by Editor on December 15, 2011
Researchers Have Unsuccessfully Attempted To Bring Back Tylacines—Tasmanian Tigers—Via Cloning. The Last Ones Died In Zoos During The 1930s
A New York Times Writer Suggests Replacing Wildlife Habitat With Frozen Zoos And Cloning
An All About Wildlife article, Why Cloning Won’t Save Endangered Animals, recently received a link from an essay in the online version of The New York Times that made the opposite argument.
In his December 7 piece, Species Protection and Technology, economics writer Casey B. Mulligan suggested that we needn’t worry too much about saving endangered species, since future scientists will likely be able to clone as many copies as we want of any particular animal, extant or extinct. Mulligan linked to us as a source for the idea that a population of cloned animals, having necessarily been produced from the genes of only a handful of individuals—or maybe just one or two—would lack the genetic diversity needed for survival in a natural setting. He argued against our point, saying, “Another objection is that a cloned species would not be genetically diverse enough to survive, because it would be cloned from just a few DNA samples. But that objection also springs from today’s technology. Scientists may learn . . . to produce genetic diversity themselves.” [click to continue…]
by Editor on December 11, 2011
Wild reindeer Are Having A Harder Time Finding Food Because Of Global Warming. Photo:Perhols
This Christmas, Give A Thought To The Survival Of Wild Reindeer And Other Arctic Wildlife
We can safely assume that Santa’s reindeer are reasonably well nourished because of all the sugar plums and other goodies the elves feed them at the North Pole. Wild reindeer, on the other hand, which are native to Arctic and sub-Arctic regions all around the top of the earth, are finding it a little harder to find food these days. That’s because global climate change is altering their habitat in a couple of significant ways. Many other Arctic wildlife species are also being affected by the ongoing warming of our planet’s atmosphere.
Climate change, caused primarily by people’s use of fossil fuels, is warming the polar regions—the Arctic and Antarctic—much faster than it is affecting the earth’s middle latitudes. One effect this has on reindeer habitat is that plant species native to warmer, more southerly areas are spreading north, and can potentially compete with and even crowd out the plants that reindeer feed upon. [click to continue…]
by Editor on October 2, 2011
The American Red Wolf Has Been Extirpated From Most Of Its Range. Only a handful remain at large in the wild.
Extirpation Means ‘Local Extinction’
Everyone knows what the words “extinct” and “extinction” mean. They tell us that a species has vanished from the earth, just like the dinosaurs. Since life began on our planet, about 99 percent of all species that ever lived have gone extinct—most of them due to natural causes. Extinct are the tyrannosaurus rex, the woolly rhinoceros, the mastodon, the trilobite, and the saber-toothed tiger.
Humankind played no role in most of these extinctions. However, we are responsible for many hundreds of the most recent ones. The passenger pigeon is gone because of us; so is the wild dromedary camel, the dodo bird, the Javan tiger, the dusky seaside sparrow . . . the list could go on and on.
But many other species, although not yet extinct, have disappeared from large areas of their original, natural habitat. Wildlife experts say that these creatures have been extirpated from parts of their former range. [click to continue…]
by Editor on September 5, 2011
No, It's Not A Rat! It's A European Hamster. The Species Is Not Endangered—But It Is Listed As 'Vulnerable.' Photo:H. Zell
Are Hamsters An Endangered Animal?
How could the hamster possibly be an endangered species when we see them in every pet store we visit?
For one thing, there are around 25 different species of wild hamster. They occupy grassland habitats in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Populations of some hamster species are more abundant than others, and many species face serious threats due to human activities that affect their ability to find food and nesting sites. [click to continue…]
by Editor on August 30, 2011
A Long-Tongued Bat Fuels Up And Rehydrates At A Hummingbird Feeder. Considered Rare In Texas, This Species Is One Of Many Affected By The Drought. Photo:Kretyen
The Texas Drought Hits Wild Animals Up And Down The Food Chain, From Bugs To Bats
Wild animals in Texas tend to be tough; mammals, birds, and reptiles alike are used to high summer temperatures and seasonally scarce water. This summer’s super drought, however, which has involved extremely low rainfall and record heat for weeks on end, is completely different from what most Southwestern creatures are accustomed to. A lot of wildlife is being dangerously stressed.
Texas wildlife officials have received reports of female deer abandoning their fawns because because they can’t find enough food or water to produce the milk needed to feed them. [click to continue…]
by Editor on August 24, 2011
The Three Bears Are AllAboutWildlife's New Face On Facebook. (Susanne Miller/USFWS)
Visit Our New Facebook Page!
Since we launched this website two years ago, traffic on All About Wildlife has zoomed from zero to more than 80,000 individual visitors per month—and it keeps on growing!
So, with all the people now stopping by to learn about endangered species and other wildlife, we finally decided we needed a Facebook page where Wildlife fans could gather to learn the latest news, maybe leave a comment, and perhaps even get in touch with us, or with one another. We’ve all got a lot in common, after all!
So, here it is; please have a look. Let us know what you think . . . and don’t forget to “Like” us!
by Editor on August 20, 2011
China seems to be permitting its people to trade in the skins of a critically endangered animal. Photo:B_Cool/Wikimedia Commons
International Investigators Charge That China Is Quietly Allowing Trade In Tigers Skins
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a London-based international wildlife-trafficking fact-gathering organization, is sounding the alarm over the Chinese government’s apparent relaxation of prohibitions against the sale of tiger skins. Commercialization of tigers, a rapidly vanishing Endangered species, is forbidden by international agreement.
China’s actions are crucial to tiger conservation. Because China is the world’s largest market for tiger products, survival of the remaining wild tigers depends on that country’s willingness to educate its population about tiger conservation, as well as to enforce anti-trafficking laws—both its own, and those agreed upon by the international community.
Among the hundreds of animal species in danger of going extinct in the near future, tigers have attracted more international attention than most. Nonetheless, population numbers of all tiger subspecies continue to dwindle: Currently, there are approximately 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild. Well over 100,000 tigers roamed a number of Asian habitats in the early to mid-20th century. [click to continue…]
