Javan Rhino Conservation
Although the Javan rhinoceros was once the most widespread of any Asian rhino breed, today it is the most endangered. The Javan rhinos were decimated in 1883 when a 120 foot tsunami, caused by the Krakatau volcano eruption, forced its way through the Ujong Kulon National Park where the rhinos lived. The Associated Press reports that the greatest threats to the rhinos today include poaching, habitat destruction and competition for food with other species. The rhinos share the park with leopards, silvery gibbons, crab-eating macaques, mouse deer and several hundred species of birds and snakes, accounts the WWF.
The Javan rhino population dipped in the 1960’s to just 20 individuals living in Ujung Kulon. The World Wildlife Fund stepped in, and boosted the population to 50 rhinos in the 1990’s. While I’m not sure what this means for their genetic health, I still think it’s great news.
Then in recent weeks 3 Javan rhinos have been found dead. Two apparently died from natural causes, and one from poaching. This has raised the alarm bells, because a population as small as 50 individuals can’t afford to lose any members.
It’s time for more good news, and ProPrint brings us some. The Asia Pulp & Paper company and the Indonesian Rhino Foundation have agreed to undertaking a joint venture to protect the Javan rhino and its habitat. The endeavor will involve making the Javan Rhino Sanctuary in Ujung Kulon National Park safer for the rhinos. This includes widening its habitat and keeping it safe from domestic animals and nearby population growth.
Also, a 7 mile (12 km.) long electric fence is now being built around a new 10,000 acre sanctuary and breeding ground beside Ujung Kulon. The plan is to herd some rhinos into the area after the fence is completed, later this year.
As well, conservation groups and the Indonesian government are planning to relocate some rhinos to a safer area. The new area has to keep the rhinos happy – thus, pools and wallows are on the shopping list. Happy rhinos breed, which suits the bottom line that their population needs to grow. The target growth rate is 3 percent a year.
Good Luck to the conservationists and the Javan (and other) rhinos. These positive actions are what all endangered species need.
Tags: Asia Pulp & Paper, Asian rhino, Conservation, Indonesian Rhino Foundation, Javan rhino, Krakatau, poaching, Ujong Kulon, WWF
Friendly Mascots
“Mascot”, according to Wikipedia, means any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck and that represents a group with a common public identity such as a school, professional sports team, society, non profit organization, or zoo. For this Friday File I thought you might like to ‘meet’ a few friendly mascots.
(c) Alison Sheepway / WWF-Canada
Among NGO’s, the World Wildlife Fund’s Panda Bear is likely the best known logo/mascot. Chosen in 1961 when WWF was started, the panda was selected in honor of Chi Chi, who lived at the London Zoo and was the only giant panda in the Western world at that time. You can see how WWF’s logo changed through the years on their website. The Panda’s most recent appearance was lounging in a chair on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill as part of the G8/G20 Global Day of Action, urging world leaders to act on climate change at the G8/G20 summit that is scheduled for Ontario later this month.
Other mascots also carry important messages, such as the blue drop that supports water conservation for the Whatcom Water Alliance. The Alliance is a regional group in Washington state that promotes water conservation by coordinating public information and related conservation activities. It rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest – so the mascot is named Wayne Drop! He has an online photo gallery of his time at Discovery Days.
Just north of the border, the Vancouver Aquarium has a beluga whale mascot named Bee Bop. The Aquarium is proud to be home to several beluga whales, and offer visitors a chance to get close to them. A Beluga Encounter is an interactive experience that offers a view into beluga communication, while visiting the animals in the behind-the-scenes marine mammal habitat.
Mascots sometimes party together. Gordo, the Royal Ontario Museum’s dino mascot, and the Toronto Zoo’s Explorer Bear joined Toronto Public Library’s Dewey Decimal mascot in a public appearance together earlier this Spring. They were announcing the expansion of the popular Sun Life Financial Museum + Arts Pass Program (MAP).
Overseas, mascots can be found in a wide range of animals including gazelles, parrots, cockatoos and other mostly attractive species. The value of flagship species and adorable mascots would make this article too long, so suffice it to say that Time Magazine got it right on in their recent article about why Madagascar needs a mascot.
Do you have a favorite mascot that you’d like everyone to know about?
Tags: animal, Bee Bop, beluga, G8/G20 Global Day, mascot, panda, ROM, Toronto Public Library, Toronto Zoo, Vancouver Aquarium, Wayne Drop, Whatcom Water, Wildlife, WWF
30 Years in China
In 1980, nineteen years after choosing the Giant Panda as their logo, World Wildlife Fund entered China. As the first environmental group invited by the government to work in China, WWF had the mission of saving the remaining Giant Panda and Snow Leopard populations, as well as other rare and exotic animals and landscapes.
Field research on the reclusive giant panda had started with China’s Ministry of Forestry doing the first panda survey between 1974 and 1977. WWF was invited and participated in the mid 1980’s in a study that identified priority conservation areas. By the end of 2003, China had established 40 panda reserves that protected 60% of the giant pandas.
China is also a home to the Siberian Tiger and Amur Leopard. Human pressures, including poaching, pollution and logging of their forest, have threatened their population. Since 2001, WWF has worked with three Chinese provinces to protect almost 8.4 million acres. They have now identified High Conservation Value Forests in the region, and are working on improving and managing the existing and new protected areas.
China’s main river, the Yangtze, is home to the endangered Yangtze dolphin and Chinese sturgeon. A worsening cycle of flood and drought are challenging the people living along the river. WWF has been applying their “Living River” management model, that sees the Yangtze’s branches, and connected lakes and wetlands, as part of a web of life. With WWF’s encouragement, provincial governors and key ministers for the area’s water, environment, forest, and agriculture sectors gathered in 2005 to develop a common strategy and action plan for protecting the entire Yangtze basin.
WWF has also worked with Chinese communities to restore farmland to its former wetland state, while developing conservation-friendly alternative livelihoods for the local people which tripled their household incomes. A similar program near Dongting Lake has witnessed the return of over 10,000 birds and 50 species of fish.
The next 30 years will likely see continued amazingly fast economic development and growing population. WWF has a conservation vision focused on the health and survival of the region’s natural treasures, as well as the prosperity of its local communities. Their view includes sustainable sourcing, production, and consumption across global supply chains.
We wish WWF the best of luck in creating more conservation successes in China.
More details are available in WWF’s press release.
Tags: Amur leopard, China, Conservation, Giant Panda, Siberian tiger, Snow Leopard, WWF, Yangtze
Conserving Turtles
It seems that conservation plans for endangered species should always have a Plan B. It’s not safe to rely on the ecosystem area remaining intact. Looking at the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, having a Plan B to put into motion as soon as the oil spill started, would have been great.
News reports the other day mentioned finding 20 dead endangered turtles along the shoreline. These included some Kemp’s Ridley Turtles, which the World Wildlife Fund says are the most endangered turtles/tortoises. The species has a restricted range and lives only in the Gulf of Mexico.
The WWF website mentions the threat of shrimp trawling. Then they ominously add that the “juvenile population of the Kemp’s Ridley is also threatened by pollution in the Gulf of Mexico around the mouths of the Alabama and Mississippi rivers, important development habitats for these animals”. The shallow sand and mud in the estuaries are the turtle’s favorite habitat.
The US and Mexico have been conserving the Kemp’s Ridley Turtles since the nesting beach of Rancho Nuevo was declared a National Reserve. They’ve had some success, and recently there were as many as 1,000 turtles.
Apart from sporadic nesting elsewhere, nesting takes place only on one 20 km beach at Rancho Nuevo in Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico. Luckily, that’s not where the oil is heading.
Nesting season is from April through July. So the females are probably there now, hopefully safely. However, WWF reports that an unusual feature of this species is that the males appear to be non-migratory. So they are likely to be where the oil is expanding. A worst case scenario is that the adult males will be wiped out – and all the male Kemp’s Ridley turtles of the next few years are currently being born on the beach in Mexico. This leads me to ask if maybe some of the baby turtles should be captured and held until it’s safe for them to go to the Mississippi area. That would be a good Plan B.
Tags: Conservation, Gulf of Mexico, Kemp's Ridley, Mississippi, oil spill, Rancho Nuevo, turtles, World Wildlife Fund, WWF
Happy Earth Hour
Saturday, March 27th, at 8:30 pm, join 3,100 cities across 121 countries and territories and turn out your lights. You will be joining them to send a strong message that more needs to be done to fight climate change.
World Wildlife Fund seems to be leading the way in offering climate friendly tips and tools for Earth Hour. WWF Canada is offering e-cards that you can use to remind your friends about Earth Hour. Some Canadian events can be found on the participating cities website.
Meanwhile, WWF-US has a web page that you can sign up on to help support your state in changing to a climate friendly color. You can watch a video that shows climate change and some of our world’s landmarks turning off their lights for Earth Hour. They also have a countdown clock.
The mothership, so to speak, is Earth Hour’s own website with links about every participating country.
This being the Friday File, it wouldn’t seem right to leave out an Earth Hour game (even though if you’re a regular reader of the Friday File you may have seen this little guy before!). Check it out at the game website.
Enjoy, and join in the worldwide Earth Hour fun!
Tags: Climate Change, Earth Hour, Earth Hour Game, ecards, WWF, WWF Canada, WWF US
WWF – Conservation Games
It’s so good when learning about our world involves fun. World Wildlife Fund International, headquartered in Gland Switzerland, has a webpage that features seven fun little games related to conservation.
All most of the games require is some basic skills, such as hand/eye coordination. Trying to get the Seagull to poop at the right time so it lands on the evil fishermen and saves the fish takes a certain talent! I enjoyed it, even though I confess that my first game’s score was just 12. We get better at this game apparently, because the highest score is around 6,700!
If you are or ever have been a Tetris fan, you will most likely enjoy Bycatch Bonanza, and successfully avoid catching the good sealife when you’re trying to catch just fish.
The Earth Hour Game matched my “The Seagull Strikes Back” game in being simple fun. It’s entertaining making the little character run along, turning out lights along the way. Be careful you don’t make him fall off the planet!
Toxic Blaster was fun once I caught on how to play it (Hint: the spacebar helps!).
Rescue the Russian Leopard and Poacher Peril both need to be downloaded, which I haven’t yet done - the online games are keeping me happy enough.
Basic conservation messages are embedded in the games, such as when fishing people should just catch what they’re trying to, and avoid bycatch. As with most things that WWF do, these games although simple are both fun and high quality.
Happy Friday!
Tags: Conservation, Earth Hour Game, fishing game, hand/eye coordination, online games, Tetris, Toxic Blaster, WWF
