Its recovery in southeast leads to status change to threatened The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday. “The downlisting of the red-cockaded woodpecker marks a significant milestone in our nation’s commitment to preserving biodiversity,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement. At one point in the 1970s, the red-cockaded woodpecker population had dipped as low as 1,470 clusters — or groups of nests, wildlife officials said. Today, there are an estimated 7,800 clusters. “It’s an amazing bird that has an unusual communal nesting structure,” said Will Harlan of the nonprofit Center...
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A species of lynx found in remote areas of Spain and Portugal has rebounded from near extinction, with its adult population growing more than tenfold since the start of the millennium. Wildlife experts are calling the recovery of the Iberian Lynx unparalleled among felines in an age of extinction in which species are vanishing at a rate not seen in 10 million years due to climate change, pollution and habitat loss. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which categorises species according to the level of risk they face in a "Red List" produced several times a year, bumped up the Iberian Lynx from "endangered" to "vulnerable" on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: A female Iberian lynx, a feline in danger of extinction, named Ilexa is released with other four lynxes, as part of the...
Read MoreFive Iberian lynx have been released into the wild in southern Spain this week as part of an expanding breeding programme aimed at conserving one of the world's most endangered feline species with distinctive long black ear tufts. Darting out of their crates one by one, Saturno and Sotillo, two male lynx bred in captivity, and two wild-born females, Solera and Ilexa, along with her kitten Terre, will be free to reproduce and populate the mountainous Sierra Arana area in the Andalusian province of Granada. People take pictures of a male Iberian lynx, a feline in danger of extinction, named Saturno, that is released with other four lynxes, as part of the European project 'Life LynxConnect' to recover this species in Arana mountain range, in Iznalloz, near Granada, southern Spain Decem...
Read MoreAustralia to set aside at least 30% of its land mass to protect endangered species
Australia will set aside at least 30% of its land mass for conservation in a bid to protect plants and animals in the island continent famed for species found nowhere else in the world, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Tuesday. Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent and has one of the worst rates of species decline among the world's richest countries, a five-yearly environmental report card released in July by the government showed. FILE PHOTO: A wallaby sits among burnt trees at Kosciuszko National Park in Providence Portal, New South Wales, Australia. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy That report showed the number of species added to the list of threatened species or in a higher category of risk grew on average by 8% from the previous report in 2016. ...
Read MoreClose your eyes for a moment and imagine a butterfly. My money says the fluttering insect you’re envisioning has black-veined, reddish-orange wings outlined with white specks — the iconic attributes of much loved American monarch butterfly. Unfortunately, the species, which populates many childhood memories, is in trouble. The migrating monarch butterfly was added last week to the “red list” of threatened species and categorized as “endangered” for the first time by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. That’s two steps from extinct in the wild. FILE PHOTO: Monarch butterflies land on branches at Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Nic Coury, File) Scientists blamed the monarchs’ plummeting numbers on habitat ...
Read MoreThe migratory monarch butterfly, which has for millennia turned North American woodlands into kaleidoscopes of colour in one of nature's most spectacular mass migrations, is threatened with extinction, international conservationists said on Wednesday. Every autumn, migratory monarchs fly thousands of miles (km) from breeding grounds in the eastern United States and Canada to spend the winter closely huddled in trees in Mexico and California. Numbering in the millions in the 1990s, the butterfly's population has since shrunk by more than 85%, scientists estimate. FILE PHOTO: Monarch butterflies sit on a plant at El Rosario sanctuary, in El Rosario, in Michoacan state, Mexico February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan On Wednesday it was placed in the endangered category of th...
Read MoreEndangered mountain gorillas increase the frequency they drink water as the temperature increases, suggesting a likely impact of climate change on their behavior, finds a new study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science. Researchers used 10 years of data from observations on the only two existing mountain gorilla populations and found that both populations drank water significantly more often at higher average temperatures than cooler ones. The results have important implications for the behavior and conservation of mountain gorillas, which are faced with continued increases in temperature and frequency of extreme weather events due to the climate crisis. Mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda drinking water. Photo: Martha Robbins Mountain gorill...
Read MoreAuthorities on the Indonesian tropical island Bali released 33 endangered green sea turtles into the ocean on Saturday in an effort to boost a population threatened by poachers and illegal traders. The turtles, from the Chelonia mydas species that is protected in Indonesia, were released on Kuta beach after they being rescued during a Navy operation against poachers in December. Tourists gathered to watch and film the release on their mobile phones, cheering the turtles on as they trudged across on the beach. "It's a great idea for the conservation effort," said Australian tourist Briant Firth. "They were getting some of the poachers and they were saving the turtles." Indonesia has become a hub of international trafficking of marine turtles, feeding demand from countries l...
Read MoreZookeepers at Cuba's National Zoo in capital Havana say several species of exotic and endangered animals took advantage of the peace and quiet brought on by the coronavirus pandemic for romantic encounters that resulted in a bumper crop of baby animals. The newborns include leopards, bengal tigers, zebras, giraffes, antelopes and oxen, a rarity officials attribute to the many months the zoo was closed during the pandemic, said zoo veterinarian Rachel Ortiz. A visitor's car passes by rhinoceros at the zoo in Havana, Cuba, October 27, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini "Although the pandemic has been negative for humans, in the case of zoos it was beneficial," Ortiz told Reuters. "In particular our park has had more than 10 births of high-value species, in danger of extinction and t...
Read Moreयह किसी ऊंटगाड़ी में जंगल सफारी का पहला और अब तक का अकेला अनुभव मेरे लिए था। अब यह दीगर बात है कि यह जंगल कोई प्रायद्वीपीय भारत के घने जंगलों (ट्रॉपिकल फॉरेस्ट) जैसा नहीं था। यहां जंगल के नाम पर लंबी सूखी घास, झाड़ियां, बबूल के पेड़, कैक्टस और रेत के टीले थे। फिर भी सफारी के लिए यहां बड़ी और खुली छत वाली बसें हैं। बसों में सफारी का यह फायदा है कि आप कम समय में ज्यादा रास्ता तय कर सकते हैं। आखिरकार हम उस नेशनल पार्क की बात कर रहे हैं जो तीन हजार वर्ग किलोमीटर से भी ज्यादा इलाके में फैला है और क्षेत्रफल के मामले में भारत में दूसरा सबसे बड़ा नेशनल पार्क है। (सबसे बड़ा हिमालयी इलाके का हेमिस नेशनल पार्क है।) डेजर्ट नेशनल पार्क में गोडावण और ब्लैक बक ऊंटगाड़ी में सफारी के भी अपने फायदे हैं। मोटर इंजन की आवाज न होने से आप जानवरों को शोर से डराए बिना उनके नजदीक जा सकते हैं। फिर ऊंट के बिना...
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