other words, says Bob Jacobs, a neuroscientist at Colorado College, the pandemic gave us a brief taste of life as lived by many animals.

Though anthropomorphism is always suspect, Jacobs observes that "some humans were quite frustrated by all that." This is no surprise - we understand the strain of captivity as we experience it. But how do animals fare under the same circumstances? Putting aside the billions of domesticated livestock around the world, some 800,000 wild or captive-born animals reside in accredited American zoos and aquariums alone . Many people cherish these institutions, many abhor them. All want to know: Are the creatures inside happy?

Signs of Stress

That said, it's difficult to say what a normal level of stress is for any given animal. An obvious baseline is the captive's wild counterpart (which surely has its own troubles, from predation to starvation). But the problem, says Michael Romero, a biologist at Tufts University, "is that there's just not enough data." Given the challenge of measuring a wild animal's stress - the requisite capture isn't exactly calming - few such studies have been undertaken, especially on large animals.

Besides, hormones may be an imperfect gauge of how agitated an animal really feels. "Stress is so complicated," Romero says. "It's not as well characterized as people think." So researchers can also look for its more visible side effects. Chronic stress weakens the immune system, for example, leading to higher disease rates in many animals. Opportunistic fungal infections are the leading cause of death in captive Humboldt penguins , and perhaps 40 percent of captive African elephants suffer from obesity, which in turn increases their risk of heart disease and arthritis.

Another sign of stress is decline in reproduction, which explains why it's often difficult to get animals to breed in captivity. Libido and fertility plummet in cheetahs and white rhinos, to name two. (A related phenomenon may exist in humans, Romero notes: Some research suggests that stress, anxiety and depression can reduce fertility. )

Big Brains, Big Needs

Abnormal Behavior

Not all forms of captivity are equally impoverished, of course. Zookeepers often talk about "enrichment." Besides meeting an animal's basic material needs, they strive to make its enclosure engaging, to give it the space it needs to carry out its natural routines. Today's American zoos generally represent a vast improvement over those of yesteryear. But animal advocates contend they will always fall short of at least the large animals' needs. "No matter what zoos do," Jacobs says, "they can't provide them with an adequate, stimulating natural environment."

Proponents are quick to point out that zoos convert people into conservationists, and occasionally reintroduce endangered species to the wild (though critics question how effective they truly are on these fronts). Considering their potential to bolster the broader conservation movement, Romero suggests an ethical calculation might be in order. "Maybe sacrificing a few animals' health is worth it," he says.

Wherever these moral arguments lead, Jacobs argues that "the evidence is becoming overwhelming" - large mammals, or at least many of them, cannot prosper in confinement. The environmental writer Emma Marris concludes the same in Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World . "In many modern zoos, animals are well cared for, healthy and probably, for many species, content," she writes, adding that zookeepers are not "mustache-twirling villains." Nevertheless, by endlessly rocking and bobbing, by gnawing on bars and pulling their hair, "many animals clearly show us that they do not enjoy captivity."

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Most experts agree it depends on the species, but much evidence shows large mammals suffer under even the best human care.

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https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/blogs/keeping-wild-animals-captivity-not-conservation-heres-why

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Keeping Wild Animals in Captivity Is Not Conservation. Here's Why.

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While some captive animal venues tout their conservation efforts, their main focus is profiting off the backs of animals for entertainment. The majority of...

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https://aldf.org/focus_area/captive-animals/

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Laws That Protect Captive Wildlife

Few federal laws protect the millions of wild animals who live in captivity in aquariums, circuses, theme parks and zoos in the U.S.

The Animal Welfare Act: The Animal Welfare Act, or AWA, is the primary piece of federal legislation regulating captive wild animals. Zoos and circuses are among those who fall under this act.

The AWA only applies to some captive wild animals. The law, adopted by Congress in 1966, protects so-called "warm-blooded" animals who are bred for commercial sale, used in research, transported commercially or publicly exhibited, like in a zoo or circus. Tigers, lions, elephants, bears and nonhuman primates are all included in this law. But the law excludes protection for birds, rats and mice, farmed animals and "cold-blooded" animals such as reptiles, amphibians and fish.

This is only one of the Act's limitations. Its protections are minimal as well. The AWA establishes only baseline standards of care for licensing exhibitors. These standards set a low bar and are widely considered to be sub-par in protecting animals. For example, the law does not restrict the display or private ownership of captive wild animals or prohibit the use of controversial bullhooks, whips, electrical shock or other devices commonly used in circuses. For animals in zoos, the AWA sets low requirements as to housing, food and sanitation, and, as is commonly noted, no requirements for mental stimulation of animals other than primates.

Another serious problem is that the chronically-understaffed USDA conducts inspections infrequently. A common criticism is that the inspectors are often inadequately trained to look for sign of problems such as abuse and neglect.

The Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species Of Wild Fauna And Flora (CITES): CITES is an international treaty that regulates the trade of wildlife for nations that are signatories to the treaty. Some 5,800 species of animals are covered by the treaty (along with 30,000 species of plants). CITES does not directly address living conditions for captive animals.

The U.S. became a signatory to CITES in 1975. Today, nearly every country in the world is a member of CITES. The fewer than two dozen non-participants include North Korea, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Turkmenistan.

This treaty is credited with helping foster international cooperation to protect some endangered and vulnerable species. A criticism is that protections are less robust for species that are economically valuable, and that CITES is not as transparent in its decision-making or enforcement as would be ideal.

The Endangered Species Act: The Endangered Species Act, the ESA, is a federal law that protects fish, mammals, birds and plants listed as threatened or endangered in the U.S. and beyond. The ESA outlines procedures for federal agencies to follow regarding listed species, as well as criminal and civil penalties for violations.

In 2014, the Animal Legal Defense Fund successfully brought a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act against a roadside zoo called the Cricket Hollow Animal Park, that was mistreating protected animals. This was the first time that the ESA has successfully been used to protect captive wild animals. In 2018, the Eighth Circuit issued a unanimous decision in Cricket Hollow's appeal of that case, that it can be a violation of the Endangered Species Act when captive animals aren't given proper care.

In several cases, animals held in poor conditions at roadside zoos have been transferred to sanctuaries, after the Animal Legal Defense Fund brought lawsuits under the Endangered Species Act.

State And Local Laws: Strong state laws and even local laws have historically been a useful way to protect exotic and wild animals. There is considerable variation from state to state and among cities and counties, as to how much legal protection is offered to captive wild animals.

Here are some of the major ways that these jurisdictions are protecting wild captive animals under the law:

Restricting Private Parties From Keeping Wild Animals: Some states ban the keeping of wild and exotic animals. Others allow private parties to keep animals like tigers or primates with a permit. Fewer and fewer states are allowing residents to keep captive wild animals without a permit. There were five such states until 2017, when South Carolina passed a law banning wild and exotic animals to be kept as pets. (This law does not affect zoos or circuses.)

In states without tight enough regulation, local jurisdictions oftentimes adopt ordinances that ban or restrict the display of captive wild animals. Local laws are often most effective in governing the private possession of exotic animals.

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Captive Animals - Most states have no laws governing captive wild animals.

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More tigers live in cages in this country, than exist in all the wild. They are just some of the millions of wild animals living in captivity across the United States. Some are in aquariums, circuses, theme parks and zoos, others live caged at private homes.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/02/zoos-time-shut-down-conservation-education-wild-animals

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n a few days, a pair of two-year-old cheetahs, Saba and Nairo, will depart from the UK on a remarkable journey. The brothers will be taken from Howletts Wild Animal Park, in Kent, and flown to South Africa to begin a new life - in the wild.

It will be the first time that cheetahs born in captivity have left the UK for rewilding in Africa, says Damian Aspinall, who runs Howletts. "There are only about 7,000 cheetahs left on the planet and they are listed as vulnerable," he says. "This reintroduction - to a reserve in Mount Camdeboo, in south of the country - is important because it will help to support the small population of cheetahs we have left in the wild."

And the process of releasing animals from his wildlife parks is likely to continue unabated, adds Aspinall. He now campaigns vigorously for a sharp acceleration in the return of all captive animals to the wild and, ultimately, the closure of all zoos and wildlife parks in the UK - including his own.

"We have no moral right as a species to let animals suffer just because we are curious about them," he says.

The day of the zoo is over, he claims - and his views are reflected by other critics who view wildlife parks andanimalcollections as anachronisms that should be phased out of existence over the coming 25 years.

Yet zoos are a major part of British culture. About 30 million visits are made to animal collections every year, according to the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Some of these outfits are small and isolated - and occasionally fall foul of local authorities for their mistreatment of animals. On the other hand, some larger institutions, such as London or Chester zoos - are well-run and, according to supporters, justify their existence for three clear reasons: education, research and conservation.

According to this argument, revealing the wonders of our planet's wildlife to the public, and investigating the biology of these animals in order to help them return to nature provide zoos with valid reason to exist. In a world beset by climate change, habitat loss and soaring human numbers, zoos provide protection for the world's endangered species.

David Attenborough argues that aquariums, such as this one in Dubai, are more successful than zoos at conserving species in captivity. Photograph: John Kellerman/Alamy Stock Photo

So who is right? Is there any justification, today, for keeping wild animals in captivity? Are zoos good for the planet's threatened creatures - or are they relics of past cruel attitudes to wildlife?

One argument is that zoos educate visitors, particularly younger ones, about the wonders of the planet's wildlife. But Chris Draper of Born Free, the international charity that campaigns against keeping wild animals in captivity, disagrees. "Today, people get more from a TV nature documentary than they will ever get from seeing animals in zoos. In captivity, an elephant or a giraffe is out of its natural environment and probably in an unnatural social grouping. Television or the internet are much better resources for understanding animals than a zoo."

Aspinall agrees. "David Attenborough's programmes are far more educational than a day trip to a zoo," he says. And you can see their point. Attenborough's last series, Seven Worlds, One Planet, was made up of typically stunning material - dramatic close-ups of gentoo penguins fleeing leopard seals, pumas in pursuit of guanacos, and Barbary macaques in high-level chases after infant kidnappers. It was exhilarating, informative - and surely ideal for getting people hooked on animals.

But Attenborough flatly disagrees and is emphatic that his documentaries cannot compare to seeing the real thing. Only the sight of a creature in the flesh can give us a true understanding of its nature, he says.

"There is no way you can appreciate the quiddity of an elephant except by seeing one at close quarters," he told the Observer. "People ought to be able to see what an animal looks like. And smells like. And sounds like. I think that is quite important. Actually, very important."

Education certainly justifies a well-run zoo's existence, he insists. On the other hand, Attenborough acknowledges that some animals fare better than others in zoos. "Modern aquariums are particularly successful, with their vast ceiling-high tanks in which you can see whole communities of different species of fish living together. They are absolutely fabulous."

By contrast, polar bears, big raptors and large hunting mammals like lions are not suitable for being kept in zoos, says Attenborough. "I certainly agree with Mr Aspinall in saying you should not have lions in zoos - unless they were becoming endangered in the wild, which, of course is now becoming a real risk."

Damian Aspinall, chairman of the Aspinall Foundation, plans to close the charity's zoos. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

And the same goes for conservation, he adds. "Breeding programmes for animals that are on the verge of extinction are of incredible importance. If it was not for zoos, there would be no Arabian oryx left in the world, for example."

The Arabian oryx was hunted to extinction in the wild by 1972 but was later reintroduced - originally with animals from San Diego safari park - to Oman. Further reintroductions have since taken place in Saudi Arabia and Israel and iIt is estimated that there are now more than 1,000 Arabian oryx in the wild.

Other species reintroduced to the wild using zoo-bred animals include the European bison and Przewalski's horse. But that is about it, argues Aspinall. "Only a very small number of animals held by European zoos have been the subject of release projects, and third of those species were not rated as threatened," he says. Instead, zoos are cluttered with unthreatened species put there purely to entertain the public: otters and meerkats are common examples.

However, zoo officials reject the idea that their rewilding successes are limited and point to other examples of successfully returning zoo-bred animals to the wild - for example, the Mauritius kestrel. In 1974 only four of these beautiful raptors were known to exist in the wild. It had become the world's rarest bird thanks to habitat loss, introduction of non-native predators, and widespread use of DDT and other pesticides on the island.

A rescue plan was launched by a number of organisations, including the Durrell wildlife park and London Zoo, in a bid to save the Mauritius kestrel from extinction in the wild. "The invasive crab-eating macaque was a particular problem," says Gary Ward, curator of birds at London Zoo. "It had arrived in Mauritius from Asia and was stealing eggs from kestrel nests. So we designed nesting boxes that were longer than a macaque's arm, so they couldn't reach in to snatch eggs. The birds then had a safe place to bring up their young."

Gentoo penguin and Mauritius kestrel

Nesting boxes, in combination with other conservation measures, allowed numbers of Mauritius kestrels to rise to about 800 - although these have dipped slightly in recent years.

Other zoo-led rewilding successes have ranged from the spectacular, such as the Californian condor which was restored to the skies above the western US last century, thanks to the release of young birds bred in San Diego - to the minuscule, such as the return of the tiny partula snail, native to Huahine and Moorea in the Society Islands, French Polynesia, from populations bred in London, Edinburgh, Chester and Amsterdam zoos.

However, zoo opponents argue that these reintroductions remain infrequent and do not justify the keeping of other, unthreatened wild animals, a point taken up by Sam Threadgill of Freedom for Animals, which has campaigned for the abolition of zoos for several decades.

Together with Born Free, Freedom for Animals has studied zoos in England and Wales and concluded that only a small percentage of their animals are endangered species, and only about 15% are threatened.

"It is a simple fact that the vast majority of animals kept in zoos are not endangered or threatened and are there simply to provide public entertainment," he says.

Aspinall goes further. He maintains that many large mammals kept in zoos - lions, elephants, and rhinos, for example - are inbred or diseased or have the wrong genetic profiles to reintroduce to the wild, where they could further weaken wild populations already struggling to survive. "So why are they being 'arked' in the first place?" he asks.

The infrequency of releases of zoo-bred animals into the wild is acknowledged by Dominic Jermey, director general of the Zoological Society of London, but interpreted in a different way: "The truth is that many 'wild' areas are no longer viable habitats for animals - and reintroduction is much more complicated than people might realise. Many of the world's most threatened species are living in habitats degraded by agriculture, threatened by disease or hemmed into tiny areas with no way of reaching potential mates without coming into conflict with humans."

For his part, Aspinall points to conservation successes that he believes can be achieved with key endangered species without any input from zoos. First, he plans to gradually empty his two zoos - at Howletts and at Port Lympne, near Folkestone - and use these to help set up large groups of animals - gorillas, rhinos, lions and others - in protected reserves in Africa. "A particular animal would be given homes at several reserves so that if one got into trouble for some reason - civil war, for example - there would be other sources that could resupply the reserve once those troubles had been sorted."

The majority of animals in zoos are not endangered or threatened and are there simply to provide public entertainment.

Sam Threadgill, Freedom for Animals

Aspinall points to the example of the mountain gorilla. Their numbers had fallen to under 250 by the early 1980s. Today the population stands at 1,000. "This is in the country of Gabon, surrounded by aggressive habitat destruction, civil war and poaching - and all done without any captive breeding."

The crucial point of this plan is that animals would not be kept behind bars but left to roam in their homeland. And instead of money being spent on zoos, funds would go directly to conservation.

But the idea of closing zoos to boost funds for conservation is challenged by Mark Pilgrim, chief executive of Chester Zoo. His organisation has a total annual budget of £47m.

"That money is raised virtually entirely from people paying at our doors to get in," he says. "After you deduct our running costs and cash for new development, we have around £1.5m and that goes on conservation in the field - work that includes studies of chimpanzees in Nigeria and sun bears in Asia and a programme to reintroduce eastern black rhinos to Uganda. If we simply closed our doors, as some people have suggested, our funding of these conservation projects would come to an immediate halt."

He quotes as an example Nigeria's Gashaka Gumti national park, which houses the last reserve of the highly endangered Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee. "Chimpanzees here live in forests that are less dense and drier than where other members of the species live in other parts of Africa," says Andrew Moss, a lead conservation scientist at Chester. "Their diets are rich in insects, and we have found they are amazingly adept at making tools that are just right for getting a different type of insect.

"The crucial point is that if we had closed our gates at Chester, the research camp we support at Gashaka Gumti would have been badly hit and this crucial field work threatened."

Nor is it merely money for conservation work that makes zoos important, say supporters. Expertise built up in zoos is also crucial. Over the past few years, wild vulture populations in India and Nepal have crashed from about 40 million to a few thousand because of the use of diclofenac, a livestock anti-inflammatory drug that is highly poisonous to vultures who eat their carcasses.

"We have been closely involved in conservation work, and our expertise in building aviaries on site to protect the last few vultures - and in treating sick animals - has been tremendously useful," says Nic Masters, assistant director of wildlife health at London Zoo.

In the end, these efforts and other attempts at conservation may prove futile in a world challenged by climate change, habitat loss and swelling numbers of humans, as Draper argues. "Keeping alive a handful of the last of a sub-species starts to look like fool's errand because this tiny population is destined either to a life in captivity in perpetuity or to extinction. Neither of those two options is particularly attractive in anyone's book, I would say. The damage has been done."

This view is contested by scientists who still believe there is time to save species and who argue, strenuously, that zoos have a role to play as arks for threatened wildlife. This idea is backed by primatologist Jane Goodall, whose pioneering studies of chimpanzees in the wild have revealed the complex lives led by humanity's closest biological relatives.

"Groups who believe all zoos should be closed have not spent the time I have out in the wild," she once said. "They haven't seen the threats destroying chimpanzee habitat; they don't understand what it's like to watch a chimp struggle, wounded and lame from a wire snare. But I do."

The first zoo

Until the early 19th century, collections of exotic animals were usually owned by kings and queens and were symbols of royal power. This changed with the establishment of the Zoological Society of London in Regent's Park in 1828. This was the world's first scientific zoo and was intended to be a collection of unusual beasts for scientific study.

The camel enclosure at Regent's Park Zoological Gardens in 1835. Photograph: Heritage Images/Getty Images

The collection was eventually opened to the public in 1847. A couple of decades later, the music hall song Walking in the Zoo was made popular by Alfred Vance and is notable for first popularising, in Britain, the word "zoo" as a short form of "zoological gardens" in addition to the Americanism "O.K." in the song's chorus: "Walking in the Zoo, walking in the Zoo/The O.K. thing on Sunday is walking in the Zoo."

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Cruel or kind? Education and conservation are cited as reasons for keeping wild animals in captivity, but many critics say zoos are outdated relics of a less enlightened era. We hear what both sides say

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-weve-lost-the-species-declared-extinct-in-2020/

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A few months ago a group of scientists warned about the rise of " extinction denial," an effort much like climate denial to mischaracterize the extinction crisis and suggest that human activity isn't really having a damaging effect on ecosystems and the whole planet.

That damaging effect is, in reality, impossible to deny.

This past year scientists and conservation organizations declared that a long list of species may have gone extinct, including dozens of frogs, orchids and fish. Most of these species haven't been seen in decades, despite frequent and regular expeditions to find out if they still exist. The causes of these extinctions range from diseases to invasive species to habitat loss, but most boil down to human behavior.

Of course, proving a negative is always hard, and scientists are often cautious about declaring species truly lost. Do it too soon, they warn, and the last conservation efforts necessary to save a species could evaporate, a problem known as the Romeo and Juliet Effect. Because of that, and because many of these species live in hard-to-survey regions, many of the announcements this past year declared species possibly or probably lost, a sign that hope springs eternal.

And there's reason for that hope: When we devote energy and resources to saving species, it often works. A study published in 2019 found that conservation efforts have reduced bird extinction rates by 40 percent. Another recent paper found that conservation actions have prevented dozens of bird and mammal extinctions over just the past few decades. The new paper warns that many of the species remain critically endangered, or could still go extinct, but we can at least stop the bleeding.

And sometimes we can do better than that. This year the IUCN-the organization that tracks the extinction risk of species around the world- announced several conservation victories, including the previously critically endangered Oaxaca treefrog ( Sarcohyla celata), which is now considered "near threatened" due to protective actions taken by the people who live near it.

"We can turn things around. We don't just have to sit there and cry," says conservation scientist Stuart Pimm, founder of the organization Saving Nature.

But at the same time, we need to recognize what we've lost, or potentially lost. We can mourn them and vow to prevent as many others as possible from joining their ranks.

With that in mind, here are the species that scientists and the conservation community declared lost in 2020, culled from media reports, scientific papers, the IUCN Red List and my own reporting.

32 orchid species in Bangladesh-One of the first papers of 2020 to report any extinctions announced the probable loss of 17 percent of Bangladesh's 187 known orchid species. Some of these still exist in other countries, but even regional extinctions (or extirpations, as they're called) tell us that we've taken a toll on our ecological habitats. A similar paper published just days later suggested that nine more orchid species from Madagascar may have also gone extinct.

65 North American plants-This past year researchers set out to determine how many plants in the continental United States had been lost. They catalogued 65, including five small trees, eight shrubs, 37 perennial herbs and 15 annual herbs. Some of these had been reported before, but for most this is the first time they've been declared extinct. The list includes Marshallia grandiflora, a large flowing plant from the American Southeast that was declared its own species this past year. Too bad it was last seen in 1919 (and has been confused with other species for even longer).

22 frog species-The IUCN this year declared nearly two dozen long-unseen Central and South American frog species as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)"-victims of the amphibian-killing chytrid fungus. They include the Aragua robber frog (Pristimantis anotis), which hasn't been observed in 46 years, and the Piñango stubfoot toad (Atelopus pinangoi), which mostly disappeared in the 1980s. A single juvenile toad observed in 2008 leads scientists to say this species "is either possibly extinct or if there is still an extant population, that it is very small (<50 mature individuals)."

Chiriqui harlequin frog (Atelopus chiriquiensis) and -Last seen in 1996 and 1992, these frogs from Costa Rica and Panama fell victim to the chytrid fungus and were declared extinct in December.

15 percent of mite species-This requires a lot more research, but a paper published this past August announced "evidence of widespread mite extinctions" following similar disappearances of plants and vertebrates. Mites may not look or sound important, but they play key roles in their native ecosystems. If 15 percent of the world's 1.25 million mite species were lost by the year 200, we're talking tens to hundreds of thousands of extinctions-a number the researchers predict will continue to rise.

Simeulue Hill mynas-An alarming paper called this an "extinction-in-process" of a previously undescribed bird that probably went extinct in the wild in the past two to three years due to overcollection for the songbird trade. A few may still exist in captivity-for now.

17 freshwater fish from Lake Lanao, Mindanao, the Philippines -A combination of predatory invasive species, overharvesting and destructing fishing methods (such as dynamite fishing) wiped these lost species out. The IUCN this year listed 15 of the species as "extinct" following extensive searches and surveys; the remaining two as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)." The predators, by the way, are still doing just fine. Here are the 15 extinct species:

Agave lurida-Last seen in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2001, this succulent was finally declared extinct in the wild this year after numerous expeditions searching for remaining plants. As the IUCN Red List notes, "There are only a few specimens left in ex-situ collections, which is a concern for the extinction of the species in the near future."

Wolseley conebush (Leucadendron spirale)-Another South African plant, this one last seen in 1933 and since extensively sought after, including high rewards for its rediscovery. The IUCN says the cause of its extinction is unknown "but is likely the result of habitat loss to crop cultivation, alien plant invasion and afforestation." Oh yeah, and it probably didn't help that in 1809 a scientist wrote that the species possessed " little beauty " and discouraged it from further collection.

Euchorium cubense-Last seen in 1924, this Cuban flowing plant-the only member of its genus-has long been assumed lost. The IUCN characterized it as extinct in 2020 along with Banara wilsonii, another Cuban plant last seen in 1938 before its habitat was cleared for a sugarcane plantation.

-This critically endangered species still hangs on in a few other countries, and in captivity, but the death of the last individual in Tunisia marked one more country in which the gazelle has now been extirpated and serves as a stark reminder to keep the rest from fading away.

This essay first appeared on The Revelator on January 6, 2021

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What We’ve Lost: The Species Declared Extinct in 2020

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A few months ago a group of scientists warned about the rise of " extinction denial," an effort much like climate denial to mischaracterize the extinction crisis and suggest that human activity isn't really having a damaging effect on ecosystems and the whole planet. That damaging effect is, in reality, impossible to deny.

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https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/wildlife-climateimpact.htm

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NPS Photo / Graphic by 4C

Climate change has produced a number of threats to wildlife throughout our parks. Rising temperatures lower many species survival rates due to changes that lead to less food, less successful reproduction, and interfering with the environment for native wildlife. These detrimental changes are already apparent in our National Capital Area parks.

Rising Temperatures and Invasive Species

Rising temperatures risk destabilizing the balance between wildlife and their ecosystem. As plants adapt to changing warming patterns, usually by blooming earlier or shifting to cooler locations, the wildlife that has adapted to them will be forced to face new environments.

Some species will struggle to find nutritious enough food to fit their existing gut biomes. Pollinators, for example, must feed from flowers that are blooming earlier in the year. Other animals may find their habitats are no longer able to support their biology.

However, it is also possible that some animals will do better in a warmer climate. Those species will outcompete others, expanding their own territory and food sources. But not all wildlife belong where they flourish. When species adapted to their environments lose their natural advantages, that leaves room for invasive species to multiply in the changing environment. Emerald Ash Borers and Gypsy Moths are examples of invasive species commonly found in the National Capital Region that have devastated native communities.

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Wildlife and Climate Change (U.S. National Park Service)

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Wildife in the National Parks will be negatively affected by climate change. Here's how parks in the National Capital Area are adapting.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53474445

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Helen Briggs and Victoria GillScience correspondents, BBC News

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Climate change: Polar bears could be lost by 2100

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Scientists say we have time to save polar bears if we act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/27/one-in-five-reptiles-face-extinction-in-devastating-blow-to-biodiversity-aoe

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More than a fifth of all reptile species are threatened with extinction, which could have a "devastating" impact on the planet, a new study warns.

The largest ever analysis of the state of the world's reptiles, published in Nature, found that 21% of reptile species are facing extinction. From lizards to snakes, such a loss could have disastrous impacts on ecosystems around the world, the study says.

"We would lose a combined 15.6bn years of evolutionary history if each of the 1,829 threatened reptiles became extinct," said Neil Cox, co-leader of the study and manager of the biodiversity assessment unit at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). "This is evolution that we could never get back. It would be a devastating loss.

"If we remove reptiles, it could change ecosystems radically, with unfortunate knock-on effects, such as increases in pest insects," he added. "Biodiversity, including reptiles, underpins the ecosystem services that provide a healthy environment for people."

Fifty-two experts analysed data from the Global Reptile Assessment, which has received contributions from more than 900 scientists across six continents in the past 17 years. While 1,829 of 10,196 species are known to be threatened, the status of 1,489 could not be determined. Allowing for these data deficient species, the authors estimate that, in total, 21% are threatened.

Loss of forest habitat is threatening the survival of the king cobra in the jungles of southern and southeast Asia. Photograph: Johannes Els/IUCN

The study was led by NatureServe, the IUCN and Conservation International.

Although many reptiles live in arid environments such as deserts and scrubland, most species occur in forests, where they suffer from threats such as logging and conversion of land for agriculture. The study found 30% of forest-dwelling reptiles are at risk of extinction, compared with 14% in arid habitats. The king cobra ( Ophiophagus hannah), for example, listed as globally 'vulnerable', is declining across much of its range in Asia, largely due to the loss of forest habitat.

Hunting is also a major threat to reptiles, especially turtles and crocodiles, half of which are at risk of extinction. Another major contributing factor is the introduction of invasive species.

Like birds or freshwater fish, reptiles tend to be less popular than iconic species of land mammals or marine life, but more reptile species are threatened than birds, suggesting more work is needed to protect them, said Mike Hoffmann, head of wildlife recovery at the Zoological Society of London, and one of the scientists involved with the study.

"From turtles that breathe through their genitals to chameleons the size of a chickpea and giant tortoises that can live to more than 100, they're utterly fascinating. Our hope is that this first-ever assessment of the world's 10,000-plus reptiles helps put them in the spotlight and goes some way to highlighting this diversity, and just how much we have to lose."

An Arabian helmeted turtle. Hunting and invasive species are major threats to turtles. Photograph: Johannes Els

As well as controlling rats, mosquitoes and other "pests", reptiles deliver many other benefits. "They help disperse seeds, especially in island environments," said Hoffmann. "We've also achieved many medical advances from studies of reptiles. Snake venom, for example, has resulted in critical drug discoveries, including for treating hypertension.

"The impending loss [of reptile species] could lead to wide-ranging and unforeseen impacts on our environment and our own wellbeing."

In Australia, home to about 10% of the world's species, reptiles face a growing number of threats. "Most of Australia's threatened reptiles have declined due to habitat loss and predation by invasive cats and foxes," said Nicki Mitchell from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia, who also contributed to the study.

"Climate change is an emerging threat to species confined to small fragments of habitat, as the microclimates they occupy will change and may no longer be optimal for a population to thrive."

The rare horned anole lizard, pictured in Ecuador. It was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 2005. Photograph: Philip Bowles/Conservation International

The study is not all doom. Scientists noted that conservation efforts to help other animals are likely to be protecting reptile species as collateral. "We found, surprisingly, that if you set out to protect places where threatened birds, mammals and amphibians live together, you'll simultaneously protect many more threatened reptiles," said Bruce Young, co-leader of the study, and chief zoologist and senior conservation scientist at NatureServe.

Yet reptiles also require direct, global, efforts to protect them, said Cox. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity is scheduled to convene Cop15's second phase in Kunming, China, later this year, where governments will negotiate new targets to protect biodiversity, including reptiles.

"We need solid conservation plans, global policy agreement, and to have countries fully invest in turning around the looming biodiversity crisis if we are to prevent the ongoing extinction catastrophe," he said.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features

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One in five reptiles faces extinction in what would be a 'devastating' blow

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More than a fifth of all reptile species are threatened with extinction, which could have a "devastating" impact on the planet, a new study warns. The largest ever analysis of the state of the world's reptiles, published in Nature, found that 21% of reptile species are facing extinction.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/climate/endangered-animals-extinct.html

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Protected Too Late: U.S. Officials Report More Than 20 Extinctions (Published 2021)

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The animals and one plant had been listed as endangered species. Their stories hold lessons about a growing global biodiversity crisis.

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https://earth.org/endangered-species-day/

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Hundreds of thousands of animals around the world are threatened by human action and climate change and are in need of protection and conservation efforts. Join us we take a look at the top 10 most endangered animals in the world in 2023, according to WWF.
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10 of the World's Most Endangered Animals in 2023

1. Amur Leopard

First on the list of the world's most endangered animals in 2022 is the amur leopard. Between 2014 and 2015, only around 92 individuals were left in their natural range. This number is now estimated to be around 84. They are extremely vulnerable to poachers, who kill them for their coats and bones, the latter of which is sold for use in traditional Asian medicine. They are at risk of habitat loss due to natural and man-made fires. Climate change is also leading to a decrease in prey availability.

2. Rhino

Rhinos are one of the most poached animals on the planet. Their horns are used in traditional Chinese medicine and displayed as a symbol and demonstration of wealth. A Javan rhino horn can sell for up to USD$30,000 per kg on the black market. Because of poaching, three of the five species of rhinos are among the most endangered animals in 2022: the black rhino, the Javan rhino and the Sumatran rhino. The Javan rhino is the closest to extinction with only around 60 individuals left, all of which are in Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia, while black rhino population is estimated to be around 5,500 individuals.
You might also like: 6 Facts About Black Rhinos
3. Orangutan

The two kinds of orangutan - the Bornean and the Sumatran Orangutan - have both experienced sharp declines in populations. A century ago there were probably more than 230,000 orangutans in total, but the Bornean orangutan is now estimated at about 104,700 based on updated geographic range and the Sumatran about 13,846. They are primarily threatened by habitat loss from human-caused deforestation for palm oil.

4. Gorilla

There are two species of gorillas, the Eastern gorilla and the Western gorilla, which both have two subspecies. Three out of four are Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The only one that isn't is the Mountain Gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla, which is considered Endangered.

There are only around 200-300 adult Cross River Gorillas left in the wild. Like many endangered animals, their decline is mostly due to poaching, habitat loss, disease and human conflict. Gorillas are also slow to recover as they have a low reproductive rate, with females only giving birth every four to six years. One female will breed three or four times in her lifetime.

5. Saola

Often called the Asian unicorn, the saola is one of the rarest mammals on the planet and for this reason, it makes the list of the world's most endangered animals in 2022. It was first discovered in 1992 in the Annamite Range in Vietnam and is rarely seen. No formal surveys have been undertaken to determine accurate population numbers, but the IUCN estimates the total saola population to be less than 750, likely to be much less.

6. Vaquita

As both the smallest and most endangered marine mammal in the world, the vaquita has been classified as critically endangered by the IUCN since 1996 and experts say there m ay only be about 10 individuals left , despite extensive conservation efforts. Their biggest threat is from the illegal fishing of totoaba, a large fish in demand because of its swim bladder. Vaquitas accidentally end up entangled in the gillnets set for totoaba and drown because they can no longer swim to the surface to breathe. Conservation efforts led to the introduction of a ban on gillnets in vaquita habitat back in July 2016, but illegal fishing continues, and the threat remains. Efforts now focus on enforcing the ban on gillnets and persecuting those that use them. Conservationists are also working to decrease demand for totoaba, which is a protected species.
You might also like: Top Vaquitas Facts to Know About
7. Sunda Tiger

Of all the big cats, tigers are the closest to extinction. with fewer than 3,900 tigers remaining in the wild, they exist in only 4% of their historic range. Sunda tigers in particular are especially vulnerable. With numbers estimated to be at fewer than 400 today, accelerating deforestation and rampant poaching mean it could end up extinct like its Javan and Balinese counterparts. Despite increased efforts in tiger conservation - including strengthening law enforcement and anti poaching capacity - a substantial market remains in Sumatra and other parts of Asia for tiger parts and products.

8. Yangtze Finless Porpoise

Finless porpoises live in the Yangtze River in China. Unfortunately, they are vulnerable to fishing; even though they are not directly targeted by fishermen, large numbers of the species die when they become accidentally entangled in fishing gear. The waters they live in are also constantly busy with fishermen and people using the waterways to move around, so they get injured and killed by boats and ships. Additionally, their waters are also affected by high levels of toxic pollutants. There are between 1,000 and 1,800 finless porpoises left in the Yangtze. The annual decline rate of 13% means these animals are expected to become extinct within 10 years if there are no effective conservation actions in place.

9. Turtle

Two species of sea turtle are critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hawksbill Turtles and Kemps Ridley Turtles, while Leatherback sea turtles are classified as vulnerable, though the population is decreasing and several subpopulations are facing extinction. Hunting is one of the biggest threats to sea turtles, with poachers targeting their eggs, shells, meat and skin. They are also at risk from habitat loss, bycatch and pollution as well as climate change. Sand temperature determines the sex of hatchlings with eggs developing as females in warmer temperatures. That means even small temperature changes could skew the sex ratio of populations.

Recent estimates show us that there are nearly 6.5 million sea turtles left in the wild with very different numbers for each species. Population estimates for the hawksbill turtle range from 83,000 to possibly only 57,000 individuals left worldwide. Kemp's Ridley and Flatback turtles each have a very narrow distribution, with less than 10 000 individuals left for each species (medium estimates: 25,000 and 69,000 respectively).
You might also like: 10 of the Most Endangered Species in the Ocean
10. Elephant

Last on the list of the world's most endangered animals in 2022 are elephants. While some populations of African elephants are increasing, primarily in southern Africa, numbers are continuing to fall in other areas, particularly in central Africa and parts of East Africa. With an estimated 415,000 elephants left on the continent, the species is regarded as vulnerable, although certain populations are being poached towards extinction. Asian elephant numbers have dropped by at least 50% over the last three generations, and they're still in decline today. With only 40,000-50,000 left in the wild, the species is classified as endangered. However, the species most at risk is the Sumatran elephant, with a population of about 2,400-2,800 individuals.

As we reflect on this list on National Endangered Species Day, let us be reminded of the work that still needs to be done to ensure that these species and all others continue to inhabit the planet for generations to come.
You might also like: 10 of the Most Endangered Species in the Ocean

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National Endangered Species Day 2021: 12 of the Most Endangered Animals in the World

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Orangutans, rhinos, gorillas, turtles, and elephants are just some of the world's most endangered animals in 2023. Read on to find out other species in dire need of protection.

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https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/how-does-deforestation-impact-wildlife-and-biodiversity-what-you-need-to-know

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How does deforestation impact wildlife and biodiversity? What you need to know.

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The impact of deforestation on wildlife and biodiversity, and what our projects are doing to help.

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https://vermontwoodsstudios.com/blog/species-going-extinct-habitat-destruction-deforestation/

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When an environment is incapable of supporting native species due to factors like deforestation and illegal logging, animal populations lose their habitats. This habitat destruction leads to species' homes being uprooted, their food supply diminished, population reproduction decreases, and ultimately the animals have nowhere to turn. Because of all these factors, more species are added to the endangered species list every year.

As part of our mission here at Vermont Woods Studios, a portion of our profits is used to conserve forests, plant trees, and save endangered species from going extinct due to habitat destruction.

Here are some of the most iconic animal species being threatened by global deforestation:

1. Orangutans

Orangutans, coming from the Malay language meaning "man of the forest," share 96.4% of our human genes. Sadly, due to illegal logging, unsustainable forestry habits, forest fires, and palm oil plantations, all species of orangutans are critically endangered. Female orangutans are only able to give birth to one baby every 3-5 years, putting orangutans at an even higher risk to recover from population decline.

2. Sumatran Rhinos

Today, the Sumatran Rhino can only be found in the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Since Indonesia and Malaysia produce more than 85% of the world's palm oil, their habitat continues to decline due to clear-cutting. With a staggering 80 Sumatran Rhinos left on Earth, it is critical to put our best efforts forward in protecting them. On top of that, because of their extremely low population, it is incredibly difficult to find a mate for reproduction. It has been stated that only two captive females have successfully reproduced in the last 15 years.

3. Chimpanzees

Did you know that humans share about 98% of our genes with chimpanzees, making them our closest cousins? Due to deforestation and poaching, chimpanzees have already disappeared from four countries: Gambia, Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin. In the early 1900s, it was estimated that over 1 million chimpanzees roamed Earth. Today, estimates predict only 172,00-300,000 chimpanzees are left, classifying them as an endangered species.

4. Mountain Gorilla

Did you know, Mountain Gorillas live at elevations between 8,000 to 13,000 feet in the mountainous forests of Rwanda and Uganda? Although Mountain Gorillas have thick fur to protect them from below-freezing temperatures, they can only stay at high elevation climates for short periods of time. Due to new infrastructure and buildings by humans, Mountain Gorillas have been forced to live in even higher elevations for longer periods of time, sometimes in deadly conditions.

5. Giant Panda

Pandas need access to bamboo for survival. Did you know, Panda's need to eat 24 to 84 pounds of bamboo per day? With the increasing loss of forests in southwest China, Pandas have difficulties finding new bamboo sources and potential mates to help repopulate their species.

6. Pygmy Sloth

Out of the six species of currently living sloths, the Pygmy Sloth is the only one on the critically endangered list. However, the other five species are threatened due to habitat loss as deforestation increases within the Amazon rainforest. Why does this matter? Sloths are extremely dependent on the health of trees, as they solely rely on them for shelter and food. Without an abundance of trees, sloths' shelter and food sources are deeply threatened. Did you know that sloths only come down from trees once a week to go to the bathroom?

7. Monarch Butterflies

The monarch butterfly spends its winters in Mexico and its summers in Canada and the United States, including Vermont. However, as cities in Mexico grow larger, the monarch butterfly habitat is increasingly at risk due to the clear-cutting of forests. On the other hand, the impact of herbicide use on the milkweed plant (monarch butterflies' primary food source) in the United States is making it extremely difficult for them to survive. A recent study hosted in Mexico, indicated a 53% population decrease since the previous season.

8. Bornean Pygmy Elephant

The Bornean Pygmy Elephant is the smallest size elephant out of the Asian elephant subspecies, with approximately 1,500 remaining in Borneo. Due to the significant expansion of palm oil plantations, their habitat is under constant distress. Although they are the smallest size elephant out of the group, they still need a sufficient amount of land to find food. With the forest size continually shrinking, it makes it increasingly difficult to find adequate food sources and shelter.

9. Big Cats

Many species of big cats are critically endangered, including lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards. These animals are severely impacted by deforestation in tropical areas, as well as big game hunting.

Why are clear-cutting and illegal logging still happening? Clear-cutting is becoming increasingly popular due to our consumption habits of furniture, meat, and palm oil, amongst other things.

How can you help out? By educating yourself on where your products are coming from. Taking the extra step to research a company and their sustainable practices. By doing so, we can all play a role in lessening the negative effects of deforestation that lead to species extinction.

At Vermont Woods Studio, standing up against illegal logging and deforestation is written into our DNA. That's why we source our wood locally in New England. We believe by raising awareness and providing an environmentally sustainable alternative for wood furniture, we hope to do our part to preserve and protect one of our planet's most valuable resources.

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9 Species Going Extinct Due to Habitat Destruction & Deforestation

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When an environment is incapable of supporting native species due to factors like deforestation and illegal logging, animal populations lose their habitats. This habitat destruction leads to species' homes being uprooted, their food supply diminished, population reproduction decreases, and ultimately the animals have n

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https://www.ifaw.org/journal/wildfires-impact-wildlife#:~:text=Thick%20smoke%20from%20fires%20can,the%202020%E2%80%932021%20Australia%20bushfires.

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Warming conditions, drier climates, and increased droughts are causing wildfires to occur more frequently around the world. Moving at great force and speed, wildfires have dire consequences for animals and ecosystems. © gilitukha - stock.adobe.com

Like all natural disasters these days, wildfires are becoming more prevalent across the globe. In recent years, we've seen tragedies unfold one after the other- like the 2020 bushfires in New South Wales, Australia that killed an estimated 480 million animals. And the North Complex wildfire in California that left more than 318,000 acres burned and displacing local wildlife like deer, bears and coyotes.

Unlike people, who rely on news channels and emergency alerts to warn of an approaching wildfire, animals rely on their innate abilities. Many animals use their keen sense of smell and awareness of their surroundings to detect early signs of a fire, but sometimes there's just not enough time to flee to safety. Small animals like reptiles and amphibians who cannot outrun the fire will shelter in burrows or under rocks. In other cases, wild animals with young ones or those trapped by man-made structures, like fences, may not be able to escape. Whether left to face a wildfire head on or at a seemingly safe distance, all kinds of wildlife-mammals, birds, and fish-are greatly impacted by these disasters.

Physical injury from wildfires

For animals trapped in the path of a wildfire, the impacts can be life-threatening (or debilitating). Thick smoke from fires can disorient animals, irritate their eyes, and cause difficulty breathing. Burns cause extreme pain and can lead to mass wildlife mortalities, as seen with the koalas in the 2020-2021 Australia bushfires.

It's not just land animals who suffer from wildfires-fish and marine mammals are greatly impacted as well. When wildfires burn plastics and non-natural materials, the leftover residue causes heavy run-off of toxins that can contaminate bodies of water. Burnt plants and brush disintegrate into nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. When rain sweeps high concentrations of these nutrients into aquatic ecosystems, dangerous algae blooms may occur that can lead to loss of underwater oxygen and dead zones.

IFAW's Disaster Response team deployed to New South Wales to help support local wildlife carers in the aftermath of the 2019-2020 bushfires. Pictured above, a rescued koala undergoes rehabilitation at Mosswood Wildlife, where it will return to the wild once healthy. Photo: Melanie Mahoney/© IFAW

Loss of habitat

One of the most dangerous aspects of wildfires is their ability to spread quickly and wipe out critical habitat. Wildfires can burn through a forest at a speed of 10 kilometers (6 miles) an hour. Loss of habitat greatly impacts all animals. Species that annually return to the same breeding ground and nesting sites are especially threatened by wildfires. In some cases, it can take years for a species to recover after missing a breeding season and reestablishing a secure home.

Limited food and water sources

Food sources are often destroyed or contaminated during wildfires, leaving wildlife with no choice but to enter a new territory beyond their home range. As the animals travel in search of food and habitat, they are at risk of additional threats like vehicle strikes, attacks from domestic pets, and new predators. Once they arrive at a new territory, they often face territorial disputes and have to compete with other animals over limited resources. In times of disasters like wildfires, it's very common to see wildlife in unusual places as they disperse in search of resources and safe land.

In September of 2020, IFAW's Disaster Response team deployed to Butte County in Northern California to help rescue animals impacted by the North Complex wildfire. Photo: Julia Cumes/© IFAW

What you can do to protect wildlife from wildfires

Become more aware of your own natural surroundings to include your forests and bodies of water. Learn about your local wildlife and consult local authorities on how to reduce any negative impact of wildfires on wildlife habitats and well-being.

During a wildfire, provide wildlife space to flee by keeping your pets leashed or inside to prevent any conflict situations. Watch for wildlife fleeing the fires on or near roadways. If you live in an urban or suburban area, you may encounter more wildlife than normal since they are running to a safer place.

If you come across an injured wild animal, contact local authorities before intervening so that they send experienced wildlife personnel to help or provide appropriate advice. Human interaction by well-meaning people can sometimes lead to further injuries for the animal, and puts the person at risk as well.

It is so important to perform regular population surveys and risk assessments wherever wildlife live before a fire or other natural disaster. Support local conservation efforts and advocate for your local groups that survey wildlife populations. Reach out local conservation groups to explore opportunities to create and maintain healthy ecosystems.

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Like all natural disasters these days, wildfires are becoming more prevalent across the globe. In recent years, we've seen tragedies unfold one after the other- like the 2020 bushfires in New South Wales, Australia that killed an estimated 480 million animals.

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https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/explainer-how-wildfires-impact-wildlife-their-habitat

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The porcupines were walking slow and funny, more so than they usually do.

Their stride concerned some residents in a South Lake Tahoe neighborhood who called a rehabilitation center. Turns out, the porcupines had extensive burns to their paws, fur, quills and faces after a wildfire burned through the area.

Wildlife centers in the U.S. West are caring for animals that weren't able to flee the flames or are looking for food in burned-over places.

An emaciated turkey vulture recently found on the Lake Tahoe shore couldn't fly, likely because food isn't as plentiful in burned areas, said Denise Upton, the animal care director at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

"That's what we're seeing in the aftermath of the fires - just animals that are having a hard time and being pushed into areas they are not traditionally in," she said.

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IS FIRE GOOD OR BAD FOR WILDLIFE?
Not necessarily either, says Brian Wolfer, the game program manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"It's a disturbance on the landscape that changes habitat," he said.

Some species benefit from wildfire, such as raptors that hunt rodents running from the flames, beetles that move into dead wood and lay eggs, and woodpeckers that feed on them and nest in hollow trees.

Fire exposes new grass, shrubs and vegetation in the flowering stage that feed elk and deer. When food sources are plentiful, female deer produce more milk and fawns grow faster, Wolfer said.

On the flip side, animals that depend on old growth forests can struggle for decades trying to find suitable habitat if trees fall victim to fire, Wolfer said. If sagebrush burns, sage grouse won't have food in winter or a place to hide from predators and raise their young, he said.

"In the years that follow, you see reduced survival and, over time, that population starts to decline," he said.

Some wildfires burn in a mosaic, preserving some habitat. But the hotter and faster they burn, the harder it is for less mobile animals to find suitable habitat, he said.

___
HOW ANIMALS RESPOND TO WILDFIRE
Mice, squirrels and other burrowing animals dig into cooler ground, bears climb trees, deer and bobcats run, small animals take cover in logs and birds fly to escape the flames, heat and smoke.

"They almost seem to have a sixth sense to it," said Julia Camp, a resources manager for the Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona. "A lot of times their response is quicker than ours."

Firefighters have spotted tortoises with singed feet at the edge of wildfires, snakes slithering out from the woods and frail red-tailed hawks on the ground.

Biologists can take precautionary measures, like moving introductory pens for Mexican gray wolves or scooping up threatened or endangered fish if they know a fire is approaching, Camp said.

In 2012, a team of biologists went in after a massive lightning-sparked wildfire in the Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico to save Gila trout from potential floods of ash, soil and charred debris that would come with heavy rainfall. The fish were sent to hatcheries that replicated their habitat until they could be returned.

Some animals don't survive wildfires, but their deaths don't greatly affect the overall population, wildlife officials say.

___
HOW WILDLIFE FACTORS INTO FIRE MANAGEMENT
When wildfires break out in northern Arizona, Camp pulls out her maps. She can see where Mexican spotted owls live, which fish live in which waterways, and where bald and golden eagles nest.

"If we're going to put a dozer line in, it won't be in the middle of their nesting area," she said. "But if something is barreling toward Flagstaff, we're going to have to put out the fire regardless."

Some of those decisions are driven by the federal Endangered Species Act.

In 2015, a wildfire was threatening the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast. Firefighters cut low-lying branches from old pine trees where the red-cockaded woodpecker nests and burned other potential fuel.

"What ended up happening is the fire did approach that area, but because of these measures, it did not affect the nesting areas of the woodpecker," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Kari Cobb.

Firefighters also can starve wildfires of fuel using backburns so flames burn at the base of trees rather than more intensely in the crowns and threatening wildlife habitat.

Other considerations are in play when dropping fire retardant so chemicals don't affect water sources or suffocate sensitive plants.

Wildfire managers also try to avoid transferring mussels, fungi or non-native plants that might hitchhike in helicopter buckets by carefully choosing water sources or disinfecting buckets, Camp said.

___

"It's a disturbance on the landscape that changes habitat," he said.

Some species benefit from wildfire, such as raptors that hunt rodents running from the flames, beetles that move into dead wood and lay eggs, and woodpeckers that feed on them and nest in hollow trees.

Fire exposes new grass, shrubs and vegetation in the flowering stage that feed elk and deer. When food sources are plentiful, female deer produce more milk and fawns grow faster, Wolfer said.

On the flip side, animals that depend on old-growth forests can struggle for decades trying to find suitable habitat if trees fall victim to fire, Wolfer said. If sagebrush burns, sage grouse won't have food in winter or a place to hide from predators and raise their young, he said.

"In the years that follow, you see reduced survival and, over time, that population starts to decline," he said.

Some wildfires burn in a mosaic, preserving some habitat. But the hotter and faster they burn, the harder it is for less mobile animals to find suitable habitat, he said.

___
HOW ANIMALS RESPOND TO WILDFIRE
Mice, squirrels and other burrowing animals dig into cooler ground, bears climb trees, deer and bobcats run, small animals take cover in logs and birds fly to escape the flames, heat and smoke.

"They almost seem to have a sixth sense to it," said Julia Camp, a resources manager for the Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona. "A lot of times their response is quicker than ours."

Firefighters have spotted tortoises with singed feet at the edge of wildfires, snakes slithering out from the woods and frail red-tailed hawks on the ground.

Biologists can take precautionary measures, like moving introductory pens for Mexican gray wolves or scooping up threatened or endangered fish if they know a fire is approaching, Camp said.

In 2012, a team of biologists went in after a massive lightning-sparked wildfire in the Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico to save Gila trout from potential floods of ash, soil and charred debris that would come with heavy rainfall. The fish were sent to hatcheries that replicated their habitat until they could be returned.

Some animals don't survive wildfires, but their deaths don't greatly affect the overall population, wildlife officials say.

___
HOW WILDLIFE FACTORS INTO FIRE MANAGEMENT
When wildfires break out in northern Arizona, Camp pulls out her maps. She can see where Mexican spotted owls live, which fish live in which waterways, and where bald and golden eagles nest.

"If we're going to put a dozer line in, it won't be in the middle of their nesting area," she said. "But if something is barreling toward Flagstaff, we're going to have to put out the fire regardless."

Some of those decisions are driven by the federal Endangered Species Act.

In 2015, a wildfire was threatening the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast. Firefighters cut low-lying branches from old pine trees where the red-cockaded woodpecker nests and burned other potential fuel.

"What ended up happening is the fire did approach that area, but because of these measures, it did not affect the nesting areas of the woodpecker," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Kari Cobb.

Firefighters also can starve wildfires of fuel using backburns so flames burn at the base of trees rather than more intensely in the crowns and threatening wildlife habitat.

Other considerations are in play when dropping fire retardant so chemicals don't affect water sources or suffocate sensitive plants.

Wildfire managers also try to avoid transferring mussels, fungi or non-native plants that might hitchhike in helicopter buckets by carefully choosing water sources or disinfecting buckets, Camp said.

___
HOW TO SPOT AN INJURED ANIMAL
Injured animals will move slowly or not at all. Experts say the best action for humans is to keep their distance, don't feed the animals and call wildlife officials or a rescue group.

"Sometimes you're not necessarily doing them the favor you think they are if that care is going to result in them becoming habituated, losing their fear for people," Wolfer said. "We have to think by helping it, 'Am I going to reduce its long-term survival potential?' Animals are tough, much tougher than we give them credit for."

The Wildlife Disaster Network based at the University of California, Davis, took in animals from several fires in California last year and from others that burned this year in the Sierra Nevada. Those include a baby flying squirrel, a baby fox and bear cubs.

The staff scans animals for visible wounds and does blood work, X-rays and ultrasounds to develop a rehabilitation plan, said veterinarian Jamie Peyton, who helps lead the network.

"I really think you can't just look at a single being and think 'It's not worth it, it's not worth trying,'" Peyton said.

___
ARE ALL ANIMALS RETURNED TO THE WILD?
Whether an animal can survive in the wild depends on the severity of the burns and the animal's age.

Treating burned adult bears is difficult because they tear off traditional bandages, and if they eat them, it can plug their intestines forcing euthanasia, Peyton said.

A bear she treated in 2017 named Lucy forced her to think differently.

"I really was stuck trying to control the pain, and she wouldn't take the medication, despite my pleas and some doughnuts," Peyton said.

Peyton developed a tilapia skin bandage that's now used on 15 different species, including a porcupine at the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care whose paws were burned. Another porcupines at the center won't be released until its quills grow back so it can defend itself, Upton said.

Adult bears and mountain lions typically are released within eight weeks so they don't get used to humans as caretakers, Peyton said.

Sometimes, animals leave rehabilitation centers on their own terms. A bear cub that was found walking on its elbows was rescued from the Tamarack Fire that's still burning south of Carson City, Nevada, and treated at the Lake Tahoe center. The cub pushed through a malfunctioning door in an outdoor enclosure this summer and left.

"He had really healed quite a bit before he decided he didn't want to be here anymore," Upton said. "I'm pretty confident he's doing OK. He was a wild little bear."

Injured animals will move slowly or not at all. Experts say the best action for humans is to keep their distance, don't feed the animals and call wildlife officials or a rescue group.

"Sometimes you're not necessarily doing them the favor you think they are if that care is going to result in them becoming habituated, losing their fear for people," Wolfer said. "We have to think by helping it, 'Am I going to reduce its long-term survival potential?' Animals are tough, much tougher than we give them credit for."

The Wildlife Disaster Network based at the University of California, Davis, took in animals from several fires in California last year and from others that burned this year in the Sierra Nevada. Those include a baby flying squirrel, a baby fox and bear cubs.

The staff scans animals for visible wounds and does blood work, X-rays and ultrasounds to develop a rehabilitation plan, said veterinarian Jamie Peyton, who helps lead the network.

"I really think you can't just look at a single being and think 'It's not worth it, it's not worth trying,'" Peyton said.

___
ARE ALL ANIMALS RETURNED TO THE WILD?
Whether an animal can survive in the wild depends on the severity of the burns and the animal's age.

Treating burned adult bears is difficult because they tear off traditional bandages, and if they eat them, it can plug their intestines forcing euthanasia, Peyton said.

A bear she treated in 2017 named Lucy forced her to think differently.

"I really was stuck trying to control the pain, and she wouldn't take the medication, despite my pleas and some doughnuts," Peyton said.

Peyton developed a tilapia skin bandage that's now used on 15 different species, including a porcupine at the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care whose paws were burned. Another porcupine at the center won't be released until its quills grow back so it can defend itself, Upton said.

Adult bears and mountain lions typically are released within eight weeks so they don't get used to humans as caretakers, Peyton said.

Sometimes, animals leave rehabilitation centers on their own terms. A bear cub that was found walking on its elbows was rescued from the Tamarack Fire that's still burning south of Carson City, Nevada, and treated at the Lake Tahoe center. The cub pushed through a malfunctioning door in an outdoor enclosure this summer and left.

"He had really healed quite a bit before he decided he didn't want to be here anymore," Upton said. "I'm pretty confident he's doing OK. He was a wild little bear."

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How wildfires impact wildlife and their habitats

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The porcupines were walking slow and funny, more so than they usually do. Their stride concerned some residents in a South Lake Tahoe neighborhood who called a rehabilitation center. Turns out, the porcupines had extensive burns to their paws, fur, quills and faces after a wildfire burned through the area.

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https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/human-induced-disease-outbreak-animals-causes-cascading-ecological-effects

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Human-induced Disease Outbreak in Animals Causes Cascading Ecological Effects

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The increased spread of human-induced diseases to wildlife poses a growing challenge for ecosystem conservation. A Yale School of the Environment-led study that investigated the impacts of a mange outbreak that killed vicuñas in a protected area in the Argentine Andes found that it had unique effect…

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https://mashable.com/article/animals-that-went-extinct-2021

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We live in an age of accelerated extinction.

Today's rate of extinctions - driven by a quintuple-whammy of destroyed wilderness, exploited critters, invasive species, rapid climate change, and widespread pollution - are happening "at least tens to hundreds of times higher" than extinctions occurred over the past 10 million years, the UN concluded in a major 2019 report.

Since the 1500s, at least 680 vertebrate species have permanently disappeared from Earth. And in the relatively short-lived history of the United States, biologists have declared 150 animals and plants extinct here, though the true number is likely hundreds more.

In 2021, extinctions loomed large in the U.S. This September, the Fish and Wildlife Service declared that 23 species, some not seen in decades, had gone extinct and should be taken off the nation's endangered species list. Many of these losses, in the globe's wealthiest nation, weren't inevitable. Neither are future losses.

"Extinction, especially in the U.S., is preventable," Tierra Curry, a conservation biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity, an organization that works to protect endangered species, said in an interview.
"Extinction, especially in the U.S., is preventable."
The loss of species doesn't mean the landmark Endangered Species Act, signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1973 and which seeks to conserve vulnerable species, has failed. It's just the opposite. The law has prevented the extinction of some 291 species, and recovered dozens from their endangered status. And that's with the vast majority of endangered species receiving under 25 percent of the funding needed to recover their populations.

But some species were already in dire straits before the conservation law came into existence. Certain populations had already dwindled so much by the early 1970s that costly conservation efforts were ultimately too little, too late. (The Bald Eagle's recovery, however, is a great success story.)

The list of recently declared extinctions, which includes 22 animal species (many birds and mussels) and one plant species, is certainly grim. But the Fish and Wildlife Service said it should serve as motivation to protect many other endangered, threatened, or increasingly vulnerable species.

"Almost 3 billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970," the agency said in a statement. "These extinctions highlight the need to take action to prevent further losses."

Here are the losses:

It's immensely difficult to declare an extinction. There's the difficulty of observing dwindling (or non-existent) individuals amid remote and forested habitat. And endangered plants can exist in the soil for years as seeds before reappearing. Then, there's the sensitive, trying aspect of acknowledging a lifeform is gone forever.

"It's sad because it's a final giving up of hope," said Curry.

Eventually the mounting evidence, or lack of evidence, compels an agency like the Fish and Wildlife Service to announce extinctions. The agency oversees 1,667 animals and plants in the U.S. currently on the endangered list, so declaring extinctions can afford them more time to address other rare species on the list - or to assess unlisted species that might warrant more protection. "They have no shortage of work to do," noted Curry.
"It's sad because it's a final giving up of hope."
For one well-publicized species, however, not everyone is ready to lose hope. The bird expert Tim Gallagher says he spotted an elusive ivory-billed woodpecker in 2004, though he spooked the bird before he could photograph it in a remote Arkansas swamp. After the Sept. 2021 extinction announcement, Gallagher argued that it's too early to declare the woodpecker extinct. If the bird is no longer on the endangered species list, parts of its habitat can lose critical protection. "And what's the hurry to declare the bird extinct anyway?" he wrote. "Is any harm being done if people have to take a little extra time and thought before clearing vital southern forest habitat to make way for fields of rice and soybeans? These forests are far too important for all the plant and animal species and other life forms that exist within them."

The federal government, however, maintains the last confirmed sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker was in 1944, nearly three decades before Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act.

What can we do?

We're not helpless. You can make a difference.

Although many endangered species can be helped and recovered, everyone should expect more extinction announcements in the coming years. For biologists, unofficial extinctions (among animals like birds, snails, mussels, and beyond) are already almost certain. Officials just haven't announced them yet.

"There are more extinct species on the endangered species list," said Curry.

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Scientists declared these animals extinct in 2021

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In 2021, extinctions loomed large in the U.S. The Fish and Wildlife Service recently declared that 23 species, some not seen in decades, had gone extinct and should be taken off the nation's endangered species list. Many of these losses, in the globe's wealthiest nation, weren't inevitable. Neither are future losses.

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/vanishing-what-we-lose-when-an-animal-goes-extinct-feature

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This story appears in the October 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine.

LIFE, BESIEGED

Most of the animals shown here are among the more than 28,000 species of animals and plants that the International Union for Conservation of Nature says are threatened with extinction. That number actually understates the risk. Since 1964, when the IUCN established a " red list" of threatened species and began compiling data gathered worldwide, the list has become the preeminent global database of endangered life and an essential tool for conservation policy. Yet the IUCN has been able to assess only about 106,000 species of the more than 1.5 million species of animals and more than 300,000 plants that scientists have described and named-which they estimate is less than a quarter of what's really out there. A recent intergovernmental report on the biodiversity crisis estimated that extinction threatens up to a million animal and plant species, known and unknown. The IUCN hopes to raise the number of species assessments to 160,000 by 2020. Next up on its agenda: a " green list " of conservation successes. It will be much shorter than the red one.

THE BIGGEST THREAT: HUMANS

Habitat loss-driven primarily by human expansion as we develop land for housing, agriculture, and commerce-is the biggest threat facing most animal species, followed by hunting and fishing. Even when habitat is not lost entirely, it may be changed so much that animals cannot adapt. Fences fragment a grassland or logging cuts through a forest, breaking up migration corridors; pollution renders a river toxic; pesticides kill widely and indiscriminately. To those local threats one must increasingly add global ones: Trade, which spreads disease and invasive species from place to place, and climate change, which eventually will affect every species on Earth-starting with the animals that live on cool mountaintops or depend on polar ice. All of these threats lead, directly or indirectly, back to humans and our expanding footprint. Most species face multiple threats. Some can adapt to us; others will vanish.

If we lived in an ordinary time- time here being understood in the long, unhurried sense of a geologic epoch-it would be nearly impossible to watch a species vanish. Such an event would occur too infrequently for a person to witness. In the case of mammals, the best-studied group of animals, the fossil record indicates that the "background" rate of extinction, the one that prevailed before humans entered the picture, is so low that over the course of a millennium, a single species should disappear.

But of course we don't live in an ordinary time. Everywhere we look, species are winking out. Just in the past decade, two mammal species have gone extinct: a bat known as the Christmas Island pipistrelle and a rat, the Bramble Cay melomys.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists more than 200 mammal species and subspecies as critically endangered. In some cases, like the Sumatran rhino or the vaquita-a porpoise native to the Gulf of California-there are fewer than a hundred individuals left. In others, like the baiji (also known as the Yangtze River dolphin), the species, though not yet officially declared extinct, has probably died out.

And unfortunately, what goes for mammals goes for just about every other animal group: reptiles, amphibians, fish, even insects. Extinction rates today are hundreds-perhaps thousands-of times higher than the background rate. They're so high that scientists say we're on the brink of a mass extinction.

The last mass extinction, which did in the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago, followed an asteroid impact. Today the cause of extinction seems more diffuse. It's logging and poaching and introduced pathogens and climate change and overfishing and ocean acidification.

But trace all these back and you find yourself face-to-face with the same culprit. The great naturalist E.O. Wilson has noted that humans are the "first species in the history of life to become a geophysical force." Many scientists argue that we have entered a new geologic epoch-the Anthropocene, or age of man. This time around, in other words, the asteroid is us.

What's lost when an animal goes extinct?

One way to think of a species, be it of ape or of ant, is as an answer to a puzzle: how to live on planet Earth. A species' genome is a sort of manual; when the species perishes, that manual is lost. We are, in this sense, plundering a library-the library of life. Instead of the Anthropocene, Wilson has dubbed the era we are entering the Eremozoic-the age of loneliness.

Joel Sartore has been photographing animals for his Photo Ark project for 13 years. In an ever growing number of cases, animals housed in zoos or special breeding facilities are among the last remaining members of their species. In some instances, they are the only members.

Toughie, a Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog from central Panama, lived at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. He became the last known of his kind when a fungal disease swept through his native habitat and a captive-breeding program failed. Toughie died in 2016, and it's likely the Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog is now extinct.

Romeo, a Sehuencas water frog that lives at the natural history museum in Cochabamba, Bolivia, was likewise believed to be a sole survivor. Scientists created an online dating profile for him. It linked to a donation page, and the $25,000 raised helped fund expeditions in the eastern Andes, where the species was once abundant.

Amazingly, the search has revealed five more Sehuencas water frogs, two males and three females. All were taken to Cochabamba; the one female mature enough to breed with Romeo was named Juliet. Whether she will prove a worthy mate and perpetuate the species, no one knows.

Was the Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog beautiful? Not in the flashy way of, say, the Spix's macaw (which is believed to be extinct in the wild) or the Gee's golden langur (which is endangered). But with its expressive brown eyes and gangly limbs, it had its own kind of charm.

Sartore treats all creatures-great and small, handsome and homely-with reverence. His photos capture what's singular and, I'd also like to say, soulful about every living thing. One of my favorite images of Joel's is of a Partula nodosa, or niho tree snail, laying down a trail of slime. There used to be dozens of Partula species in the South Pacific, occupying different islands and different ecological niches. Much like Darwin's finches, they are the darlings of evolutionary biologists-living, slime-producing illustrations of the power of natural selection. The introduction of carnivorous snails from Florida drove nearly a third of the Partula species extinct; several survive solely thanks to captive-breeding programs.

Precisely because extinction takes place so frequently now, it's possible to become inured to it. This desensitizing is what makes Sartore's images so crucial: They show us just how remarkable each species is that's being lost.

We live in an extraordinary time. Perhaps by recognizing this, we can begin to imagine creating a different one-one that preserves, as much as is still possible, the wonderful diversity of life.

THREAT: DISEASE

Since the 1980s, a fungal disease called chytridiomycosis, likely spread through direct contact and by infected water, has ravaged global amphibian populations. More than 500 species have been affected; 90 of these may be extinct. The fungus disrupts transmission of electrolytes through the skin of a frog or toad, ultimately stopping its heart.

THREAT: INVASIVE SPECIES

THREAT: FRAGMENTATION

THREAT: HABITAT LOSS

Butterflies can fly long distances and feed on many types of flowers, but caterpillars are locavores, eating plants they hatch on or near. As those plants are lost to development or farming, butterflies disappear. The ones here aren't listed by the IUCN-which has evaluated only 8,100 insect species-but are considered at risk by other authorities.

THREAT: POACHING

THREAT: DEFORESTATION

For tree-dwelling lemurs, there's no life without the forest-or Madagascar, their only home. Yet the island nation has lost 80 percent of its trees to development, charcoal production, and slash-and-burn agriculture. Lemurs are squeezed into limited protected areas; 38 species are critically endangered. Fuel-efficient stoves are being introduced to encourage people to reduce wood use and protect forest habitat.

Elizabeth Kolbert's most recent book, The Sixth Extinction, won the Pulitzer Prize. Photographer Joel Sartore has been called a modern-day Noah for building the Photo Ark, the world's largest collection of animal studio portraits.

Photo Ark is a joint project of National Geographic and Joel Sartore. Learn more at natgeophotoark.org.

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Animals are disappearing at hundreds of times the normal rate, primarily because of shrinking habitats. Their biggest threat: humans.

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https://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-bees-went-extinct-2019-11

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Bees pollinate more than a third of the world's crops. So what would happen if they went extinct?

For one, it would likely halve the number of fruits and vegetables on supermarket shelves.

Plus, it could drastically alter the food chain, starting with insects and other animals that depend on the plants that bees pollinate.

And, the disappearance of bees could happen sooner than you might expect. In fact, bees have been dying off at record rates for the past decade.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Narrator: Bees might not be your favorite insects out there. After all, their stings can really hurt.

Hand: Ouch!

Narrator: But as far as important species go, bees are near the top of the list. You see, bees are critical pollinators, meaning they're responsible for pollinating more than a third of the crops that feed the world's population. But today, bees are dying off at record rates. So, what would a world without bees look like, and what would that mean for our global food supply?

Narrator: Well, if all the bees on Earth suddenly dropped dead tomorrow, things wouldn't look good for our planet. And that's because pollination is critical to the health of our global ecosystem. It's what allows plants to reproduce and grow the fruits and vegetables humans need for a balanced diet. And the thing is, bees are some of the best pollinators out there. In fact, they've co-evolved with flowering plants over millions of years to become pollinating machines.

Elina Niño: Of course, a lot of them are fuzzy, so they have hairs, or specialized equipment, so to speak, where they can store pollen.

Narrator: Bees help pollinate the reported 84% of crops humans eat that are insect-pollinated. Globally, this accounts for a staggering $235 billion to $577 billion in annual food production. Without bees and other pollinators, supermarket shelves would hold about half the fruits and vegetables they have now, transforming the produce section from this... to this. We wouldn't have luxuries like almonds, apples, or avocados.

Niño: We would also suffer in terms of dairy production. We use alfalfa to feed dairy cattle, and dairy cattle, of course, produces the milk, and the milk is used to produce many dairy products that we eat. When I talk to the kids, all the kids are very disappointed to hear that we might lose ice cream.

Narrator: The extinction of bees could have a disastrous domino effect, killing off animals that eat those plants, and so on up the food chain. Luckily, humanity wouldn't face a global famine like you might expect.

Niño: We wouldn't necessarily starve to death, because there are a lot of plants that we do eat and we depend on that are wind-pollinated, including, for example, wheats.

Narrator: So if the bee apocalypse does hit, we could still meet the daily calorie needs of our global population. Our diets, however, would suffer in major ways, as foods that provide key nutrients for our bodies would become scarce and extremely expensive.

Niño: A lot of the plants that we eat that are dependent on animal pollination do provide the necessary micronutrients that improve our health. We would probably be very sickly. So, for example, let's just think about citrus, right? We would probably have issues with scurvy, if you think about it. I guess you could really supplement that with vitamins, but again, definitely not all of the vitamins can be as easily accessible to the body as they are when you're actually eating them.

Narrator: According to the US Department of Agriculture, the work that bees do for US farmers is worth about $15 billion a year, so without them, the cost of produce would skyrocket.

Niño: Especially those who are socioeconomically challenged, they already have hard times accessing the healthy foods, so this would probably impact them even worse.

Narrator: And we could be closer to a bee-less future than you might expect. In 2018, American beekeepers reported losing 41% of their colonies, and worldwide, bees have been dying off at record rates for the past decade.

Niño: Honeybees, at least in the past, I believe, 12 years have been declining about up to 45% annually, in some cases.

Narrator: Scientists haven't pinned down an exact reason for this sudden decline in the bee population. However, likely reasons are global warming, overuse of pesticides, and parasitic varroa mites, which spread viruses to bee colonies. Right now, countries around the world are working to monitor bee colonies and even create new pollination methods using robots.

Niño: There are researchers who are trying to develop drone pollinators, so using drone technology to pollinate flowers. It all would most likely be more costly.

Narrator: So, what can the average person do to be more bee-friendly? Well, if you have a garden, plant a range of flowers so wandering bees can have access to nectar throughout the year.

Niño: Bees that we have that are wild bees, that are native bees, a lot of them actually nest in soil, so leaving bare ground for those bees is really useful if you're redoing your lawn, for example. Providing access to water would also be very helpful for the bees, and reducing pesticide input if at all possible.

Narrator: While steps are already being taken to save the world's bee population, there's still a lot to be done to protect Earth's most buzzy pollinators.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published in November 2019.

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Bees pollinate more than a third of the world's crops. Here's what would happen if they went extinct.

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Bees pollinate more than a third of the world's crops. So what would happen if they went extinct? For one, it would likely halve the number of fruits and vegetables on supermarket shelves. Plus, it could drastically alter the food chain, starting with insects and other animals that depend on the plants that bees pollinate.

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https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-would-a-species-extinction-impact-the-food-web-our-ecosystems/349723

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How would a species' extinction impact the food web, our ecosystems?

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Every living thing plays a role in the food chain and Earth's ecosystems, and the extinction of certain species, whether predators or prey, can leave behind significant impacts.

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https://environment.co/the-effects-of-endangered-species/

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We are reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn affiliate commission.

Endangered species live all around you. You likely have endangered plants, animals or insects right in your backyard. All around you, you see images of those larger endangered predators, like tigers, rhinos and elephants, but do we see the effects of endangered species on the planet?

Perhaps you feel bad for them, but that is the extent of how much you think about the effects of endangered species. However, if they disappear, your life may change drastically. As more and more species are put on the endangered list, their risk of extinction rises, and the whole world can change.

In the last 500 years along, humans have caused the extinction of over 500 species, and there are over 142,500 species on the IUCN Red List. The consequences of human actions that have primarily led species to the point of near extinction affect you in more ways than you are aware.

Endangered Species

What is an endangered species, anyways? An endangered species is considered any animal or plant in danger of disappearing entirely from this planet. There are varying endangerment levels, but if an animal or plant is on the endangered list, there should be efforts to protect them.

Various circumstances can cause a species to be endangered, such as:

Habitat Loss: This is one of the primary causes of endangerment. Whether humans clear out a forest or a natural disaster strikes, habitat loss significantly impacts species. Plants and animals rely on their habitat for survival, so any damage or loss can cause them to die.

Human Exploitation: Unfortunately, humans often use rare animals or plants for exploitation to make money. Examples of this are ivory from elephants and horns from rhinoceros.

Natural Competition: It's typical for plants and animals to compete with one another, whether for food, water or habitat. If a species dominates another, the weaker species may become endangered.

Displacement: This is similar to habitat loss. If a natural disaster strikes or human activity is causing a disturbance within a habitat, species may try to move to a new location. Often, the species may not be able to adapt to the change well enough to survive.

Disease: Disease affects plants and animals just like it does humans. Think about COVID-19 - it has unfortunately affected a large portion of the human population. The same happens when disease strikes a species.

Invasive Species: Invasive species are those that are not native to an ecosystem. When introduced, invasive species take over the habitat and can cause survival challenges for the native species.

There are other contributing factors to a species becoming endangered, but these are some of the most common.

What Happens When Biodiversity Decreases

Biodiversity is quite literally the web of life. It connects everything together. As animal and plant species are added to the endangered list, biodiversity decreases, which puts human health and livelihood at risk, as well as the environment and the economy.

Effects on the Environment

Ecosystems are carefully balanced, with a hierarchy of prey and predators that keep populations in check. As species go extinct, they are taken out of the food chain. Animals that ate the newly-extinct species have to find new food sources or starve.

This can damage the populations of other plants or animals. Furthermore, if a predator goes extinct, its prey's population can proliferate, unbalancing local ecosystems.

Effects on Humans

It's unavoidable that humans share an ecosystem with endangered species. That means that when a population of a species is diminishing, human life will alter. For example, when the American Bison began to vanish, humans who relied on them for food or fur for warmth or trading suffered and had to rely on other sources of food and income.

Also, some animals act as a buffer for diseases. If one of these species were to be endangered, then the human would be more at risk for the disease. Other plants and animals are food sources for humans, so without them, food scarcity increases.

Without the necessary resources for survival, we're compromising the survival of human life by contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity.

Effects on the Economy

The economy is reliant on certain species as well - an example of this is the endangered honey bee. Bee populations have dwindled in recent years, with a reduction of over 60% in the U.S. since 1947.

Bees pollinate many plant species, including multiple plants that compose much of an average human diet. Bee pollination is highly valuable to the U.S. Agricultural Department, bringing billions of dollars every year to the economy.

Endangered Species Act

Fortunately, in 1973, the Endangered Species Act was passed to protect those species on the brink of extinction. It covers both domestic and international endangered species.

It aims to conserve and protect both endangered species and their habitats. States are provided with financial assistance and incentives to create and maintain conservation initiatives, like programs and other learning opportunities.

Effects of Endangered Species Show They're Essential

Without the conservation of endangered species, the world would be at risk for severe damage and trouble. The more species that go extinct, the lower the biodiversity. By being educated about the endangered species in your region and supporting conservation efforts, you're helping the planet.

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The Effects of Endangered Species - Environment Co

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We are reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn affiliate commission. Endangered species live all around you. You likely have endangered plants, animals or insects right in your backyard. All around you, you see images of those larger endangered predators, like tigers, rhinos and elephants, but do we see the effects of endangered species on the planet?

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https://www.ted.com/talks/colin_van_dyke_should_zoos_exist_jan_14_2018

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Wild animals are not meant to live in cages, but instead live freely among wildlife. Unfortunately, todays world doesn't give many animals the opportunity to do so. Although zoos can be problematic in ways, they play an important role in creating a safe living space for animals.

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https://www.ted.com/talks/sidhii_ranjan_endangered_wildlife_dec_2020

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Darcy talks about endangered wildlife and the need to protect the endangered species.

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https://www.ted.com/talks/jan_stejskal_the_last_living_members_of_an_extinct_species?language=en

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Jan Stejskal: The last living members of an extinct species

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In the savannahs of Kenya, two female northern white rhinos, Nájin and Fatu, munch contentedly on grass. They are the last two known northern white rhinos left on Earth. Their species is functionally extinct- without a male, they can't reproduce. And yet, there's still hope to revive the northern white rhino.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x58hfArrpGM

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Climate Change and its Effect on Wildlife and their Habitat. | Abhijeet Mahale | TEDxNashik

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zoos-and-animal-captivity/id1466435770?i=1000440317323

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‎wildlife management: Zoos and Animal captivity on Apple Podcasts

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‎Show wildlife management, Ep Zoos and Animal captivity - May 31, 2019

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R3HaHOhZks

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Isha Datar: How we could eat real meat without harming animals | TED

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https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1588603090/lighthouseacademiesorg/fqhvxujujecrf6nuot2h/Checkpoint3-Ecosystems-HowDotheExtinctionsofOtherCreaturesAffectHumansDirectly.pdf