Category: Wildlife

Save the Rhino with WWF Game

5/25/2013

The rhino are under attack in today and they need our help. We can help fund efforts to save the rhino and have fun at the same time. Please check out the game for your SmartPhone . . . it is available for both the iPhone/OS system and Android system.

Allow me to share a few facts about the rhino:

Black Rhino is also known as the hook-lipped rhino. Their lip is very helpful as they are browsers, eating bushes, shrubs, and lower branches of trees. Their scientific name is Diceros Bicomis. It is found in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Black Rhino is Critically Endangered with only 5,055 left today.

The White Rhino is also known as the square-lipped rhino. The white rhino is a grazer, eating grasses and other ground vegetation. Their scientific name is Ceratotherium Simum. They are found in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Uganda, At one time the white rhino was critically endangered with only 50 left in the wild. Due to conservation efforts, the white rhino is now considered to be "near threatened" with 20,000 in the wild today.

The Sumatran Rhino is also known as the hairy rhino. The scientific name for the Sumatran Rhino is Dicerorhinus Sumatrensis. This species of the rhino is found in Sumatra (Indonesia) and Sabah (Malaysia). Unfortunately, is Critically Endangered with fewer than 100 left in the wild. The Sumatran Rhino species is older than any other mammal on earth. It would be a real shame to lose this species.

Learn more at World Wildlife Fund Website with links for the Rhino Rad game at http://wwf.panda.org/how_you_can_help/games/rhino_raid/

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Saving the Clouded Leopard Infographic

3/15/2013

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Help save the clouded leopard infographic

This infographic was designed with Piktochart.com to illustrate how to create an infographic.

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Help Save the Clouded Leopard

3/1/2013

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This pelt of a clouded leopard.

The clouded leopard is vulnerable of becoming extinct due to poaching and habitat destruction. The beautiful coat of the clouded leopard is very unusual and some people believe the coat and their teeth have special powers to heal. Therefore, some people still hunt the animal even though it is illegal.

The clouded leopard is protected and it is illegal to sell or possess the pelt, teeth, paws, or other parts of the clouded leopards. If you attempt to bring some part of a clouded leopard into the United States, you will be arrested for violating the United States Endangered Species Act. If you are found guilty, you will be fined not more than $50,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

Your help is needed to save the clouded leopard from extinction. Everyone can help save the clouded leopard by:

1- Learn about the clouded leopard and spread the word to your family and friends about the need to save this beautiful creature. You can be an advocate for the clouded leopard by speaking up for their conservation at community events.

2- Adopt a Clouded Leopard! Although you may not be able to pet your sponsored leopard, the money you contribute to support the symbolic adoption will help further research, protect habitat. and fund conservation activities. Adopt a clouded leopard at:

The Defenders of Wildlife has several options dependent upon your ability to assist. You can adopt a cloud leopard for $15, $45, or $60.
The Clouded Leopard Project has several options, such as, the Clouded Leopard Protector ($50), the Clouded Leopard Crusader ($100), the Clouded Leopard Conservator ($150), and the Clouded Leopard Adoption package for $250. If you have the funds, a $500 donation will support a camera trap to record the behaviors of cloud leopards in the wild. The Clouded Leopard Project welcomes contributions of any amount and provides information regarding fundraising events to help save the clouded leopard. Other alternative options include donating goods and services, purchasing through their website link to Amazon.com they will contribute 5% of the total sale to the Clouded Leopard Project.

Palm Oil fruit

Palm oil plantations are a common threat to the rainforest habitat of the clouded leopard. As the demand increases for Palm Oil, the threats to the existing lands only increases. If you will take the time to examine the label of the palm oil container you can ensure that you only purchase certified palm oil. Many of the food products that we eat are made with Palm Oil.

Look for this symbol on the label before buying.

The following products are made with Certified Sustainable Palm Oil:

3 Musketeers
Almond Joy
Butterfingers
Cadbury
Carr's Cookies
Coffee Mate
Crystal Light
Doritos
Egg Beaters
Hershey's
Hunt's
Koolaid
Milky Way
Nestle Products
Pam Spray
Twizzlers
Whoppers

The full list of food brand names of companies that use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil can be obtained by visiting the Point Defiance Zoo website.

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Clouded Leopard - What beautiful eyes you have!

2/25/2013

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Atlanta Zoo's clouded leopard (now deceased)

The beautiful eyes of the clouded leopard help the big cat to hunt at night. Their eyes are different from any other wild cat's eyes. The pupil of the clouded leopard do not get as round as other big cats. Neither do the clouded leopard's pupil shrink to narrow vertical slits that other big cats.

The clouded leopard is a good swimmer and it is believed that this is how the clouded leopard reached small islands in Vietnam and Borneo.

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Clouded Leopard - Oh my, what large teeth you have!

2/20/2013

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Clouded leopards have the largest canine teeth relative to their body size of all large cats. This excellent photo was taken by Nikographer and posted on Flikr.

The Clouded Leopard should not be confused with leopards as they are two different species. The clouded leopard has some very important differences from leopards and many of the other members of the wild cat family. The clouded leopard's skull has a very different structure from the common leopard. The clouded leopard can open their mouth wider than any other cat species. As you can see in the photo above, the clouded leopard has some very impressive teeth. In fact, they have the largest canine teeth relative to their body size among all the large cats. The canine teeth of a full grown clouded leopard average 2 inches in length, about the same size as the tiger's canine teeth. Very impressive when you know that the tiger is almost 10 times the size of a clouded leopard.

If the clouded leopard lives in an area where other wild cats live, such as tigers and common leopards, then they hunt at night (nocturnal) and live among the trees (arboreal). In areas where the clouded leopard does not compete with other wild cats for food, they spend more time active during the day and hunt on the ground.

Clouded leopards are the best climbers among all wild cats. There is a very important reason that clouded leopards can climb so well. Yes, they have a long tail (longest in proportion to their body size for all wild cat species) designed to help them balance, but they have very unusual ankles. Imagine that you want to walk backwards, it would be very difficult because our toes remain facing opposite our heels. Imagine how much easier if our ankles could rotate . . . like the clouded leopard. Their flexible ankle joints can rotate backwards allowing these talented climbers to climb down along branches and climb down tree trunks headfirst. They can even hang from a tree using just their back paws allowing their front paws to catch or hold their prey.

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Clouded Leopard Facts

2/15/2013

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Clouded Leopard Cub

The Clouded Leopard is rarely seen in the wild, so much of what we know of these beautiful creatures is based on those that live in zoos. The video above featured two young cubs at the San Diego Zoo. Did you learn some new facts about the clouded leopard?

Why does the Clouded Leopard have a long, thick tail?

Because it helps them to maintain their balance as they climb trees and jump from one branch to another. Their tail is as long as their body, so if the Clouded Leopard is 3 feet long then their tail is also 3 feet long. They are not the largest cat species, but they are not the smallest wild cat. They are unique because they can meow like a small cat species and they can growl like a large cat.

Here are a few more quick facts about this amazing creature when they are full grown:

Height: 10-16 inches at shoulders.
Length: 2-3 feet ( plus their tail also measures 2-3 feet).
Weight: Males average 45-60 lbs; females average 25-30 lbs. This is the greatest difference between male and female weight among the wild cats.
Lifespan: We do not know how long Clouded Leopards live in the wild, but we think they can live 11 years. We know that Clouded Leopards in captivity have lived up to 19 years.

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Yellowstone Ravens become Raiders

2/1/2012

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The Common Ravens of Yellowstone National Park are a large, black bird of approximately 24 inches in height. The Raven has a heavy bill and a wedge-shaped tail. They can be seen almost everywhere in the park on a year-a-round basis.
Ravens are opportunistic feeders enjoying a variety of foods, such as seasonal berries, small mammals, young birds, and amphibians. They are not above enjoying a feast on carrion. For most of the year, ravens are more spread out across the park and primarily function as predators. If a tourist looks to the sky and sees a flock of ravens then there is a strong possibility that there is a predator kill somewhere nearby. It is not unusual to see ravens competing with bald and golden eagles when surrounding carrion. During the summer they have adapted to human activity and will look for any opportunity to steal food off picnic tables. During the winter season, the ravens have adapted to the human activity surrounding the winter visitors, particularly those riding snowmobiles.

When food is scarce the ravens become opportunistic scavengers Due to the limited dining facilities open during the winter,
snowmobilers will pack their lunches and snacks in backpacks strapped to back of their snowmobiles. Whenever the snowmobilers pull over to take a short hike or go sightseeing the ravens move in to explore for food. As you can see illustrated in this photo, ravens are not easily deterred by packs that are zipped and tied to the back of the snowmobile. They are tenacious creatures. You can chase them away and as soon as you leave the area, they are back at work. At times it seems that they work in teams with a second raven zooming in as the first raven takes his prize off to the surrounding trees.

Heed the Warning Signs! The national park has posted signs at every area where winter visitors may linger. The signs clearly indicate that zipped backpacks or tied packages are no match for the wise ravens. They will not just take food, they enjoy bright and shiny objects (i.e., keys, iPods and iPhones). They will work as a team to open any compartment in a snowmobile.
Unfortunately, visitors seem to ignore the signs and they even laugh when other visitors warn them. On one particularly cold snowy day in January, I chased off ravens and returned items to backpacks. I warned arriving visitors to take their lunch packs with them, with no success. Willing or not, these visitors were enabling ravens to continue their raiding behaviors.

Ravens are very skilled at opening almost any pack! Believe it or not, I have seen ravens unzip packs with less difficulty than most human beings. They tear open boxes of crackers or cookies, bags of chips, and zip-lock bags in search of their meals. The video below from YouTube illustrates some of the behaviors.

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Please do not feed the wildlife!

1/31/2012

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How many times during your travels have you seen tourists feeding wildlifeeven though signs prohibiting these behaviors are posted near-by? Perhaps even you have fed a wild animal either in your backyard, a park, or near a historic monument. In my travels I have seen people feeding wildlife of every size, shape, and color. Even when signs threaten fines for feeding the wildlife, some people feel it necessary to feed chipmunks, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, a variety of wild birds, and even larger animals, such as deer, elk, wild donkeys, and monkeys.

Have you seen the signs? Have you heeded the warnings? When I have pointed out the signs or brochures on the rules, I have heard the following reasons:
**I just wanted to get a close-up photo.
**My children love feeding the chipmunks.
**The chipmunks looked too thin so they may be starving . . . I don't want them to die.
**It is getting close to winter so I wanted the animals to fatten up in order to survive the upcoming winter weather.

** The animals are begging for food, so obviously lots of people have fed them before we started feeding them.
**We have always fed the wildlife and never received a fine, so it must be okay.

Great excuses, but there may be some serious negative impacts that endanger the unsuspecting animal. Allow me to cover a few of the dangers.

Human food is not healthy for wildlife! Feeding chipmunks peanuts is not a naturally occurring food for chipmunks. Surprisingly to some, store bought peanuts can be treated with chemicals that are toxic to wild animals. Definitely unsafe foods are: unripe acorns (contain excess tannin), plum stones (contain cyanide), excessive peanuts (because they can swell inside the animal).

Feeding the wildlife may create aggressive behaviors. The wild burros of Custor State Park are feral but have been habituated to accepting food from tourists. In fact, they can be aggressive and create wildlife jams along the roads as tourists feed the animals through their car windows. Unfortunately, the burros can get hit by cars & become dangerous pests. Human food is not always nutritious or beneficial to the wild animals. Processed foods that humans eat do not offer a healthy diet for wild animals.

Just like humans who eat snack foods that are not healthy for us, so do wildlife when you provide these unhealthy options. Yes, these wild creatures may readily consume foods like popcorn and bread, but these carbohydrates do not provide sufficient nutrition while these processed food items will disrupt their digestive system. Further, as wildlife become reliant on the food provided by tourists, they stop feeding on the natural foods in their local area. These locally found foods provide the nutrition needed for their health and continued survival.

Contrary to popular belief Cheetos, potato chips, breath mints, and chocolate are not suitable food sources for wildlife. Fed animals may become more agressive with each other or with tourists. If an area is a 4 season destination, then reliance on an abundant artificial food source may result in the animals not migrating during the proper time, or a failure to stock pile natural foods neccessary for survival over the harsh winter season. Further over-feeding may result in over-population of the species in an area which leads to greater incidence of diseases or insufficient local food for the population to survive when tourist numbers are low or infrequent due to the winter or low tourist season.

Over-feeding or feeding in a specific area where humans gather will change animal behaviors. Typically, wild animals naturally disperse across the landscape, but artificial food sources promotes the
concentration of animals into a small area increases the incidence of feces, saliva, and urine, which easily harbor infectious disease-causing
micro-organisms like bacteria, viruses, or fungi. Further if food is not consumed fully, the remaining rotting food will attract mice and insects. This increases the potential for the spread of disease .

Feeding chipmunks at Bryce National Park and Zion National Park has increased the number of chipmunks hit by automobile traffic as they have lost the fear of humans. The chipmunks can be agressive with humans and frighten small children. It is not surprising to see an increase in the number of animal bites reported by unwary tourists who ignored the signs.

Please be a responsible tourist by refraining from feeding the wildlife. Encourage other tourists to avoid feeding the wildlife. I remember seeing a sign that read "A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear!" Perhaps we should say a fed wild animal is a dead animal.

To summarize allow me to present the key points presented by Acadia National Park on the subject:

**Wildlife feeding threatens human and animal safety.
**Wildlife feeding my lead to over-abundance or over-concentration of a species to an area.
**Wildlife feeding can promote the spread of diseases.
**Wildlife feeding may cause malnutrition in wildlife.
**Wildlife feeding leads to the unnatural behavior of wildlife.
**Wildlife feeding is prohibited by law in many states and/or countries. (For example, "Feeding wildlife is punishable with a fine of up to $5000.00 and/or 6 months in jail!")

The raven appears to be destroying the sign . . . perhaps to remove the fine printing below the sign: "Feeding wildlife is punishable with a fine of up to $5000.00 and/or 6 months in jail!"

A very clean appearing sign at a state park.

A sign observed in Canada

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Responsible Tourism starts with a Responsible Tourist!

1/30/2012

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Responsible tourism starts with you the responsible traveler! The first and critical component in any responsible travel experience is the traveler! If we all made every effort to make responsible and sustainable decisions about our vacation destinations, providers and activities then we could make a significant step in protecting communities and the environment around the world.

Let us start with a simple responsible decision that will not cost you a cent. In fact, it might just save you an unplanned visit to the emergency room:

Be Responsible for your own Safety
Read the Signs and Follow the rules! How many times have you seen people ignore the rules or guidelines provided while traveling? Let us take one example: When you visit Yellowstone National Park there are signs reminding tourists to NOT approach the wildlife. For the last several years, rangers have handed out flyers to each car (now hangtags) at the entrance gates, posted signs near almost every parking lot in the park, and repeated the warnings in the park newspaper. The rule posted to the Yellowstone National Park website:

"Approaching on foot within 100 yards (91 m) of bears or wolves or within 25 yards (23 m) of other wildlife is prohibited."

Yet, tourists can be seen everyday approaching wildlife in an effort to get that memorable photo. Perhaps they do not know how far 25 or 100 yards is from an animal. It might be that tourists do not know how much damage an animal can generate when annoyed by intrusions in their “personal space.”

Bison Warning Handout from Yellowstone National Park

Bison warning that was received at the West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Typical Warning Sign at Yellowstone National Park near a bison.

A typical warning sign at Yellowstone National Park. I cropped out the two children that were with this man . . . I warned him to please take his children away from the area but he proceeded to advance on the elk regardless of the posted warning.

As we were turning out of the drive from the North Rim of the Canyons of Yellowstone, we could see a crowd of tourists and a wildlife jam focused on this mature bull elk. This tourist was trying to get a close-up photo by walking up to the elk . . . much closer than 25 yards to a full grown bull elk at Yellowstone National Park. I love this guy in his bright red shirt! It was clear that the man was disturbing the animal because the elk kept moving away every time the man moved closer. As the elk moved up the hill another crowd was forming between the main road that approaches the Canyon Lodge.

I snapped this photo as we drove by the scene . . . this was just a few moments after observing the photo shown above this photo. These men were watching the same mature elk and were now turning their back on the elk as a ranger was asking them to please return to their cars. If that elk became annoyed with the crowding he could have charged these men and been upon them before they ever knew what was happening.

Tourists with bison at Yellowstone National Park

Check out the trusting tourist getting his photo taken with his back to the herd of bison. Maybe the tourist just does not know how far 25 yards might be . . . so let us examine an analogy.

As a swimmer I can relate to this illustration. . . imagine swimming laps in a 25 yard pool.

To imagine the 100 yard distance, consider the image of a football field.
For those individuals that lull themselves into thinking that these animals are tame, consider the following YouTube video of a Bison attack.

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Save the Rhino with WWF Game

Saving the Clouded Leopard Infographic

Help Save the Clouded Leopard

Clouded Leopard - What beautiful eyes you have!

Clouded Leopard - Oh my, what large teeth you have!

Clouded Leopard Facts

Yellowstone Ravens become Raiders

Please do not feed the wildlife!

Responsible Tourism starts with a Responsible Tourist!

Author: Linda Ralston

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