The biggest threats to turtles are habitat loss, overexploitation of wild turtles for human use, invasive species/diseases and climate change. Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) are working hard to raise awareness on this difficult issue, and have launched a campaign proclaiming 2011 the ‘Year of the Turtle,’ according to Connecticutplus.com. Connecticut is home to seven endangered turtle species. The state will help PARC spread the word on the turtle plight from local to federal officials.

The key to turtle recovery is for us to take action on behalf of these helpless animals! We must ban together, protect habitats, and manage turtle species and crisis situations such as natural disasters (oil spills, etc). We must become tough as turtle shells and serve as a protective barrier.

The new panther home is to be in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia, which is ranked as the most suitable of nine potential sites throughout the southwest. The refuge has 400,000 acres under protection with an abundance of deer and feral hogs for prey, reports the Florida Times Union. The panthers would be able to roam into both states very freely. The second area up for consideration is the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. Both areas are good for the release of the 240 cats, but the petition is only for Okefenokee. A few years ago panthers with radio transmitters were introduced into the area and when the survivors were picked up, the experiment was deemed a success.

However this plan has yet to go forward since many people who are neighbours to the Okefenokee area fear that introducing the panthers there would cause  harm to their livestock.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Ken Warren, relocating the panthers takes more than just science – it is also about their larger effect on the human population. Both sides are divided, and they have valid arguments. It remains to be seen what the federal government will decide.

Along with the usual spots such as Madagascar, the list includes the California Floristic Province, where the Mediterranean-like climate provides a home to the last individuals of the rare California condor, as well as the giant sequoia, the planet’s largest tree. VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver has some young giant sequoia, and they’re majestic trees.

Forests cover only 30 percent of the planet’s area but are home to 80 percent of the world’s land animals and plants, reports Conservation International. The group writes that forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate to give room to pastures, agricultural land, mineral exploitation, and sprawling urban areas, but by doing so we are destroying our own capacity to survive.

The display’s pictures are worthy of National Geographic’s reputation. Overall, it’s a beautiful but sad collection.

Abu Dhabi was chosen as the location for the conference partly because they have a high profile Departmental Research Centre that is becoming known as a reliable place for the conservation and breeding of endangered birds, writes Emirates 24/7.  Since 1989, the Abu Dhabi government has been a leader in trying to save and breed the Houbara Bustard, an important bird in UAE heritage and in falconry. As well, the UAE has founded several avian research centres that focus on endangered birds conservation.

As at most conferences, research and findings are being presented. One such research project is about breeding Houbaras. Apparently some researchers have used chickens, with their high reproductive rate and lack of seasonality, to support the breeding. It’s a radical idea, but when animals are endangered sometimes radical ideas are needed.

Among the other topics being discussed at the conference are the improvement rates of germline transmission, the potential for cloning birds, and the development of birds in surrogate cells such as the houbaras.

There are only a few thousand tigers left in the wild, and TRAFFIC reports that parts of 1,069 to 1,220 tigers were seized in tiger range countries in the past decade. And that doesn’t account for the tiger parts that were not seized. The tiger parts include skins, skeletons, bones, teeth and other body parts. I just don’t understand how someone can view a tiger as no more than simply a source of a decoration or a good luck charm.

China, India and Nepal lead the pack of 11 countries where the tiger parts were seized. Half of our world’s wild tigers live in India, so that country’s poachers have the most tigers to choose from.

This is one situation where tougher laws might help. The risk of getting caught must be increased, and seizures and arrests need to be followed by swift prosecution and sentences that reflect the seriousness of crimes against tigers. As well, cultural education must occur to decrease the demand in Asia for tiger parts.

Further, the situation calls for increased commitment by politicians, and an international effort to save the remaining tigers before it’s too late. The report has been published in time for the tiger summit set for St. Petersburg, Russia, later this month. Hopefully the heads of tiger range state governments will make some key commitments to support the Global Tiger Recovery Program which hopes to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.

The leading causes of the species being driven towards extinction are agricultural expansion, logging, over-exploitation and invasive alien species. Southeast Asia leads the extinction drive by planting export crops such as oil palms, commercial hardwood timber operations, agricultural conversion to rice paddies and unsustainable hunting.

While the study shows a dire situation, it also confirms that conservation efforts pay off. The results show that biodiversity would have declined by nearly 20% if conservation action had not been taken. The status of 64 mammal, bird and amphibian species has improved thanks to successful conservation programs. A few species, including the black footed ferret in the US and Canada, have been restored from captive breeding programs to the wild after the species went extinct in the wild.

What conservation needs is more resources and commitment by governments, businesses and citizens. The biodiversity conference currently being held in Nagoya Japan will hopefully end with the world’s governments reaching an international agreement on some conservation steps to be taken to try to plug the holes in decreasing species populations.

If you’d like to read more, the study will be published in the international journal called Science.

Biodiversity 100 was created to prod governments into action – to stop focusing on short term thinking. The list states that Canada must do more to protect its boreal forest and the caribou from uncontrolled oil and gas drilling. Brazil and Argentina are also called on to preserve their remaining forests. Mexico is tasked to step up efforts to save the Gulf of California porpoise, now that the Chinese river dolphin is likely extinct. The UK is called on to safeguard and restore their bumblebee population.

Now is the time for Biodiversity 100, because in one month a conference about the catastrophic decline of biodiversity on our planet will take place at Nagoya, Japan. Many people fear that governments will repeat their Copenhagen failure and once again stand by and do nothing. Thus the Guardian is asking people to step up and demand that their governments do more to protect biodiversity.

The list creators recognize that people are suffering from issue fatigue, or assuming that someone somewhere is taking care of nature. It also recognizes that sometimes specific, practical solutions are difficult to find and implement. But too many governments are ignorant about, or choose to ignore, endangered animals and plants. So the Guardian is calling for more people to become active - to stop waiting for governments which are loose with commitments.

Our other option? To stand by while we lose the biodiversity that makes life on Earth so special.

If you watch the Cutest Cat in the World video, you then get a choice of 7 more videos. My favorites are Beyond The Myth Clips 1, 2 and 3, which show great footage of endangered snow leopards in the wild. The cats are magnificent, and the equipment being used to film them is impressive. Warning, though – the 3rd video clip ends sadly. 

Below the Snow Leopard videos on the Society’s webpage is a great video about the Scottish Wild Cat. The wild Scottish Highlands are home to an array of endangered animals that once called all of Britain its home, the video tells us.  The Wild Cats’ gene pool has been diluted by breeding with domestic cats, which may sometimes also pass along disease.  There are only about 400 wild cats left today, and captive breeding is important to keep them alive and healthy.

Columbian conservation groups Fundacion ProAves and El Grupo Ceruleo have partnered with the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) to develop and publish a conservation plan for the Cerulean Warbler, according to Surfbirds News.  The action plan will address the challenging issues involved in the conservation of this unique bird species whose range spans many political and geographic boundaries.  The Warbler breeds in the deciduous forests of the eastern United States and Canada in the summer, returning to its non-breeding ground of South America in the winter, explains The Environment News Service.  Alarmingly, the Warblers have lost 80 percent of their population due to habitat loss and fragmentation across their geographical range.

The ABC and Fundacion ProAves intend to use economic and ecological tools and incentives to reduce the loss of shade-grown coffee farms, to promote a protected areas network using the warbler as an umbrella species, and to restore and enhance habitats.

The Environment News Service also reports that the Armonia/Loro Parque Fundacion recently purchased over 2,800 acres of savanna and rainforest in the Beni Savannas, in an attempt to save the Blue-throated Macaw.  Now that the land is saved, conservation activities such as using nest boxes, conducting habitat research requirements, and starting up ecotourism, will be done.

Meanwhile, back in the US, Audubon Vermont’s Forest Bird Initiative aims to protect neo-tropical migratory birds in the Atlantic Northern Forest of Vermont through integrating science, education and public policy to conserve habitats.  According to National Geographic’s Global Action Atlas, the Forest Bird Initiative identifies, monitors and stewards a network of important bird areas (IBA) which support a significant number of breeding forest birds to maintain viable populations of endangered bird species.  After all, it is the responsibility of human beings to ensure that the Cerulean warbler and other species fly home safely.

Once an animal is legally classified, people start to pay attention. But often the emphasis is on listing and expressing concern, and actions to protect a species fall short. And that’s often why environmental groups such as the Georgia Strait Alliance take the government to court.

The federal government has laws, such as the Species at Risk Act and the Oceans Act, but they’re not enforcing them or taking action to protect the species, commented Christianne. What complicates the situation is that the Georgia Strait’s water is federal jurisdiction, but the seabed is provincial.

Such laws are supposed to protect threatened species such as the orca whale. People get excited about members of the southern orca population. “You hear squeals on the ferry when you see them,” Christianne remembered. But there’s only 85 of the orcas left. “Protecting the orca is going to be challenging. But just because something’s challenging does not mean that nothing should be done.”

What the Georgia Strait needs, aside from enforcement of existing laws, is marine planning. Marine planning looks at the whole region and considers all the species that live there, including humans. The Georgia Strait is a working body of water, like the Mississippi River, with billions of dollars economically. So it’s important to keep that happening, even while realizing that good health and tourism are worth billions and so is preserving parts of the Strait and their species.

“We all have to be part of that solution.” The Alliance, like most organizations, need support for both their work and also politically – if you care about the endangered species, write your politicians and let them know.