Homecoming For Hellbenders

Eastern Hellbender is the largest salamander in North America. Unfortunately, in the past 3 decades their species has declined 82%. This huge decline was due to the of their habitats, the production of dams, and pollution. The problem for the species isn't the ability for the adults to survive; it is the difficulty of the larvae to mature into adulthood. However, 255 of the of the adult salamanders will be released into streams in Ohio, in hopes to restore their population. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are making it their mission to attempt to restore the Hellbender population by hopefully releasing these salamanders into the wild annually. Their first release is supposed to begin in the second week of August.

Endangered Caspian Seals

Recently, scientists have been doing research on Caspian seals, one of the world's endangered seal species. They discovered where, when, and how far they travel when they migrate and how they find food to eat. These seals like to separate into three groups when traveling: one in the shallow waters of the Caspian sea, another in the deep water off of Iran, and the final group on the edge of water areas in the north. The scientists on this project are still trying to figure out why some prefer longer distances over others. This information provides a lot of help for conservation efforts. The data can help identify the key areas that seals like to reside in which will provide useful when the humans are planning their activities such as building oil and gas developments. The scientists are currently using this information to get these species off of the endangered list. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160803111806.htm

Can a species that outlived dinosaurs, outlast a dam?

A fish species have outlasted dinosaurs are now being threatened to extinction by a dam in Montana. This "dinosaur fish" is called the pallid sturgeon. After millions of years of survival, there are now only 125 of this endangered species. These fish were once abundant along the Missouri river. This flowed east from Montana and south until it empties into the Mississippi river in Missouri. Pallid Sturgeons would swim up to spawn and their fertilized eggs developed as they drifted down the river. The Intake Diversion Dam in Montana provides water up to 55,000 acres of farmland. However, because of this dam, the sturgeons can't travel far enough up the fragmented rivers to ensure their eggs will make it to a healthy place to develop. They eggs get trapped in reservoirs that include a lot of sediment, bacteria, and very little oxygen. They suffocate and die there. One proposal that was brought up was to replace the Intake Diversion Dam with a new one and create a bypass channel to let the dinosaur fish get passed the dam. However, it was risky to rely on the sturgeons to navigate on their own. A better proposal was to get rid of the damn and replace it with irrigation pumps. It will cost more money but it has a higher rate of success.    




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/science/pallid-sturgeon-montana-yellowstone-river.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=collection


https://www.fws.gov/Midwest/endangered/fishes/PallidSturgeon/index.html

Kemp's Ridleys Racing Towards Survival

About 70 years ago, a Mexican Engineer named Andres Herrera came across a beach in Northeastern Mexico that were filled with Kemp's ridley sea turtles. Kemp's ridley sea turtles are the smallest, rarest, and endangered species of sea turtles. Herrera shot footage of the 40,000 turtle nesting on the beach that day. By the time scientists saw that footage, the number of Kemp's ridley sea turtles have plummeted. These turtles are targeted by poachers because of the fact that their eggs are viewed as prized aphrodisiacs. Herrera's film sparked an international movement to increase number of Kemp's ridleys. A major part of these turtle's recovery can be accredited to the National Park Service's Padre Island National Seashore. It is also know as the largest nesting site for Kemp's ridley sea turtles. Their workers work hard to collect and incubate eggs they find. When they hatch, they are released into the ocean as soon as possible. Even though they are still endangered, the number of Kemp's ridleys are fortunately increasing.




http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/28/science/kemps-ridleys-sea-turtles-padre-island.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront



http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=kemps-ridley

Dinosaur Fish Doomed To Extinction

The Pallid Sturgeon is a fish that lives in the Missouri River, which flows from Montana to where the river empties in Mississippi River. These fish are considered "dinosaur fish" and have survived for millions of years. They have no teeth, no rib cage, and are covered in bony scales, yet have managed to survive longer than dinosaurs have.

However, due to the recent installation of dams along the river, their population has dwindled down to about 125 fish. The fish deposit eggs into the water, that must move along with the current. The dams, however, do not allow the eggs to continue on their travels and they get caught in reservoirs, that are filled with bacteria and don't allow the eggs to get oxygen. In turn, the eggs suffocate and eventually die. This has had a serious effect on the population of pallid sturgeons, which has been been very concerning. The only way to save these creatures is to change the dams into an pump irrigation system. This switch is anywhere from $80 to $138 million. With that cost the fate of these dinosaur fish is left up to the court. 

They’re Back. Are We Ready For Them?

With the return of several previously listed endangered species, many people are finding reason to celebrate.  Others, however, are concerned.  According to a study conducted by four US marine biologists and published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, many marine and avian species have been experiencing success under to the protection of conservation policies and are repopulating their native habitats.  Such species include the bald eagle, elephant seal, green sea turtle, humpback whale, and several others.  However, many of these animals’ native habitats have over time become human communities that have grown accustomed to the previously smaller populations. As a result of shifting baselines, the current generation of people living in these environments is not habituated with such a large population of these species, posing a challenge to the locals and policymakers. Many of the species are large predators like the North Atlantic gray seal, which has been blamed for smaller yields in fisheries.  One beach in California was temporarily closed for harbor seal pupping. 

Cleary, species conservation can work.  However it comes armed with necessary challenges that may bring out our more territorial nature and must be overcome.  These habitats belong to the returning species as much as they belong to us, and it was often a result of our negligence that brought them down to begin with.  Joe Roman, a professor at UVM's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, points out that “wildlife managers need to do a better job of planning for the return of these species to avoid future conflicts.”  If we can prepare for the return of these species, it will be easier to welcome them back. 

Lion population declining at alarming rates!

                                                
Lions, and tigers, and bears OH my! This cute phrase from the Wizard of Oz may no longer be said in another 50 years. We now know that there are more tigers living in captivity then in the wild, and research is also showing the lion population is declining at an alarming rate. More than two thirds of the lion population that inhabits the savannah in Africa have disappeared in the last 50 years, according to a study published in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation. The study led by Duke University researchers have estimated the number of lions now living on the savannahs to be as low as 32,000 down from nearly 100,000 in 1960. The decline of the lion population is caused by massive land use, and change of the savannah due to deforestation driven by rapid human population growth. This change has "fragmented or degraded much of the original savannah", said Stuart Pimm, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment. "Only 25 percent remains of an ecosystem that once was a third larger then the continental United States." Pimm and his colleagues used high-resolution satellite imagery from Google Earth, and human population density data, as well as estimates of local lion populations to map areas still favorable for the lions survival. They found 67 isolated areas of the savannah across the continent with low human impacts and density's. Only 10 spots were deemed "strongholds" where lions have an excellent chance of survival, many located within National Parks. One of Pimm's colleagues said, "giving these lions something of a fighting chance will require substantial increases in effort. This research is a major step in prioritizing funding to save these wonderful creatures."http://phys.org/news/2012-12-lion-ranges-populations-africa.html

Counting Cats: The endangered snow leopards of the Himalayas

In this article they talk about the endangered snow leopard. Most of the snow leopards live in high mountainous areas of central Asia. Originally they assumed that there was about 350-500 snow leopards left. After scientists did testing on their tracks, scrapes, and droppings they are starting to believe there is a lot less. Scientists recorded
seventy one samples of droppings or scat and after performing genetic analysison each sample they discovered that only nineteen were identified as snow leopard. Ten of which were successfully genotyped. This was the first team to
use genetics with the conservation of snow leopards.

Scientists rediscover rarest US bumblebee

In this article you will read about how scientists from the University of California, Riverside have recently stumbled across the rarest bumblebee species in the white mountains of New Mexico. The "Cockerell's Bumblebee" was last seen in 1956. This is pretty exciting being that there are only about 50 native species of native bumblee and most are on the verge of extinction. Using advanced tools and studies they will find out if they are in environmental danger of being extinct as well.

Medicinal tree used in chemotherapy drug faces extinction

This article is about a species of Himalayan yew tree being at the brink of extinction because of over-harvesting. The tree that is found in India, Afghanistan, and Nepal, has been being used to produce Taxol which is a chemotherapy drug.

Taxol was discovered by US National Cancer Institute in the 1960's. Taxol is isolated in the bark of the Pacific yew tree. All 11 species of yew tree has Taxol in it. "The harvesting of the barks kills the tree, but it is possible to extract Taxol from clipping, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental to the plant." said Craig Hilton-Taylor, IUCN red list unit manager. He also suggested that the plant should be grown in cultivation to reduced the harvesting of the wild population.

IUCN red list is the most detailed and authoritative survey of the planet's species. IUCN red list is drawn from the work of thousands of scientists around the globe. There are 61,000 species on the list. The newest list includes 801 species that are extinct, 9,568 are endangered and 10.002 species are vulnerable, with the main threats being overused, pollution, habitat loss, and degradation.