Read the full story in the Washington Post.
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it will review a massive and controversial federal plan to protect the dwindling population of greater sage grouse in 11 western states.
Category: Wildlife
Bald eagles face deadly threat from lead poisoning
Read the full story at Great Lakes Echo.
The comeback of the American bald eagle is a success story across the Great Lakes region, and keeping them safe is a high priority for many environmental professionals. But one serious threat to the great raptor is lead poisoning.
The Endangered Species Act is often too little too late, but it’s all we’ve got
Read the full story from Grist.
Why isn’t the ESA more effective? The reasons are myriad, but they boil down to the problem that by the time most species are listed, they’re too far gone for the act to be able to do much to revive them, both from a cost and feasibility perspective. And it doesn’t help that there’s more demand than ever before.
When birds of a feather poop together: Excessive birds feces and algal blooms
Read the full story in Science Daily.
Algal blooms deplete oxygen in lakes, produce toxins, and end up killing aquatic life in the lake. Researchers are tracing the role of bird feces, which are rich in phosphorus and nitrogen.
Exposure to BPA potentially induces permanent reprogramming of painted turtles’ brains
Read the full story in Science Daily.
BPA is a chemical that is used in a variety of consumer products, such as food storage containers and water bottles. In previous studies, researchers determined that BPA can disrupt sexual function and behavior in painted turtles. Now, the team has identified the genetic pathways that are altered as a result of BPA exposure during early development.
“Science Is Antithesis of Fake News,” Says Wildlife Conservation Society President Ahead of Earth Day and March for Science
The following statement was issued today by Wildlife Conservation Society President and CEO Cristian Samper on the importance of science to wildlife conservation:
“Science is at the core of wildlife conservation. It allows us to understand how to conserve wildlife and wild places and measure the impact of our work to save them. At WCS, we march for science every day through our field work in nearly 60 nations and in our zoos aquarium in New York City.
“We could not do our work without science. Our WCS scientists produce more than 400 research papers a year. Science has informed our work throughout our 122-year history – helping to discover new species, to prevent the extinction of species, to achieve recovery of species, to establish protected areas, and to inform policies that help wildlife and communities thrive together.
“In our early years, science helped us prevent the extinction of the American Bison; it helped us inform the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and it helped us inform a ban on commercial whaling, among many other conservation successes during our first century.
“More recently, science has given us important data that will help with the recovery of forest elephants that have been decimated by poaching. In a paper published last year in the Journal of Applied Ecology, researchers found that forest elephants begin breeding later and have much longer calving intervals than other elephants, which means the population takes much longer to increase. Low birth rates mean that it will take forest elephant populations at least 90 years to recover from their losses. WCS scientist Andrea Turkalo, lead author of the study who collected data over several decades, said this research provides critical understanding regarding the dire conservation status of forest elephants.
“In another paper published last year in Nature Communications, a team of scientists revealed a complex story of how humans are altering natural habitats at the planetary scale. WCS scientist, James Watson, a co-author of the paper, noted that the data and maps in the research show that three quarters of the planet is now significantly altered and 97 percent of the most species-rich places on Earth have been significantly altered.
“Those are just a few examples of the importance of science as we work to protect nature and wildlife. And that is why I will be marching in Washington, DC, on the 47th anniversary of Earth Day at the March for Science with my family, our WCS colleagues across the globe, and hundreds of our WCS advocates. All together, we are marching on six continents.
“By marching, we aim to celebrate science, not to politicize it. While science is the fine print in all smart policy – at WCS, we want to highlight at the March for Science the importance of science to all our work. Science is behind the good news and bad news about wildlife conservation but it has nothing to do with the fake news. Science is the antithesis of fake news.
“In 1970, more than 20 million marched on the first Earth Day. I will be honored to march with the millions who are expected to march from around the world on Earth Day 2017 in recognition of the power of science. Science helps us navigate the complicated world of wildlife conservation with the facts. Nothing we do at WCS in our efforts to save wildlife is accomplished without science.”
Creation of a National Urban Wildlife Monitoring Network Helps Build Wildlife-Friendly Cities
Read the full story in National Geographic Magazine.
The entire planet is urbanizing, and every city is different. So ultimately we need data from, well, everywhere. That’s why we’ve been taking lessons we learned in Chicago through the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo and exporting them around the country. We’re creating, for the first time, a worldwide network for urban wildlife research: the Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN).
