Natural Environment Blog

David from PETA contacted me regarding letters PETA recently sent to the attorneys general of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. In the letters, Peta is urging the attorneys general to bring charges against BP and all other culpable parties of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico of cruelty to animals.

“Just as BP is the subject of a federal criminal investigation, causing needless pain and suffering to animals violates each affected state’s anti-cruelty laws,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “BP can compensate for the loss of human livelihoods, but it can never make up for the loss of life that it has inflicted on these states’ animals.”

According to PETA, the anti-cruelty laws of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida provide that any person who unnecessarily causes the torment or death of any animal is guilty of a misdemeanor.

The impact on the oil spill on wildlife includes:

• Some oil-soaked birds lose the ability to float and ultimately drown.
• Other birds die from hypothermia or hyperthermia after oil destroys the insulating powers of their feathers.
• Oil contamination in turtles can cause chemical burns, and kidney, liver, and brain damage can result after animals ingest the tar balls and chemical dispersants that have inundated the Gulf.
• Marine mammals lose body weight when they can not feed due to contamination of their environment by oil
• Birds become easy prey, as their feathers being matted by oil make them less able to fly away;
• Marine mammals such as fur seals become easy prey if oil sticks their flippers to their bodies, making it hard for them to escape predators

Those are just some of the affects of oil spills on wildlife. And, there’s also the affect on the food chain. For example, poisoning of wildlife higher up the food chain if they eat large amounts of other organisms that have taken oil into their tissues. This can also result in poisoning of young through the mother, as a dolphin calf can absorb oil through it’s mothers milk.

To date, more than a thousand animals-including 333 sea turtles and 41 dolphins and other mammals-have been collected dead along the coast. Whales are also expected to be among the casualties.

How Can I Help?

You can assist PETA by sending your concerns to the attorneys general in question.

About PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), with more than 2 million members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world.

PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry. We also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds and other “pests,” and the abuse of backyard dogs.

PETA works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns.

The Big Wild asks “How Wild is North America?”

Theodora at The Big Wild recently contacted me to let me know about an infographic posted on The Big Wild website.

The infographic (right), compares how “wild” Canada, the United States, and Mexico are based on facts like each country’s ecological footprint.

I was particularly interested to see that Canada’s “wildness” factor is 82%, compared to 36% and 18% for the United States and Mexico respectively.

I was also amazed to learn that Canada accounts for 24% of the world’s wild forests, 20% of the world’s fresh water, and 24% of global wetlands.

According to The Big Wild:

Real wilderness needs to be large enough to keep the natural balance – and that means thinking big.

That’s the vision behind The Big Wild. Conservation scientists believe we need to protect at least half of Canada’s wild spaces to ensure the integrity of our ecosystems.

About The Big Wild

The Big Wild is a partnership project between Canada’s Mountain Equipment Co-op and Canadian Parks and Wilderness. The Big Wild is a a conservation project dedicated to protecting at least half of Canada’s publicly-owned land and water.

Lenny Kravitz is among the artists who will perform at Gulf Aid - a benefit concert to raise funds for wetland recovery efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf Aid is a single day event with artists performing on 2 stages.

“I’ve come home to New Orleans to lend my support to fishermen & wildlife” Lenny tweeted on Monday.

The disaster was caused by an explosion in an oil pipe which is resulting in around 210,000 gallons of oil being poured into the sea each day, causing widespread environmental damage along the US coast.

Proceeds from the concert will go to benefit fishermen and their families, whose livelihoods depend on being able to work in the ocean, plus organisations that protect Louisiana’s coast.

Line-up

The line-up includes:
Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Mos Def, Allen Toussaint ,The Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (featuring Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Cyril Neville, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Sansone, and Johnny Vidacovich), Zachary Richard, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Beausoleil, Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys w Jon Cleary, Marcia Ball, Irvin Mayfield’s Playhouse Review , Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, , Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Shamarr Allen, Jeremy Davenport, MyNameIsJohnMichael

More artists will be announced.

Details

Sunday, May 16 2010
At Mardi Gras World River City overlooking the Mississippi River in New Orleans
12 noon - 10 pm, Rain or Shine event (no refunds)

The $50 tickets are exclusively available via Elevate.

100% of the ticket proceeds and ticket handling fees are contributed to the wetlands recovery effort.

The tuatara's ancestors roamed the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago.

The tuatara is the only survivor of a group of reptiles that roamed the earth at the same time as dinosaurs - about 225 million years ago.

There are two species of tuatara, both of which are endemic to New Zealand. The scientific name for the two species are Cook Strait Tuatara (scientific name: Sphenodon punctatus) and Brothers Island Tuatara (scientific name: Sphenodon guntheri). 

Appearance

The tuatara is a greenish, brown reptile that grows to between 50 cm and 80 cm long.

It has distinctive soft spines along the top of its head and down its backbone. Although it looks much like a lizard, tuatara is actually the only surviving member of the order Sphenodontia. 

Tuatara don’t have external ears but they are able to hear. 

The tuatara is famous for its “third eye” or pineal or parietal eye located in the middle of its forehead. The eye has a small lens and retina, but it becomes covered by a thin layer of opaque scales about 4 to 6 months after birth.

The purpose of this parietal eye is unknown, but some scientists have suggested that it is used as a light sensor as opposed to forming visual objects. 

Habitat and Distribution

The tuatara is endemic to New Zealand.

Up until a thousand years ago, tuatara occurred in both the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Now, the tuatara can now only be found on islands in the North Island.

Tuatara tend to live in burrows in native forest, but can often be found occupying abandoned sheep pasture. They will often share burrows with seabirds such as petrels and shearwaters.

Growth

Tuatara has the slowest growth rate of any reptile. It can take as many as 30 to 35 years for a tuatara to reach full size. 

Tuatara usually lives to around 60 or 70, but they have been known to live to more than 100. In fact, one tuatara was seen mating last year at the ripe old age of 111.

Diet

Tuatara’s main diet consists of Insects, spiders, earthworms, snails and small lizards. Tuatara have also been known to kill and eat small seabirds and their eggs as well as young tuatara.

Behavior

Tuatara are mainly nocturnal and remain in their burrows during the day and prowl at night. They tend to have a lower body temperature than their environment, and they are active at lower body temperatures than most reptiles. They often come out during the day to bask in the sun.

Although they don’t actually go into hibernation, tuatara will often go six months without food during winter. 

Ancestory

The tuatara’s ancestory dates back to the dinosaur time. Ancestors of the tuatara and many other sphenodons were roaming the world 225 million years ago. This was about the time the first dinosaurs appeared. 

All other sphenodons disappeared around 65 million years ago and exist only as fossils. As a result, scientists often refer to the tuatara as a “living fossil”.

Tuatara Mating & Breeding

Tuatara reach sexual maturity at between 10 to 20 years of age. 

The female, on average, lays between 5 and 18 eggs only once every 4 years, which gives it the longest reproductive cycle of any reptile.

Mating season for tuatara is between January and March. Female tuatara then lay their eggs between October and December.

Hatchlings appear between 12 to 15 months after the eggs were laid. To break the egg, they use their egg tooth (a sharp pointed spike at the end of the snout).

Conservation Status

For millions of years, tuatara populations thrived in New Zealand. Then over the last thousand years or so, tuatara populations declined rapidly, almost to the point of extinction.

The main culprits were introduced rats, cats, dogs, and humans. Not to mention fires and land clearing.

The tuatara, was almost wiped out by the 1700s. In fact, in 1895, the tuatara was one of the first animals in the world to become fully protected by law.

Since then, significant tuatara populations have survived on 32 remote islands around New Zealand. Stephens Island/Takapourewa is home to about 50,000 tuatara, which represents about 90% of the tuatara population.

Since 1996, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has listed the Brothers Island Tuatara as Vulnerable and the Cook Strait Tuatara as Lower Risk/least concern, although IUCN has also stated that this needs updating.

Future infrastructure projects in Asia could cause conflict between humans and elephants. Photo: Steve Evans, Bangalore, India.

A new report released today by WWF and the World Bank warns that future large-scale infrastructure projects in southern Asia will increase human-elephant conflict.

The projects, which are often internationally funded, are likely to push elephants out of their natural habitat. Elephants are then likely to raid crop fields and break down houses to get at stored crops.

About The Report

The report, entitled Review of Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation Measures Practised in South Asia, was compiled by WWF-Nepal, the Centre for Conservation and Research Sri Lanka (CCR) and the Nature Conservation Foundation.

It looks at the current methods used by humans to keep elephants away from their homes and farms in the southern parts of Asia. The report also looks at the positives and negatives of these methods.  

The report found that some methods, such as making loud noises, are only effective to a certain extent. Elephants typically learn that these loud humans are nothing to be afraid of and therefore continue to raid their homes and crops. 

New Strategy Urgently Needed

Because of the limited effectiveness of the many current approaches to elephant conflict, WWF says that a strategy that explains the most effective ways to mitigate the conflict is urgently needed.

“Most mitigation measures currently being used are just akin to bandaging the wounds and not treating the root cause,” said Prithiviraj Fernando, chairman of CCR-Sri Lanka. “Good land-use planning that takes both people and elephant needs into account is the only long-term solution.” 

Human-Elephant Conflict Is Expensive

WWF says that human-elephant conflict also costs money. In some countries the damage bill could be many millions per year. WWF urges investors to consider this issue when planning new developments.

“Billions of dollars lined up for regional and national level infrastructural investments such as the Trans-Asian highway project and various hydro-power and irrigation projects are going to significantly increase human-elephant conflict across Asia,” said Christy Williams, Coordinator of WWF’s Asian elephant and rhino conservation program.

“Banks and investors need to show leadership when it comes to human-elephant conflict by adding mitigation options into their large infrastructure plans in places where elephants are found from the beginning.”

Full Report [PDF, 1.69 MB]

Thousands of people attended Australia Zoo today for Steve Irwin Day - a day for celebrating the life of Steve Irwin, also famously known as the Crocodile Hunter.

The event, which was also streamed live on the Internet, was also an opportunity to raise money for Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors to help continue Steve’s conservation work and the preservation of wildlife. 

All money rasied on the day will go towards whale research equipment. Specifically:

• Satellite Tags $3000 each (24 tags needed)
• Data Recovery $18,000
• Research Vessel $18,000
• Use of research vessel $1500 (per day for 15 days)

Today’s event also marked the opening of the new Australian Wildlife Hospital at Australia Zoo. The hospital, which cost $5 million to build, is expected to treat 6,000 patients per year. Terri Irwin says that the hospital was built in memory of Steve’s mother. 

In the foyer of the new wildlife hospital presents Steve’s words about his mother. 

She was the greatest wildlife rehabilitator in the world, a true pioneer. She was my legend and in my heart she will live forever.

Consumption of wildlife in China is on the increase according to a new report released by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. 

It is also revealed that many of the wildlife species being consumed are threatened species. 

The report, entitled State of Wildlife Trade in China 2007, is the second in an annual series produced by TRAFFIC on emerging trends in China’s wildlife trade. TRAFFIC works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.

Although wildlife consumption dropped following the SARS virus scare in 2003, it has since picked up again.

Wildlife For Sale

Dried plants and animals used for traditional Chinese medicine. Included are dried lingzhi, snake, turtle plastron, Luo han fruit, and ginseng.

TRAFFIC surveyed markets and restaurants in five cities in southern China. The survey revealed that 52 percent of markets and 40 percent of restaurants had wild animals for sale. 

A total of 56 species were found and, of these, eight are protected under Chinese law and 17 are protected under CITES, which prohibits or strictly controls international trade.

Wildlife found at the markets and restaurants included giant lizards, snakes, freshwater turtles, hawks, geckos, pangolin, bear paw. 

The wildlife consisted of:

• 39 reptiles (accounting for 70%)
• 4 mammals (7%) 
• 10 birds (18%) 
• 2 amphibians (4%)
• 1 fish (2%)

Most Popular Animals

The majority of illegal wild animal trade was in freshwater turtles and snakes. In particular, the report mentions the following:

• 600 freshwater turtles were found on sale at Qingping market (excluding those in warehouses) in Guangzhou, including the Malayan Box Turtle (Cuora amboinensis), Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongata) and Black Marsh Turtle (Siebenrockiella crassicollis)
• Almost 3,000 snakes were recorded in the survey, including the Taiwan beauty snake (Elaphe taeniura), Rat snake (Ptyas korros) and Tri-rope beauty snake (Elaphe radiata). The snake market was concentrated in Dongwang Frozen Product market (also known as the Chatou Wild Animal market) in Guangzhou.

Breakdown By City

The following table shows how many markets and restaurants were surveyed, along with the number of wild animals traded.

As mentioned previously, 52 percent of markets had wildlife for sale, as did 40 percent of restaurants surveyed.

Traditional Medicines

Although wildlife is often eaten from a dinner plate, it is also used in traditional medicines. 

The international trade in Chinese traditional medicine is growing at any annual rate of 10%. This, together with habitat loss, has impacted medicinal plant and animal populations, which have shrunk rapidly, with 15% to 20% of medicinal plants and animals now considered endangered.

Increasing Demand, Dimishing Supply

WWF, the global conservation organization, are calling on the Chinese to step up their efforts against illegal wildlife trade.

Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme says ”The trends seen in this report that show increasing demand in wildlife products and diminishing supply should be a wake up call for law enforcement, policy makers and consumers,”

She added, “We call upon Chinese authorities to enhance enforcement and public education efforts, to stop illegal trade and reduce consumption of threatened species from around the world.”

Illegal Ivory Trade

The survey, which also looked at the Chinese ivory trade, found that the illegal ivory trade is actually declining.  

While this is good news, TRAFFIC does point out that, due to increased enforecement, the illegal ivory trade is being pushed underground. Illegal ivory trade is more likely to take place in a hotel or via an online or offline auction.   

“The reduction in the illegal ivory trade is very welcome, but we urge the authorities to remain vigilant, particularly to ensure there is no laundering of illegal ivory,” said Professor Xu Hongfa, co-ordinator of TRAFFIC’s China Programme.

The World’s Second Largest Wood Importer

The report also looked into supply of wood, with China being the world’s second largest wood importer.

While Russia China’s largest wood supplier, are growing percentage of the nation’s wood comes from Africa. This increased demand is stimulting illegal timber trade in Africa.

“Chinese companies buying African timber must ensure the benefits of the timber trade are equitably shared, right down to the African rural communities on whose land the trees are growing,” said Professor Xu.

The Report

• View the TRAFFIC press release regarding the report (Word 332 KB)
• View the full report (PDF 2,311 KB)

Tasmanian Devil could be extinct within 10 to 20 years. Photo Menna Jones.

Australian scientists have joined forces in an attempt to save the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) - a carnivorous marsupial -  from extinction.   

Previous research has found that the Tasmanian Devil is likely to be extinct within 10 to 20 years due to an infectious facial cancer.

Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is a parasitic cancer that appears to be affecting the majority of Tasmanian Devils, was first discovered in 1995. Since then, over 60% of the Tasmanian Devil population has been wiped out. In some areas, DFTD killed as much as 90% of the Tasmanian Devil population within 10 years.

The project, led by University of Adelaide zoologist Jeremy Austin, will spend the next three years developing a conservation program to save the Tasmanian Devil the deadly disease.

“We have lost over half our devils in the past 10 years, with an estimated population of 20,000 to 50,000 mature devils left. Extinction within the next 20 years is a real possibility unless we find a vaccine, eradicate the disease and establish captive colonies,” Dr Austin said.

This Tasmanian Devil has Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a disease that threatens to wipe out the Tasmanian Devil population within 20 years. Photo: Wayne McLean.

Dr Austin’s team will analyse genetic material from devil populations to understand the origin, spread and impact of the facial cancer.

“We will be looking to develop rapid genetic testing techniques to pick devils that are resistant to the disease and can be used for breeding in captivity,” he said.

Dr Austin said that Tasmanian Devils are more prone to the infectious cancer because they have low levels of genetic diversity and a chromosomal mutation unique among carnivorous mammals.

“We need to establish whether the low levels of genetic diversity are due to recent human impacts or a long-term historical pattern. We also need to look at how the cancer is affecting surviving populations and identify individuals that may be resistant to the disease,” he said.

About the Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial endemic to Australia. It has been extinct from the mainland for over 400 years, and is now only found in the state of Tasmania - an island 240 kilometers off the south eastern side of the mainland.

In the 1990s, the Tasmanian Devil population stood at between 130,000 and 150,000. Now, current estimates place the population at between 20,000 and 50,000 (including 10,000-25,000 mature individuals).

Given the recent mortality rate, this figure is likely to decline substantially over the coming years, until the disease is eradicated or a vacinne is developed.

The Tasmanian Devil is currently listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Endangered.

Tuatara eggs that were recently found at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in New Zealand. Photo: Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

The first known tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) nest in over 200 years on the mainland has been found at Karori Sanctuary in New Zealand.

The nest contains at least 4 eggs but it is likely to contain more, as tuatara usually lay around 10 eggs at a time.

Staff at the wildlife sanctuary uncovered the nest accidentally.

“We knew of two suspected nests but didn’t want to disturb them to confirm whether or not they contained eggs. The nest in this photo was uncovered by accident, and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding. It suggests that there may be other nests in the Sanctuary we don’t know of.” said Sanctuary Conservation Manager Raewyn Empson.

The eggs were immediately covered up again to avoid disturbing their incubation. Sanctuary staff say that the eggs would have been laid almost exactly a year ago. Female tuatara lay their eggs into a shallow trench and then backfill it. 

About Tuatara

Scientists refer to the tuatara as a 'living fossil'. Photo: Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

Native to New Zealand, the tuatara is a reptile with distinctive soft spines down its backbone. Although it looks superficially like a lizard, tuatara is actually the only surviving member of the order Sphenodontia. 

Tuatara are greenish brown, and measure up to 80 cm (32 in) from head to tail-tip. It can take as many as 30 to 35 years for a tuatara to reach full size. This makes it the slowest growth rate of any reptile.

Tuatara usually lives to around 60 or 70, but they have been known to live to more than 100. In fact, one tuatara was seen mating last year at the ripe old age of 111.

The tuatara’s ancestory dates back to the dinosaur time. Ancestors of the tuatara and many other sphenodons were roaming the world 225 million years ago. This was about the time the first dinosaurs appeared. 

All other sphenodons disappeared around 65 million years ago and exist only as fossils. As a result, scientists often refer to tuatara as “living fossils”.

Tuatara Mating & Breeding

Tuatara mating last year at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in New Zealand. Photo: Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

Staff at the wildlife sanctuary suspected that tuatara were about to breed. They witnessed tuatara mating for the first time in March/April last year. Then around this time last year, they witnessed a female tuatara carrying eggs.

Tuatara reach sexual maturity at around 10 to 20 years of age. 

The female, on average, lays between 5 and 18 eggs only once every 4 years, which gives it the longest reproductive cycle of any reptile.

Mating season for tuatara is between January and March. Female tuatara then lay their eggs between October and December. Hatchlings appear between 12 to 15 months later.

Tuatara - Threatened Species

The nest is a significant find for New Zealand because, until the sanctuary was established in 2005, the tuatara was thought to have been extinct on the mainland.

The tuatara, which only occurs in New Zealand, was almost wiped out by rats - an introduced species - by the 1700s. In fact, in 1895, the tuatara was one of the first animals in the world to become fully protected by law.

Since then, significant tuatara populations have survived on 32 remote islands around New Zealand.