Animals

Endangered Sea Turtles Fight Back from the Brink of Extinction

February 22, 2009

Even though sea turtles are legally protected, their populations have been drastically dwindling worldwide. All marine turtle species are listed as endangered, except the Loggerhead, which is listed as threatened. Sea turtles face a number of deadly threats, including poaching, fishing, rapidly shrinking habitat, human encroachment, polluted oceans and global warming. However, in San Francisco, Nayarit the turtles are beginning to make a slow resurgence.

Red-billed Oxpecker Re-claiming KwaZulu Natal Farming Areas.

February 17, 2009

The Red-billed Oxpecker is not an endangered species in the CITES lists but poisoning had wiped it out in certain livestock farming areas of South Africa. Now, with a little help, the Oxpecker is re-establishing itself. The Red-billed Oxpecker is a member of the starling and myna family Sturndidae. It is native to the Savannah of sub-Saharan Africa, from the Central African Republic east to Sudan and south to northern and eastern South Africa. It is basically an insect eater, but…

Caterpillars Devour 45 Towns in Liberia: Climate Change Possibly to Blame

January 25, 2009

In the aftermath of another extended rainy season, Liberia has experienced its worst caterpillar plague in three decades. Tens of millions of the black-haired creatures have swarmed farms, devastated crops and contaminated several major waterways with their feces. The lingering rainy seasons, which might be an indication of global warming, are the likely culprit for the creepy invasion. Liberian agriculturalists have called for extensive aerial spraying to combat the rapacious larvae, since the caterpillars have managed to bypass more minimal,…

Smuggler Caught With Heads of 353 African Gray Parrots

January 25, 2009

A new trade in parrot heads and tail feathers is adding to the pressure on the world’s wild population of African Grey Parrots, which is confined to the tropical forest area of West and Central Africa. This is highlighted by a recent post by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from Cameroon, which reports on a suspect arrested by game rangers who was found to be carrying 353 parrot heads and 2000 tail feathers. The suspect stated that he had collected…

Cluckin’ About Urban Chickens

January 7, 2009

The urban chicken movement is growing as more and more folks try to move away from factory farmed food and towards self-sufficiency. Why Chickens? Chickens are pretty low-maintenance. Once you have your coop set up, you just have to make sure they’re fed, watered, and get to run around outside. Most people who raise their own chickens do so for the eggs, not the meat. Instead of buying eggs from a factory farm or from hundreds of miles away, urban…

Korean Tigers Back from the Brink of Extinction, but Not in South Korea

November 24, 2008

Tragically, the death of the last wild Korean tigers also foreshadowed the end of Korea’s unity.