Final thoughts..

Throughout this semester at Clemson University, where I am finishing my bachelors degree on Conservation Biology, I took a Wildlife Policy class. It gave me a totally different view of the nitty gritty that goes into protecting not only our plant and wildlife, but also our lands and water systems.
So much goes into policy and its thanks to those people who push for change and put in the absurd amount of time to get research and data and formulate management strategies, but also deal with the political side of it.
I had a great time learning about wildlife policy and searching the internet for related new articles really gave me insight on the direction I want to go as a Conservationist. Thanks to Dr. Bowerman and those of your who decided to read the blog.

Movie stars care about wildlife too!

Sorry for the long hiatus from the blog. I've had plenty of things keeping me busy but I was browsing around on New York Times online and found an article that I thought was random but deals with my favorite animal, the Tiger. The unusual thing is, is that the person urging for better conservation efforts of the species is none other than major movie star Leonardo DiCaprio.
The article is about DiCaprio's efforts to persuade the juggernaut computer business, Apple, to do their part in aiding funding for the conservation of Tigers. The correlation between Apple and wildlife is that for the Mac's operating systems, Apple uses the names of big cat species such as Tiger, Snow Leopard and others. DiCaprio has been working with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to gather support for the conservation of the last few dozen breeding havens for Tigers.
This all took place on Twitter so it was a public ordeal, but it is also happening before the International Summit On Tiger Conservation in St. Petersberg. Studies concluded that there are about 2,500 adult individuals in the wild. This number is compared to the amount of tigers that are lost because of poaching and illegal animal trade. We just went over in my wildlife policy class about CITES, and a network monitoring poaching and traffic of rare wildlife just released findings in a journal stating that bones, skin and other body parts of over a 1,000 Tigers have been confiscated in the past decade.
I just want to end by saying that I'am glad to see that the mascot for Clemson University and my favorite animal get some attention from some big name people and corporation.

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/dicaprio-presses-apple-to-aid-wild-tigers/?scp=4&sq=wildlife&st=cse

Habitat encroachment causes snakes in city

Hello everybody,
Iam back with another wildlife news article update. This latest one comes from Wildlife South Africa's website and is about the Rinkhal snake. The Rinkhal is a type of spitting cobra and although its not endangered, was thought to be extinct in the Cape Town area of South Africa. Recent findings have shown a return of the Rinkhal in the metropolitan areas. This is concerning for the crowded cities because it is a poisonous snake and a deadly one at that.
The reason for this is simply because of humans encroaching on an animals habitat. Its inevitable and once it happens then majority of the time, that species becomes a problem and its dealt with. I feel that perhaps some kind of conservation management plan needs to be constructed in order to insure that the snake populations are not diminished to the point of extinction. What are your thoughts?

http://www.wildlifesouthafrica.com/wildlife-news-articles.php

Eels are losing the battle

Hey Everybody,

I just want start off by saying, yes I know my blog is really Conservation biology oriented but Im trying to stress the point of the wildlife policy. I find it easiest to understand wildlife policy when I read articles about rare or endangered species. In the UK, populations of juvenile european eels have been drastically reduced. They are having trouble deciding how much can be exported when their numbers are so low. TRAFFIC is a wildlife monitoring network and they have been pushing for more rigorous studies to determine sustainable amounts that can be taken. In 2007, the European Eel was listed under CITES after the push by the EU. I want to ask you all how we as conservationist and policy makers, can get people to care about a species that not cute and cuddly?

http://www.traffic.org/home/2010/11/1/eels-flounder-as-scientists-advice-goes-unheeded.html

Conservation of Wildlife 1 Illegal pet trade 0

So I was looking around at some articles on Illegal Pet Trade and found this website, Wildlife Extra News and there was an article about the smuggling of rare and endangered tortoises. The tortoises that were being trafficked where 11 Spider Tortoises, 400 Radiated Tortoises but he species of highest concern was 4 Ploughshare Tortoises. All of these tortoises come from Madagascar and where taken by two woman. Wait for it...THEY GOT CAUGHT!! In Kuala Lumpur, authorities have seized the shipment and have returned at least 1 of the Poughshare Tortoises.

The reason I wanted to talk about these Tortoises is because these guys are listed as critically endangered and it appears that its somewhat easy to obtain one. Along with all the other rare and exotic animals that succumb to the billion dollar illegal pet trade, the future of many endangered species could be near the end. Thankfully, we have the Species Survival Network and CITES. Anyway I just wanted to share some thoughts on subject, check back later for more.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/stolen-tortoises.html#cr

Gray Wolves are good to go!

I stumbled upon a wildlife news article that had some positive vibes. On Salt Lake City's DNR website, I found an article that was about how Utah's wildlife board wants the Gray Wolf to be taken off of the Endangered Species list through federal legislation. The board consist of seven citizens that were appointed by the governor and their main goal is to set policies that guide management for wildlife in Utah.
The reason why they are requesting that it be removed from under the ESA, is because the wolf management plan cant begin until it is removed. The has been significant evidence that the Gray Wolf populations have far exceeded the population objectives in the recovery plan for the Northern Rock Mountain population of Gray Wolves.
Its finally good to see some species making a comeback from being listed as endangered, lets hope that history doesn't repeat itself and that further studies can give more insight into how we can better conserve and help maintain sustainable populations of all of our plants and wildlife.

http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/news/42-utah-wildlife-news/389-no-wolf-protection.html

Florida Panthers get a bit of Texan in them

I just recently heard a group presentation and it was about Florida and some of the wildlife that are threatened or endangered because of the urbanization of the area. The Florida Panther was a major part of the discussion because its range is so spread out that these cats where almost none existent. It was listed as by the IUCN as critically endangered but was taken off the list in 2008 and has been re-listed.
I looked up some stuff on the internet about them and found and article about how these big cats are making a strong comeback because of the introduction of Pumas from Texas. They are breeding with the population in Florida and creating stronger, larger cats that are more immune to diseases.
Some of the wildlife policies that deal with this sort of thing are the ESA, CITES and Florida and Georgia Endangered Species Act.

http://animals.about.com/b/2010/10/18/florida-panthers-revived-with-a-texan-twist.htm

Rhino poachers sink to new lows

I came across another disturbing news article on Wildlife South Africa's website about Rhino poaching. Again in Johannesburg, Poachers have resorted to using poison to kill the Rhinos located on the game farm in Mookgophong. The Wildlife Ranching SA Operating Manager, Reinhardt Holtzhausen, found 14 cabbage halves sprinkled with either Curaterr or Albicarap. Three out of the five species of Rhino are listed as critically endangered, and not only do all these wildlife conservation groups and efforts have to worry about barely traceable amounts of poison being put on everything that the Rhino would eat but the also have to worry about other animals that could potentially eat them. Entires ecosystems could crash if the introduction of poison into them, even if these poachers only care about the Rhino. Something has to be done to stop this from not only stop this from happening in game parks but also in the wild.

http://www.wildlifesouthafrica.com/wildlife-news-articles.php

How to control Brown Tree Snake populations - Poison filled mice

I came across this article on National Geographic's website and it is about an attempt to control populations of the invasive Brown Tree Snake in Guam. The purpose of this experiment was to control/eradicate populations of the Brown Tree Snake in the U.S. Pacific territory. This invasive species from Australia has been the cause of the extinction or severe depletion of the islands native species. The experimental program  consist of air dropping about 200 dead mice in the jungle canopy. These mice are filled with 80 mg of Acetominophin, though harmless to us, will disrupt the oxygen-carrying ability of the snake's hemoglobin blood proteins. The snake will slowly be induced into a coma and then dies, but it takes nearly 60 hours for the snake to die.

My first reaction was how could they drop all of these poisonous mice into the jungle and not expect other species of snake or any animal for that matter not to eat them as well. They said that the Brown Tree Snake is the only snake species in the Guam jungle that is a scavenger and will eat something that it did not kill. I still feel that there is a possibility that other animals could eat the mice and maybe not die, but have detrimental side effects. I also find it somewhat disturbing that these snakes have to slither around half alive for upwards of two and a half days before they die. This is the second attempt at eradicating these snakes by the USDA and is only one of few different strategies such as snake traps, snake detecting dogs and nighttime spotlight searches. I guess if the attempts have been made in the past then they obviously have researched it and know that the Brown Tree Snake will be the only snake species that will eat the dead mice. I am curious if there would be any objections from wildlife conservation groups or if there are any wildlife policies that would protect the Brown Tree Snake from these attempts at eradication.

Here is the link to the article
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100924-science-animals-guam-brown-tree-snakes-mouse-tylenol/

Rhino Poaching: An Ongoing nightmare

Hello Everybody..
Iam back with some pretty heavy wildlife news, well its not really news because its been happening at an alarming rate for sometime now. The poaching of Rhinos has seen a surge recently and over 210 wild Rhinos have been illegally taken in 2010 alone, and most simply for their horns.

I discovered an article thats part of a constant news thread about the poaching of Rhinos in South Africa on Wildlife South Africa's website. This latest article was about the capture of two veterinarians in Johannesburg, who have been involved in the poaching of Rhinos for their horns. The arrest were made by the combined efforts of the Civil Aviation Authority, SANParks and The Department of Nature Conservation and The National Prosecuting Authority. The Endangered Wildlife Trust was extremely overjoyed to hear that their capture means a couple Rhinos will be spared but unfortunately poaching doesnt seem like its going to end anytime soon. Check back for more updates on the situation.

http://www.wildlifesouthafrica.com/wildlife-news-articles.php

Mass Goose Kill

I came across this article from The New York Times online, and I was kinda perturbed after reading about a mass goose kill in Prospect Park of Brooklyn, New York. Resident's discovered that the wildlife authorities had rounded up the 400 resident geese and lethally gassed them. The most horrible fact about this is that they cant even get their story straight. One reason could possibly have some validity and that is they killed the geese that live within 7 miles of the La Guardia and Kennedy airports. Apparently they have been slowly killing off geese since 2009, when some geese caused Flight 1549 to emergency land in the Hudson River. The other reason is that they were scaring away potential property owners near the park. The residents and some wildlife activists expressed their thoughts and concerns but no action followed. I wonder what wildlife policies(ie. migratory bird act) could have protected the birds from this unfair fate?

Here is the article
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/where-geese-were-thinned-their-population-thickens/?scp=5&sq=wildlife&st=cse

Michael McCarthy and Biodiversity

The name of the class is Wildlife Policy and the game is how these policies can be used to protect and keep wildlife safe from extinction. I found an article on a website called The Independent Commentators and it was about this guy and his explanation of how the term "Biodiversity" is used in the context of Conservation.
He says that biodiversity is a word that most people dont understand and because of this, efforts to promote conservation of different species (whether it'd be plant, animal or other) are often times overlooked or disregarded by the general public. It is a fancy word for wildlife but in a new scientific journal called "Conservation Biology: Challenges Beyond 2010" states that biodiversity is "the variety of genes, species and ecosystems that constitute life on earth". He mentions wildlife policy in his definition of biodiversity, "it is the currency in use in the policy making debate about the future of the natural world"
The Policy Making Debate that has led to 133,000 sites around the globe that have an conservation plan in effect and also the global conservation treaty, The 1992 Convention On Biodiversity.
The strongest point in the article was that he feels that biodiversity needs to be incorporated into all political, social and economic decision making, and I totally agree with his views. The remainder of the article talks about his personal experiences with how some countries overlook biodiversity. I wonder what your thoughts are on ways to bring biodiversity into all aspects of policy making?

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/michael-mccarthy-its-time-i-embraced-the-word-biodiversity-2075220.html