December's Animal of the Month!

For the month of December, my mom has requested the erect crested penguin (Eudyptes sclateri) to be the animal of the month. Penguins are her favorite animals. If you would like to suggest an endangered animal to be featured, email me at viridorari@yahoo.com.

Suggested Reading: Extinction of the Pipistrelle

As you may already know, I have a soft spot for bats. A really big soft spot, actually. I’ve been a bat advocate since I was kid, I managed to become a finalist for a big scholarship at my college with an essay about bats, and Viridorari’s first animal of the month was the golden-capped fruit bat.

            Most people see bats as a symbol of Halloween and creepy things, but many don’t know what an important roll they play in our global ecosystem, and in particular, our agriculture. Insect-eating bats are crucial for controlling pest populations that would otherwise demolish our fields. Fruit-eating bats are essential for pollinating fruit plants, much like bees. 

            I was very saddened to learn that recently, the Pipistrelle bat went extinct. They used to live on Australia’s Christmas Island, but now these tiny, adorable bats with the coolest name ever are gone for good. The Australian government failed to offer aid to scientists and the dying species until it was too late. The loss of any species is a terrible thing, especially when the cause of their death was caused by human related activities. Why is it that we think it’s okay to do as we please on this planet, without any regard to the other life forms that live here?

Revealing September's Animal of the Month

My experience at an interactive zoo in Oklahoma this past summer inspired me to declare the tiger as September’s Animal of the Month. At the GW Interactive Zoo, I had a unique opportunity to see some of the world’s rarest tigers and hold and interact with two tiger cubs. To read about my experience and see pictures, check out this free write post.

            While tigers are perhaps one of the most well-known animals on earth, revered as majestic, and the subject of many literary and poetic pieces, as a species, they are on their last legs. There are six subspecies of tiger, all of which are endangered. This month, rather than focus on one subspecies, I will touch on all six. Here is an overview of each:

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.

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%).