World Primates At Risk: IUCN issues report listing 25 most threatened

The United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity is being held right now in India and during the convention the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issued a report listing the 25 primates most threatened with extinction.  The list included many small monkeys and apes that are found in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America.

Primates like lemurs, langurs and other species of monkeys, along with apes like the mountain gorilla made the list.  These animals are being threatened by the loss of their habitat - tropical jungles being leveled for lumber or agricultural growth - in addition to being hunted for food or for the illegal wildlife trade.

Several species are standing on the brink of extinction, such as the Madagascar's northern sportive lemur, of which there are only 19 left in the wild.  More than half of the world's 633 primate species are at risk of extinction.

"Lemurs are now one of the world's most endangered groups of mammals, after more than three years of political crisis and a lack of effective enforcement in their home country, Madagascar," said Christoph Schwitzer of the Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation.  "A similar crisis is happening in Southeast Asia, where trade in wildlife is bringing many primates very close to extinction."

However, there are some success stories that alter the balance sheet somewhat.  Thanks to conservation efforts, several species - like India's lion-tailed macaque or Madagascar's greater bamboo lemur - have been brought back from the edge and the world has not lost a single primate species to extinction so far this century.  But we are very close to having that happen to some of these threatened species if decisive action is not taken.

So, there is a catastrophe looming, we have made some progress, but there is much more to be done.

However, progress can be painfully slow.  In February of 2010, the IUCN issued a very similar report - listing 25 threatened primates, again primarily in Africa and Southeast Asia.  The small primates, like lemurs, were particularly at risk.  But, as with the current report, there were some bright spots regarding species whose numbers were increasing due to conservation efforts.  The two reports were eerily similar.

It would seem there is a tug of war taking place in the jungles of some of our richest areas in terms of biodiversity.  Loses are being challenged by some gains, keeping the score at a sort of ecological draw.  The question is what will it take to significantly push the score in favor of the primates?  

Source: Huffington Post
Source: IUCN Red List

IUCN Green Lists: proposed approach to recognize conservation successes

For those of you who have read this blog with any regularity, you have noticed that every once in a while I will post something that is just for fun, something on the lighter side that perhaps shows nature or the oceans at their very best.  With so many weighty issues to address, every once in a while we all need a break.

And when we see healthy ecosystems or species, rather than be lulled into a false sense that all is well, it is hoped that people will be encouraged that the steps being taken and the steps that need to be taken are bearing fruit. Success stories propel us to do more.

That is the basic philosophy being adopted by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).  This worldwide organization is well-known among conservationists for its Red Lists which list and rate threatened or endangered species and ecosystems.  The Red Lists are helpful in identifying specific plants, animals and ecosystems that deserve our immediate attention.  However, they are negative indicators - what's going wrong - and taken as a whole, one can conclude that the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket.  The IUCN recognizes that we also need success stories and so they are preparing to launch two new programs: a Green List for species and one for managed protected areas.

"The concept of a green list is that it can throw a spotlight on things that are actually working," Trevor Sandwith, director of IUCN's Global Protected Areas program, was quoted by OurAmazingPlanet. "We already have well-managed, protected areas in the world, which no one is recognizing."         

Several national parks or protected areas are being put forth as test cases for the Green List concept.  Columbia's Parques Nacionales Naturales is one; Tayrona National Park, within the Parques area, along Columbia's Caribbean coast is another.  Successfully managed ecosystems and species can serve as models for other nations to observe and follow.

The Green Lists program was proposed at the IUCN's recent World Conservation Congress and the plan is to have a formal program adopted at the next congress to be held in 2016.  It is frustrating that movement on this idea has to be measured so slowly, but it will require the cooperation of all the member nations of the union and that will take time to iron out the details.  In the meantime, it does represent an optimistic, positive-thinking approach which many believe is needed in light of the challenges we face.

"We need to show that conservation is much more than just avoidance of extinction," said Elizabeth Bennett, president of the World Conservation Society (which strongly supports the concept of Green Lists as an important companion to the equally important Red Lists. 

Source: OurAmazingPlanet

Sharks of the Atlantic: new report cites dismal international conservation efforts

Over the past several years, we have been seeing progress made in conserving sharks through the establishment of shark sanctuaries or protected zones that have included entire island nations. The latest measure has been taken by the U.S. state of Florida which initiated a prohibition on the catching of tiger sharks and three species of hammerhead sharks inside Florida state waters. Additionally, we have seen legislation aimed at shark fin bans which, at best, puts pressure on the shark finning industry and, at the very least, forces them to fold up their tents and move elsewhere.

As positive as these steps are, they are regional efforts, globally-speaking, and many sharks species, particularly those considered the most endangered, are known to travel great distances whether traveling along migratory routes or randomly covering a lot of ocean territory and, in so doing, they move in and out of protected areas frequently.

Since these sharks will move in open international waters, it therefore becomes the responsibility of multinational fishery management organizations to ensure that sharks are being properly managed and, in many cases, prohibited from commercial shark fishing.

This could not be any more truer than in the Atlantic Ocean. A just-released report from Oceana cites as much as 75% of the migratory sharks in the Atlantic are classified as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) but less than 1 percent are protected by the organization that is most responsible for protecting these sharks.

The ICCAT, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, is that responsible organization. According to Oceana, "The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the primary international maritime treaty, establishes that fishing nations must cooperate to ensure the conservation of highly migratory species both within and beyond their exclusive economic zones, through appropriate international organizations."

"Because highly migratory species require international cooperation for effective management, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) have been established to manage fisheries for these species with the goal of long-term sustainability. In the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is the most relevant and appropriate international organization to manage highly migratory species, including sharks."

Unfortunately, ICCAT's scorecard has not been a particularly winning one. Heavily influenced by commercial fishing interests, the organization has set catch limits for tuna that are consistently way below levels recommended by their own scientific advisers, and only a few species of sharks have been afforded any degree of protection.

The ICCAT has been holding its 22nd Regular Meeting of the Commission this past week in Istanbul, Turkey and Oceana is there to present the 48 member nations with the facts and to make recommendations as to actions ICCAT should be taking regarding Atlantic Ocean sharks.

Just how many sharks are being taken? Well, trying to answer that question is also part of the problem because as many as half of ICCAT's member nations did not report any shark catches in 2009 - there's no data. Based on what figures are available, combined with scientific and anecdotal observations, the current state of affairs is not good. But until there is reliable data from all member nations, the full extant of the problem can not be appreciated - which is just fine with the commercial fishing industry representatives whispering in the ears of ICCAT delegates.

In its 10-page report, Vulnerable Sharks in the Atlantic Ocean: The Need for International Management, Oceana puts forth the following recommendations to the ICCAT:

1. Prohibit retention of endangered or particularly vulnerable shark species, especially porbeagle and silky sharks.
2. Establish science-based precautionary catch limits for blue and shortfin mako sharks.
3. Require reporting of catch data as a prerequisite for landing a particular shark species.
4. Improve the ICCAT finning measure by requiring that sharks be landed with their fins wholly or partially attached in a natural manner.

I have reported on the ICCAT's dismal record in the past regarding tuna catch limits and so if the organization's history is any indication, Oceana has probably had it's hands full this past week. But it's a fight worth taking on so, as the meeting in Turkey comes to a close this weekend, let's hope that some decisive progress has been made.

Perhaps someday, with regional protections in place, a growing public awareness and clamor as to the problem, and catch levels reaching limits that are economically unsupportable, the ICCAT will live up to its environmental responsibilities. The sharks are betting their lives on it.

Download Oceana's report: Vulnerable Sharks in the Atlantic Ocean.
Read about the status of Atlantic sharks at Ocean's website.

Manta Rays: decline motivates IUCN to declare rays vulnerable to extinction

Here's a piece of good news for manta rays and all those who love them. David Shiffman (WhySharksMatter) writes in southernfriedscience.com about steps being taken by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) regarding adding manta rays to the IUCN's Red List, listing them as "Vulnerable" to extinction.

Now that may not seem like good news at first, but by making the declaration, it can start the wheels in motion that can lead to international regulations and restrictions. This can lead to preserving the species and preventing any further erosion to their numbers beyond the 30% decline that has been seen in the past few decades.

Threatened Gentle Giants: both species of manta ray added to the IUCN Red List

Manta rays are true gentle giants; though they can grow more than 20 feet wide from wingtip to wingtip, they eat only plankton. Swimming with these animals is a rare thrill for SCUBA divers, and manta-viewing ecotourism is worth over $100 million each year. Like many species of sharks, manta rays grow slowly and reproduce rarely. According to Dr. Nick Dulvy of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, “ they give birth to an average of one offspring every two years…they are a long-lived species with little capacity to cope with modern fishing methods.” They also migrate across huge distances, regularly crossing between national boundaries and spending much of their time on the high seas, making management difficult.

Although their biology cannot support a large-scale fishery and their behavior makes any fishery inherently difficult to manage, manta rays are very much in demand. At least part of them is: their gill rakers. According to Lucy Harrison, program officer for the IUCN Shark Specialist group, “Increasing demand for these fishes’ filter-feeding system for traditional Chinese medicinal purposes, especially in Hong Kong, is rapidly driving down their population everywhere.”

By some measures, the global population of manta rays has declined by more than 30% in recent decades, with some local populations facing much larger declines. Earlier this week, an IUCN Shark Specialist Group team led by Andrea Marshall has concluded that both species of manta ray (the giant manta Manta birostris and the reef manta Manta alfredi) should be declared Vulnerable* to extinction.

The IUCN Shark Specialist Group recommends that several steps be taken to protect mantas from further population declines. These include creating an international conservation treaty for both species, a CITES listing, and national-level policy changes in countries that fish for mantas. Some of these proposals may benefit from the support of the online conservation community, so please stay tuned! I’ll continue to report on these suggested policies as they moves forward.

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* “Vulnerable” in the context of an IUCN Red List status should be capitalized, as should other IUCN Red List statuses. For more information on what “Vulnerable” means, please visit the Red List website here.

Western Black Rhino: IUCN declares the African species officially extinct

We've lost one and the world is a lesser place for it.

Today, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the Western Black Rhinoceros of Africa officially extinct.

In addition, two other sub-species of rhinos are being considered as most likely gone. The Northern White Rhino of central Africa is considered "possibly extinct" in the wild, and the Javan Rhino is "probably extinct" in Viet Nam (a small population is still holding on in Java, but their numbers are declining).

Rhino populations have suffered for decades due to habitat loss and, in particular, poaching. The demand for rhinoceros horn as a homeopathic cure in Eastern medicine, ranging from cancer cures to an aphrodisiac, has lead poachers to track down rhinos within supposedly protected animal reserves. The same situation is putting tigers and Asian bears at a high level of risk also.

When the population of a particular species gets low enough, several factors come into play that can cause their numbers to rapidly decline, spinning out of control. Lack of sexually mature males and females; bio-dispersion, whereby the population is now so diverse the odds of an encounter between a male and a female become more remote; poor health due to a lack of good mixing of the DNA gene pool - all begin to work against the few remaining animals.

"In the case of both the Western Black Rhino and the Northern White Rhino, the situation could have had very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented," he added. "These measures must be strengthened now, specifically managing habitats in order to improve breeding performance, preventing other rhinos from fading into extinction," said Simon Stuart of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.

But all is not a total loss for one of wild nature's iconic species. Although a quarter of all mammal species are facing extinction, according to the IUCN's Red List, when conservation measures are put in place and effectively managed and enforced, there can be positive results. Case in point: Africa's Southern White Rhino had reached a perilous low of around 100 animals at the end of the 19th century - a victim of both poaching and "great white hunters." But today the Southern White Rhino numbers over 20,000.

In Nature, any extinction is a loss - from a small insect to a massive animal like a rhino. The biological web that ties all species together within an ecosystem makes adjustments for the loss and sometimes those adjustments cascade through several different flora and fauna as it looks for some sort of stability. Whether the changes are subtle or catastrophic, they are changes at the hand of man, changes that nature was never truly prepared to deal with.

When we lose the Western Black Rhino, we lose a little bit of ourselves, of our potential as stewards of the environment.

Source: MSNBC.

ICCAT & Sharks: a mixed bag of results from meeting

International organizations that actually have the power to regulate commercial activities for the benefit of ecological or conservation interests generally do so in incremental steps. The political and economic implications of their actions on behalf of the environment or endangered species can often dull the force of progressive policy proposals, and this can be a source of great frustrations to many conservationists. It's a tough and often frustrating arena to work in and if you don't have the stomach or the patience for it, it's best to steer clear and focus on regional or national initiatives - you'll probably lead a more stress-free life.

The International Commission on Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) is a worldwide group of some 48 parties (including the European Union) which meets annually to consider commercial quotas and conservation regulations for tuna, billfish, and sharks. This year, ICCAT entertained six different proposals regarding the taking of several species of shark. The end result was a mixed bag of significant progress, a few exemptions or loopholes retained, and some proposals going nowhere. Many of the proposals revolved around oceanic whitetip, porpeagle, hammerhead, mako, and thresher sharks - all listed as either globally endangered or vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN (International Unions for Conservation of Nature).

The Good News:

• The ICCAT agreed to prohibit retention of oceanic whitetip sharks (a fancy way of saying catching oceanic whitetips is no longer allowed by ICCAT-participating countries).
• The exploitation (taking of) hammerhead sharks was restricted. There is an exemption though, which is listed in The Bad News below.
• ICCAT agreed to establish a process for penalizing countries who do not accurately report shark catches. Unreported shark catches is considered a major international problem by many conservation groups.
• A reduction of fishing pressure on shortfin makos, with prohibition penalties for parties that do not accurately report catches, was agreed to. But there's a caveat (see below).

The Bad News:

• A proposal to prohibit retention of porbeagle sharks failed because of a lack of consensus from the EU, primarily due to resistance from Canada.
• Exemption to the hammerhead shark restriction: developing coastal states can catch hammerheads for food but must ensure that they do not enter the international trade.
• Due to objections from Japan, Korea, and China, the restrictions on shortfin mako sharks will not begin until 2013.
• For the second year in a row, a proposal to ban removal of shark fins at sea was tabled, with Japan opposing the ban. Many countries have or are in the process of initiating this ban within their territorial waters. But in international waters, it's shark finning as usual.

Pro-shark organizations, like Shark Advocates International (SAI), that patiently work with the ICCAT, are pleased with the good news but stand firm that more needs to be done. According to Sonja Fordham, president of SAI, "ICCAT has taken significant steps toward safeguarding sharks this week, but much more must be done to effectively conserve this highly vulnerable species. We urge ICCAT Parties to promptly implement the shark measures agreed this week and to build upon this progress by proposing complementary international safeguards for other oceans and additional shark protections at next year's ICCAT meeting."

ICCAT is one of a few worldwide bodies where international conservation policies and regulations can get hammered out. But in the world of international diplomacy, it can get ugly, with economic, political, and ecological interest groups maneuvering to exert influence. Think of it as diplomatic kickboxing - but it's the sharks that are taking all the blows.

Read PR Newswire press release.

Plants At Risk: research catalogs potential extinction threat to one-fifth of all plants

There are several news agencies that are picking up on a recently released study that declares that one-fifth of the world's plants are faced with extinction. Animals or large-scale ecosystems seem to catch the attention of the general public more than plants, perhaps because we can relate to an animated polar bear, a wolf, or a shark better than we can to an orchid. And ecosystems catch our attention because their fate is often wrapped up in global implications.

However, plants, as much as they may be taken for granted or ignored altogether, play a significant role in not only the overall health of the planet but to mankind specifically.

Researchers at England's Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and the Natural History Museum, along with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have analyzed over 4,000 plant species and determined that 22% should be considered threatened with possible extinction, while another 33% could not have their status determined because so little is known about them. Their research forms an important baseline by which future growth or loss can be measured.

With an estimated 380,000 plant species in the world today, what appears to be the greatest threat is habitat loss - areas of land that are being consumed and redirected towards agriculture. Tropical rain forests seem to be the greatest botanical areas at risk.

Now what might assume that the loss of some obscure orchid or weed is not a big deal; that as long as we have plenty of fruits and vegetables, we will be okay. Not so, according to the research. Many medicines have been first derived or can only be derived from plant extracts, and with the loss of botanical environments that can be a loss of an untold number of future medications. Ironically, developing countries, where much of the tropical forests and plant systems are being wiped out, are one of the main benefactors in plant-derived medicines for conditions ranging from malaria to leukemia.

In addition, focusing on plants that serve the greatest numbers of people as food is a limitation that can have profound effects on the very plants we depend on. It is reported that 80% of the calories consumed by the world come from only 12 different plant species. That can cause a precarious limitation in the DNA gene pool of plants which can have a negative impact on those 12 species we so much depend on. Imagine ridding the world of all animals except for cows, pigs, chickens and a few fish and you can see how precarious our situation would become in maintaining a healthy gene pool of feed animals.

The report on the ongoing botanical research comes in advance of next month's United Nations Biodiversity Conference. The future of plants on earth must be an important component of a more holistic approach towards biodiversity, realizing that every plant or animal plays a role and we must consider the implications when any species, plant or animal, is brought to the level of extinction.

Stephen Hopper, professor and director of the the Royal Botanical Gardens said, "We cannot sit back and watch plant species disappear - plants are the basis of all life on Earth, providing clean air, water, food and fuel. All animal and bird life depends on them and so do we. Every breath we take involves interacting with plants. They're what we all depend on."

Read more about it in the Royal Botanical Gardens' KEW News.

A Thresher's Tale (Tail): video footage solves a shark's mystery

One of the ocean's most unusual sharks, the thresher shark, has carried with it a great mystery: why the elongated upper caudal (or tail) fin? Suspicions were that it was used to strike and stun its prey. However, there wasn't any definitive documentation (ie: video or motion picture footage) to confirm it. Until now. . .

According to the BBC News, Dr. Chugey Sepulveda of the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research in Oceanside, California, captured some brief images of a thresher shark swatting several smaller fish and stunning or outright injuring them, making them easy prey.

The water visibility is a bit murky and it all happens in a blink of an eye, but the video slows it down to half speed and you can clearly see the shark's unique hunting ability. The BBC doesn't allow for embedding a video, so click on the image below to link to the BBC and view the footage.

Followers of great white sharks at Isla Guadalupe are very familiar with the Pfleger Institute as they were one of the first organizations to do an exhaustive picture cataloging of the island's population of white sharks that migrate there every fall.

Kudos to the Dr. Sepulveda. These are very special sharks - all three species of thresher sharks are listed as "vulnerable to extinction" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Black Abalone: living on the edge and in need of critical habitat

When I first began scuba diving over 25 years ago, my enthusiasm for the sport took me in all directions - photography, teaching, wreck diving, hunting, you name it. As I learned more about the health of the oceans, I soon abandoned hunting and have focused on the visuals, following the adage of "shoot only pictures, leave only bubbles, take only memories."

But back in my hunting days, abalone, a large shellfish found along the California coast and adjacent Channel Islands, was highly sought after. In fact, back then a diver could reach the State-allowed limit for a multi-day dive trip (a total of 8) in just one dive. The dive boat would anchor at one of the prime spots where you could find large abalone strewn across the bottom like hubcaps!

Then times changed. Already impacted by commercial harvesting, recreational harvesting was limited even further. The dive boats would often avoid the good spots, which were becoming harder to find anyway. And eventually a full moratorium was put in place.

There are several species of abalone - black, red, pink, white, green (their names based on either a basic shell color or the color of the short tentacles and fleshy mantle that extend from underneath) and each species today faces various degrees of decline, although all have suffered badly over the years.

The black abalone has declined as much as 99% since the early 1970s. Historically, abalone was harvested by the Chumash Indians that inhabited the California coast and Channel Islands. With the onslaught of the otter fur trade (otters also fed on abalone), the population of black abalone swelled. But, in response, so did the commercial harvesting industry. With abalone populations in decline, their overall health and robustness impacted, they have experienced a near fatal blow with the outbreak in the '80s of a bacterial disease called Withering Syndrome which attacks the digestive enzymes and the abalone begins to basically wither away.

The black abalone has been placed on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered. In 1999, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) began considering the black abalone for endangered status but, with considerable prodding from outside conservation groups, it took nearly 10 years for the black abalone to be officially designated as an endangered species.

While such a designation legally requires that measures be taken to protect the species, to date no critical habitat has been set aside for the black abalone. And this has spurred the Center for Biological Diversity to file an intent to sue.

“Critical habitat protections have a proven track record helping endangered species to survive,” said Catherine Kilduff, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Species with critical habitat are twice as likely to be recovering as species that don’t have it. Black abalone is on the cusp of extinction, and any further delay of federal habitat protection may well seal the species’ fate.”

The black abalone is in a precarious position: it's numbers reduced by over-harvesting; hammered by a pernicious Withering Syndrome; with increasing ocean temperatures that will aid the spread of the disease and the potential of ocean acidification to weaken the health of early-stage juveniles. The NMFS needs to act quickly and the world must recognize that another "canary in the coal mine" species is living on the edge due to the effects of climate change and CO2 emissions.

Read press release from the Center of Biological Diversity.

The Dugong: a revered marine mammal threatened in Okinawa

The Dugong, with a face only a mother dugong could love, is a gentle marine mammal that lives in the marine saltwater shallows along the coast of Asia, northern Australia, and the east coast of Africa. A kissin' cousin to the manatee, except for its preference for salt water (the manatee prefers brackish water), the dugong suffers many of the same threats as the manatee - loss of habitat from human development, injury from boats, and hunting.

The dugong is listed by the IUCN as vulnerable to extinction and CITES limits or bans trade in dugongs based on the specific population. In Okinawa, Japan, a small, fragile population of 50 that inhabit the shallows near Camp Schwab, a U.S. military air base, have been at risk for years as the U.S. has been working towards expanding the air base, thereby eliminating the dugong's primary feeding area.

Conservation groups have been battling the military on this for several years and it appears to be moving forward to at least a showdown, if not a resolution. While a lawsuit was filed by several conservation groups back in 2003 and awaits its day in federal court, recent progress has been made with a petition/letter campaign from over 400 conservation groups. And last year, a judge issued a ruling that the Department of Defense violated the National Historic Preservation Act, requiring the military to review its impact on the dugong habitat.

But the military is still pressing forward with its plans while the legal process grinds away. If you would like to add your voice in requesting the current administration to reconsider the base expansion in consideration of the dugong - an animal revered and considered sacred by the Okinawan people and listed as a national monument by Japan's federal government - then click here.

“For Okinawans, the dugong compares only to the American bald eagle in terms of cultural and historical significance,” said Takuma Higashionna, a city councilmember from Nago City, Japan.

Thresher Shark: non-profit dedicated to shark's preservation

Speaking of sharks, here's a species you don't hear too much about and yet faces imminent danger: the thresher shark.

One of the more unusual and distinctive sharks due to its namesake elongated upper caudal fin or tail, it is believed that the shark might use its tail as a hunting device to stun schooling fish. The thresher shark is a popular seafood item in many forms - fresh, dried, salted - and so it's numbers have suffered (all three thresher shark species are listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN).

Here's a post from the Shark Divers blog, discussing one of the few shark organizations devoted to the thresher shark. Based in the Philippines where considerable local fishing, commercial and, sometimes, illegal fishing takes place, this group has their work cut out for them.

Thresher shark research & conservation project

Of the myriad of shark conservation sites worth visiting, none come better then the Thresher shark research & conservation project.

We have been following this site for the past year and are always happy with the vibrant field updates, images, video and news.

Consider taking the time to get to know the team behind the Thresher shark research & conservation project.

Shark conservation efforts are hard enough to get traction with; in places like the Philippines, it's doubly so.

It's takes determination, good outreach, and a serious research program to make a difference.

California Desert Tortoise: under the gun of the U.S. Army

The US military does not exactly have a sterling record when it comes to balancing the concerns of military training and wildlife conservation issues. The controversy over Navy sonar tests and the effects on ocean mammals is still ongoing. And we also have one brewing in California involving the endangered desert tortoise.

The Army wishes to expand its tank training operations in the Mojave desert outside of Ft. Irwin and this encroaches on the federally designated critical habitat for the desert tortoise, a reptile technically listed as threatened by the IUCN. In 2008, under the previous administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted permission to move 650 tortoises as part of a phase approach; the total number to be moved was to be 2000.

So far, the results have not been promising for the tortoise as many have died from predation by coyotes. Nature establishes habitat boundaries in several ways: sometimes through restricting vegetation/food sources, sometimes through geological limits - like temperature ranges, and sometimes through bio-dispersion based on predation. Move an animal out of its normal locale and anyone of these or other factors can have disastrous effects.

While the results of the first phase have not been all together successful, the Army is still pushing ahead with their plan. But they are meeting resistance from several conservation organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity - that perennial environmental watchdog that seems unafraid to take government agencies to task in the courts.

One of the oldest residents in California is faced with what could be a fatal eviction for the sake of developing more deadly artillery. You can read more about this in the Los Angeles Times and at the Center for Biological Diversity, which is running both a public awareness campaign and a legal battle.

Saving Our Predator Cats: the Amur Leopard

Many of you are probably familiar with the critical need for conservation and protection of tigers (see previous posting). These great cats have been subject to relentless hunting/poaching and their numbers are in sharp decline.

But there are other cats that have been subject to poaching as well to meet the black market demand for furs. And one is the Amur Leopard found in the northern regions of Russia, China, and North Korea. A sub-species of the leopard more commonly found in Africa, the Amur Leopard has been listed on the IUCN 2000 Red List of Threatened Species as "critically endangered" and CITES has also listed it as endangered.

The good news is that some positive steps are being taken. In 1998, Russia adopted a conservation strategy that focuses on curbing poaching and the trafficking of leopard products, in addition to rebuilding dwindling populations of the leopards' primary food sources. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been assisting the Russian government in monitoring the results of the strategy.

An amazing animal, with legs longer than the typical leopard for walking in snow, this cat is capable of leaping 19 feet horizontally and 9 feet vertically! The WWF has been an international leader in the conservation and protection of nature's feline predators - like many of our other predators, an important component to a healthy and balanced ecosystem.

Updating the Red List: wild mammals in peril

According to the World Conservation Congress, meeting in Barcelona, Spain, up to 25% of all wild mammals are threatened with extinction due primarily to loss of habitat and hunting/poaching. Of that total, up to 33% of all marine mammals are in peril - particularly dolphins which get caught in fishing nets and drown.

The figures released are part of an update of the Red List which lists all threatened species and is maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. You can view the entire list at their web site (click here).

The reasons for this plight of so many animals runs the gamut - from habitat loss for lumber or farming in developing countries to meeting the demand for "luxury" items like chimp and gorilla meat. Whatever the reason, the loss of any animal has an impact on the overall balance and health of the local ecosystem. In fact, biodiversity - having a wide range of species - is a key element to any healthy ecosystem. This has always been one of the cornerstones of the evolutionary process.

A precise accounting of all marine mammal species is complicated by the challenges in locating these animals, compared to land-based species. Says Jan Schipper of Conservation International, "If you don't know where they are or how many there are, then it's hard to determine if they have viable populations or [are] threatened with extinction." That means that the conservative numbers offered by the World Conservation Congress could be much higher. (Read article by Ken Weiss/Los Angeles Times).