It's a Big Problem

Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
(Photo courtesy www.sharkireland.com)

The Basking Shark is endangered in the Pacific and in trouble in the Atlantic (COSEWIC 2007, listed as vulnerable by the IUCN) and is little known by most humans. A call to our lab to determine which “sea monster” carcass had washed up on a Nova Scotia shore had us discover a Basking Shark that had apparently died at sea.

These gentle giants can grow up to 15 metres in length and have the longest known gestation period of any vertebrate (up to 3.5 years!), so replacement is low. Despite their size, I think Basking Sharks are pretty cute. First, they’re filter feeders, so the fear factor is totally related to being humungous and able to knock your head off with a casual flip of the tail. Second, their rounded noses make them look a bit more like a seal than a shark. Unfortunately, they can become tangled in nets and fishing lines or hit by ships as they cruise near the surface of the water, feeding on the rich biodiversity of plankton there.

I’ve been up close and personal with a lot of Atlantic sharks, and their sheer bulk makes them seem invincible. They aren’t. In the pacific, the situation is even worse.

What can you do to help them out? As with any ocean fish, this is a tough question. Avoiding cruise ships is a good first step, but minimizing your contribution to water pollution (salts, fertilizers, sewage? learn more here) and eating a vegetarian diet (slower global warming and no nets or lines to tangle or maim non-target species) are even better. Finally, tell your friends! We’re the species responsible for their decline, so we can certainly act to change that.

Splash! Puurrrrr.

Flat-headed Cat (Prionailurus planiceps), Endangered

An awesome article from New Scientist, about a water-loving cat with webbed feet.

IYOB

The year has just started, but already one month has already nearly passed. The rest of the year will be gone before we know it, and soon it will be December once again.

Despite how fast this year will go by, there are plenty of opportunities to make a difference. The UN has designated 2010 the Internatial Year of Biodiversity (IYOB), to celebrate all of life of earth, and the ways in which our lives are enriched by it.

In order to promote biodiversity and raise awareness of endangered species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is highlighting a species a day. There's a link to the Species of the Day to the right, so follow along and learn a bit more about some of the threats facing the biodiversity of our planet.

Click here to find a IYOB celebration near you.

'Alalawhat?

'Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis), Extinct in the Wild

The 'Alala, has been Extinct in the Wild since 2002. What is an 'Alala you ask? 'Alala is the Hawaiian name for a bird that others call the Hawaiian Crow.



The last few wild birds lived out their lives on the island of Hawaii, in the Kona Forest Unit of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. Now, the 'Alala no longer exists, except for sixty some birds in two breeding centers, (one on Maui and one on the Big Island of Hawaii), and a single bird at the San Diego Zoo.

The birds declined because of a variety of factors, including habitat alteration by wild cattle, sheep, and pigs. These animals would clear the underbrush of the native plants that the 'Alala depended on for food. The lack of underbrush also made the Hawaiian Crow more susceptible to attacks from it's main predator, the 'Io, aka the Hawaiian Hawk. Logging and the conversion of forested land into agricultural land added to the problem.

Recovery efforts have been underway since at least the 1970s, but with little success. Between 1993 and 1999, 27 captive reared birds were released. Twenty-one of those died in the wild, and the remaining 6 were recaptured to preserve their genetic diversity for the captive breeding program. The captive breeding population has grown over the years, but very slowly.

Currently, a single 19-year old bird is being kept at the San Diego Zoo, where it is hoped that it will be possible to collect his sperm, so that his important genes will not be lost, since he will no longer breed.

In 2009, the US Fish and Wildlife Service published an update to its recovery plan for the 'Alala, including plans for continued captive breeding and eventual reintroduction into conserved and protected habitats. In order to carry out the recovery plan, an estimated $14 million will need to be found.

You can stay up to date on the latest news and information about the 'Alala at Crows.net.

[January 20, 2010, 9:32 pm, corrected the location of the breeding centers in paragraph 2]

Lost and Found

Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti), Critically Endangered

Happy new year! 2010 and I write about a species lost and found again!

The Forest Owlet existed for only a decade after it was first described before being rediscovered113 (!) years later in 1997. I had the priveledge to attend a talk by one of the discoverers, rather re-discoverers, a few weeks back here in New Delhi.

Pamela Rasmussen is like an adventure book come to life - filled with a long tale of controversies, mysteries and finally the finding of a SPECIES! A dream all nature explorers and adventurers carry from childhood. So here is the story of the Forest Owlet as I recollect it.

This Owlet was never prolifically observed and a tumbling and twisting tale of specimens follow its course in history. The search only had a few specimens in various museums to follow as a lead. So put on your Detective Cap and follow on - soon these specimens were studied and a tangled web of specimen fraud was unraveled starring in the lead role a Colonel Richard Henry Meinertzhagen a British soldier, an intelligence officer and an ornithologist. Once the truth slipped out and after many a long and hard survey a few tiny patches of forest in India in the Satpuras were found to house these beautiful birds. Its habitat is largely protected in Melghat Tiger Reserve, Taloda Reserve Forest and Toranmal Reserve forest. The key differentiation between notified reserves and reserve forest is the level of actual protection. All 3 places are however under the IBAs of India, broadly strewn across the country and under surveillance by hawk-eyed (or should I say Owlet-eyed) IBCN members. Critically endangered and with ever increasing habitat reduction the Forest Owlet is as closer than ever to vanishing once more than it was a hundred years back!

If you see any Owlet near your garden sunning itself you'll realize the joy of seeing an intelligent predator at their most relaxed... I saw Spotted Owlets (not in danger of becoming extinct) in my garden the other day and it made me think of the Forest Owlet once more.

It would indeed be a shame to lose this bird again after so painstakingly finding it. After all, this time round we may not be as lucky as a hundred years back to see it re-surface again!

You can even adopt this and a few other birds here! This photograph is by Nikhil Devasar.

Collector's Item

Gooty Sapphire (Poecilotheria metallica), Critically Endangered












The first thing I learned about this tree dwelling tarantula, was that it has to be seen to be believed. When I saw a picture, I understood why. The rare beauty of this spider's color may be its salvation or its doom.

Native to a tiny, tiny, tiny, patch of India, this entire species occupies less than 100 km squared--and that's a generous estimate. Sounds big, but look at this map, and you'll see just how tiny it is.

With it's habitat being degraded as humans cut trees for timber and firewood, it's up for debate whether the smugglers who have spirited some of these spiders out of the country will ultimately help the spiders or cause their demise.

Coveted among spider and insect collectors and hobbyists for their colour, these spiders are being bred in captivity by specialist pet shops. A young Sapphire Gooty spiderling can fetch more than US$150. Although they are fairly rare right now, as hobbyists continue to breed them, they may become more common.

I don't generally support taking wild animals out of their native habitat for use as pets, but perhaps this time it might save them, or at least ensure that some remain if they can no longer survive in the wild.

What do you think? Is this biopiracy or conservation in disguise?

Viva Vaquita

Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), Critically Endangered

A new taskforce has been formed to prevent the extinction of the Vaquita, the world's rarest marine mammal. Check out the Viva Vaquita website for more information.

Here's a recent article about the latest happenings in the world of the Vaquita.

Vultures in Vain

Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Critically Endangered
Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus), Critically Endangered
Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), Critically Endangered

In the 1980s, millions of somewhat ugly but still majestic vultures congregated around the carcasses of dead and decaying animals throughout India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia, disposing of them in less than an hour. Today, with their population a mere 0.01% of its former size, carcasses of livestock sit for days or weeks, rotting in the sun.

What happened to the other 99.9%? Poisoned.

Diclofenac is a drug that was commonly used to treat inflammation and arthritis in livestock. When animals receiving the drug died, vultures would come to feast. A few days later, their kidneys would fail and death would follow shortly. Diclofenac is, as far as anyone can tell, the sole culprit for the decline of these useful birds.

Diclofenac has been banned for veterinary use in India, Nepal, and Pakistan since 2006, but is still available for human use--and some farmers still use it for their livestock.

Now, another drug commonly used to treat livestock, ketoprofen, has been shown to have similar effects to diclofenac. Ketoprofen is not used as widely, but it's becoming more popular. Although it's not as toxic as diclofenac, studies and modeling have shown that even with very small numbers of poisoned carcasses, massive declines in vulture populations would occur.

Conservation organizations, including the Bombay Natural History Society, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Birdlife International, are advocating the use of meloxicam. Though this drug is more expensive, it is the only drug known to be safe for vultures. Other drugs exist, but their effect on vultures is unknown.

Captive breeding centers for Vultures have been established, as well as Vulture restaurants, where undrugged carcasses are left out for the birds. There have been some successes with captive breeding, but the birds will probably not be released until harmful drugs are no longer a threat.

Endangered Eating: The End of Tuna

Atlantic and Southern Bluefin Tuna, (Thunnus thynnus and maccoyii), Critically Endangered

So much has been written about the plight of Bluefin Tuna that I feel it's pointless to add another article to the mix. However, if you aren't aware of what's happening to our Tuna, you should read one or two of the articles below. Our fish are being used up at a ridiculously unsustainable rate. If you can't be bothered to read any of the articles, the main gist is this--stop eating Bluefin Tuna for a while, or in a few years, there won't be any left.

Check out Tuna can stay on the menu... for now, to get an idea of which Tuna species are sustainably harvested if you're a Tuna lover, or become a sustainable seafood consumer.

Articles:

Tuna can stay on the menu... for now

Tagging the tigers of the sea

Are lower catch limits enough to save the bluefin tuna from extinction?

ICCAT fails to protect critically endangered tuna—again

Atlantic bluefin trade ban now vital as tuna commission fails to take action again

Mediterranean bluefin catches continue to mock quotas and science

Top French chefs take bluefin tuna off the menu

Don't Order the Tuna -- Endangered Fish Served as Sushi

Monaco seeks global bluefin tuna trade ban

Bluefin quota to cost Australian fisheries millions

Southern Bluefin Tuna crashing toward extinction to feed sushi & sushimi market

Latest Statistics

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has recently issued an updated version of its well-known IUCN Redlist, the most comprehensive and authoritative measure of the endangered-ness of species around the world. According to the latest information, 17,291 species are threatened with extinction out of a total of 47,677 assessed species. "The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting,” according to Jane Smart, Director of IUCN’s Biodiversity Conservation Group.

Below are some graphs, illustrating the most recent statistics. Red areas represent species that are threatened. One thing to keep in mind while looking at these charts--these graphics represent only species that are assessed by the IUCN. So, although just about all of the known mammal, amphibian, and bird species have been described and assessed, only small percentages of the world's known plants, invertebrates, fish, and reptiles, have been assessed. Which of course means that there are a lot of species out there whose status is unknown. They may be threatened or not--we just don't know. If you're interested in more details, check out the Summary Statistics published by the IUCN.