Suggested Reading: Thirteen Gold Monkeys

I will be forgoing "Activism Spotlight" today. I'm busy preparing for my departure to Texas tomorrow!

Suggested Reading

 Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at zoos and conservation programs? Have you ever heard about the release of captive animals into the wild, and wondered how it was done? Is wildlife conservation important to you? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you need to get your hands on a copy of Benjamin Beck’s Thirteen Gold Monkeys.

    Beck was a part of the first ever expedition to reintroduce zoo born golden lion tamarins from the United States into the wild coastal rainforests of Brazil. Between 1983 and 2005, Beck helped coordinate the release of 149 zoo born golden lion tamarins into the wild. Thirteen Gold Monkeys is the fictionalized account of Beck’s adventures with the first two of these reintroductions, in which the reader sees both the humans’ and the monkeys’ points of view. In the story, Beck gives us rare glimpses of what it takes to organize and run a zoo, the infinitely complicated process of preparing zoo animals for the wild, and the scientists’ and caretakers’ emotional entanglement with the animals they are responsible for.

Suggested Reading & Activism Spotlight: Featuring Stephanie Khoury

Activism Spotlight Featuring Guest Writer

Today, I am honored to have an Ithaca College student as this week’s Guest Writer on Viridorari! Stephanie Khoury is a junior Documentary Studies and Production Major at Ithaca College. If found her through an awesome environmental edition of Ithaca’s student publication, Buzzsaw, in which she wrote an article. Today she is featuring DivestIC for today’s “Activism Spotlight.”

Divestment is an ongoing environmental movement in the United States toted by Bill McKibben and 350.org that encourages cities, states, business, and (mainly) colleges and universities to withdraw their investments from fossil fuel companies that are damaging the environment. Although withdrawing these investments won’t necessarily make a big dent in this multi-billion dollar industry, the goal is to show big businesses and governments that we are determined to start focusing on a future that relies more heavily on renewable energy and that wreaking havoc on the environment to make profit is no longer acceptable, socially, politically, or economically.

    I asked Stephanie to provide some information about herself, and this was her response:

    A lover of all things related to ducks, marshmallows and polka-dots, my name is Stephanie Khoury and I hate grammar and bottled water. One of my favorite places is Ithaca College. As a junior I am kinda getting the whole college thing by making some room for friends and family, but sometimes I breathe, so that’s good. In between editing and interning for the All-American High School Film Festival, by Andrew Jenks (MTV's World of Jenks) I love making documentaries. If you’re an avid Googler, check out some of my docs, including "Expressions of Hope", which recently won the Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Award at College Television Awards!

    Stephanie also included some cool videos in her writing for you to watch. I encourage you to view them to enhance your knowledge on this topic! Congratulations to all of the people around the country who have successfully obtained or are currently rallying for divestment. Keep fighting the good fight for our tomorrow!

    So, without further ado, I give you Stephanie and her DivestIC spotlight.

Ecofriendly Economics & Harsh Facts: Extinction

Harsh Facts of the Week

At present rates of extinction, as much as 20% of the world's 7-15 million species could be gone within the next thirty years. This incredible rate of extinction has been unprecedented since the disappearance of dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

Of the dozens of species of rhino that once lived, only five remain.

80% of the decline in biological diversity is caused by habitat destruction. It is identified as the main threat to 85% of all species included in the IUCN's Red List (species officially classified as Threatened or Endangered).

10,000-15,000 free-roaming African lions remain, down 50,000 from only a decade ago.

One in three amphibians (32%) and almost half (42%) of turtles and tortoises are now known to be threatened with extinction, along with one in eight birds (12%) and one in four mammals (23%).

Weekly Green Challenge: Plant a Tree

I can’t believe I’m on Viridorari’s tenth week of posting. I can’t describe how happy it makes me to write this blog. In my introductory post on Viridorari, I mentioned how I’d been doing some self reflection, and decided that I wanted to become more involved. Viridorari has helped me and, hopefully, some of its viewers do just that. Not only is my blog raising awareness for the environment, but in the process of researching for new content for my posts, I’ve learned more about the environment and the world of activism in the past ten weeks than I would have in two years. Now that my tests are over and high school is winding down, Viridorari gives me something to occupy my idle time with. Coming up with new ideas for content is a challenge that I enjoy.

Speaking of challenges, this week’s Green Challenge came from a Viridorari viewer. It’s a simple, but important action, and can be especially fun to do with your kids or younger siblings. Spring has sprung, and it’s one of the best times of the year to plant a tree. So, this week, I want you to plant at least one tree.

Suggested Reading & Activism Spotlight: Save The Golden Lion Tamarin

Activism Spotlight

Picture courtesy of: www.savetheliontamarin.org

In honor of this month’s featured animal, the Golden Lion Tamarin, I’d like to shine to spotlight on an organization called Save the Golden Lion Tamarin (SGLT). Based out of the Washington D.C. area, SGLT was created in 2005 by a small group of conservation professionals dedicated to protecting the golden lion tamarin. SGLT provides technical and financial support to their sister organization, the Associação Mico-Leão Dourado (Golden Lion Tamarin Association, AMLD), based in Rio de Janeiro.
SGLT’s mission is as follows:

1. To protect the Golden Lion Tamarin, a tiny endangered primate, and to protect and restore the globally outstanding biodiversity of its natural habitat, the Brazilian Atlantic Coastal Rainforest.

2. To cooperate with other organizations with similar purposes.

3. To enlighten and educate society about preservation of the environment, especially the Atlantic Rainforest and the Golden Lion Tamarin.

4. To support and promote the efforts of AMLD, a Brazilian non-profit registered under the laws of the city and State of Rio de Janeiro, whose mission is the conservation of the biodiversity of the Brazilian Atlantic Coastal Rainforest focusing on the long-term protection of the golden lion tamarin in its natural habitat.

Harsh Facts, Ecofriendly Economics: Go Green in the Garden

Harsh Facts of the Week

Currently, no government institution or animal organization has the legal responsibility to tabulate national statistics in regards to shelter animals. While many shelters understand the value of keeping statistics, no national reporting structure exists to make compiling national statistics on these figures easy or even completely possible. These statistics are estimates made from the data available.

$2 billion of taxpayer money is used to capture, house, and kill homeless animals annually.

About five to seven million companion animals are admitted into shelters across the nation each year, and three to four million of them are euthanized (60% of dogs and 70% of cats). In 2008, approximately 3.7 million animals were euthanized in the nation’s shelters.

After being lost, less than 2% of cats and about 15 to 20% of dogs are reunited with their owners.

While virtually impossible to determine exactly how many stray animals live in the United States, estimates for stray cats alone range up to 70 million. 

The average number of litters a fertile cat can produce is one to two a year, with four to six kittens in a litter. For dogs, one litter a year is healthy, with about four to six puppies in a litter. In puppy mills, females are typically bred twice a year, and at this rate they burn out by age five and are put to death shortly after.

99% of puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. 500,000 puppies are born in mills and sold in pet stores every year. 

Most dogs that are used to produce puppies in mills live their entire lives in cages.

Today, we put our dog, Buddy, to sleep. He was old and in poor health. But he was in worse health when we adopted him from a local shelter, and because of us, he lived a longer, happier life than he would have. Today, he passed away with contentment and was surrounded by a loving family.

I am a strong advocate of adopting dogs from shelters over purchasing puppies from pet stores. Rescuing dogs is endlessly rewarding because in most cases you're giving them a second chance at life. Our other rescue dog, Rosie, is now a certified therapy dog due to my mom's love, patience, and hard work. When you purchase your four-legged friend from a pet shop, you are most likely using your consumer power to inadvertently support puppy mills and the atrocious business they conduct.

When it comes time for you to acquire a new companion, thoroughly consider where you're buying your new friend from, and spend your money wisely. In honor of Buddy, I will write on this topic more thoroughly later this week.

Suggested Reading: Fossil Fuel Divestment

Fossil Fuel Divestment 

I asked you to get vocal about the environment in Green Challenge #7. What exactly is going on right now in the world of environmental activism? I’ve already discussed Keystone XL and fracking on Viridorari, but there’s another big movement happening right now, and it’s gaining steam.

Fossil fuel divestment.

Divestment is the opposite of investment- it’s withdrawing current investments or avoiding investing in particular companies. Divestment was popular in the 1980’s to end apartheid in South Africa by withdrawing investments from companies that profited from South Africa. Although the actual economic impact of the South African divestment was minimal, it made a big statement to representatives and legislatures and paved the way for policy change.

And policy change is exactly what Bill McKibben and 350.org, the instigators of this movement, want. McKibben has recently been encouraging colleges and universities around the United States to divest their stocks in fossil fuel companies, in particular, the 200 companies on 350.org’s list. Even if the economic impact isn’t big, the social and moral statement will be. Many colleges boast their environmental friendliness on campus, but then don’t put their money where their mouths are when it comes to investments. (Visit 350.org's website here.)