#endangered

[saritawolf]

Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[herpsandbirds]

We need you to help us save a law that we've used to protect and recover endangered species like the wolverine and manatees over the past 50 years.

The Endangered Species Act is a wildly effective and widely popular law. But the Trump administration is trying to weaken the law in return for political support from extractive industries – sending American wildlife on a path to extinction.

Don’t let the Endangered Species Act be dismantled and public interest be denied. Take action today and speak up to defend U.S. wildlife.

Oppose any attempts to weaken the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is wildly effective and widely popular. The law has prevented extinctions of numerous iconic species, recovered i

[reasonsforhope]

In World First, Horned Oryx Upgraded from Extinct in Wild to Endangered Owing to Decades of Zoo Work

The recovery was down to the conservation work of zoos around the world, but also from game breeders in the Texas hill country.

"In one of Africa’s last great wildernesses, a remarkable thing has happened—the scimitar-horned oryx, once declared extinct in the wild, is now classified only as endangered.

It’s the first time the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest conservation organization, has ever moved a species on its Red List from ‘Extinct in the Wild’ to ‘Endangered.’

The recovery was down to the conservation work of zoos around the world, but also from game breeders in the Texas hill country, who kept the oryx alive while the governments of Abu Dhabi and Chad worked together on a reintroduction program.

Chad... ranks second-lowest on the UN Development Index. Nevertheless, it is within this North African country that can be found the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve, a piece of protected desert and savannah the size of Scotland—around 30,000 square miles, or 10 times the size of Yellowstone.

At a workshop in Chad’s capital of N’Djamena, in 2012, Environment Abu Dhabi, the government of Chad, the Sahara Conservation Fund, and the Zoological Society of London, all secured the support of local landowners and nomadic herders for the reintroduction of the scimitar-horned oryx to the reserve.

Environment Abu Dhabi started the project, assembling captive animals from zoos and private collections the world over to ensure genetic diversity. In March 2016, the first 21 animals from this “world herd” were released over time into a fenced-off part of the reserve where they could acclimatize. Ranging over 30 miles, one female gave birth—the first oryx born into its once-native habitat in over three decades.

In late January 2017, 14 more animals were flown to the reserve in Chad from Abu Dhabi.

In 2022, the rewilded species was officially assessed by the IUCN’s Red List, and determined them to be just ‘Endangered,’ and not ‘Critically Endangered,’ with a population of between 140 and 160 individuals that was increasing, not decreasing.

It’s a tremendous achievement of international scientific and governmental collaboration and a sign that zoological efforts to breed endangered and even extinct animals in captivity can truly work if suitable habitat remains for them to return to."

-via Good News Network, December 13, 2023

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - April 15-21

If you like these weekly compilations, please consider tipping me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles! (March doodles should be out this week, I got sick again but I’m doing my best)

1. This program pays nonprofits to take the time to consider solar

“The Solar Upgrading Nonprofits, or SUN, program provides nonprofits with financial and technical assistance to evaluate options for solar installations and seek out additional funding if they choose to go forward. [...] Whether or not the nonprofit decides to move forward, it receives a stipend of between $2,500 and $7,500 as compensation for the staff time that went into the process. Those that opt to go ahead with an installation receive help identifying further funding opportunities and writing grant applications.”

2. Returning Poole Harbour ospreys lay second egg

“Birds of Poole Harbour and Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation began the reintroduction programme in 2017 with the aim of establishing a breeding population on the south coast. [...] The pair are the first ospreys to breed on England's south coast in 180 years [... and] have bred at the nest site at Careys Secret Garden for three consecutive years, rearing three young in 2023, four in 2024 and a further four in 2025.”

3. Court rules trans people have right to accurate IDs: “Trans discrimination is sex discrimination”

“The Supreme Court of Montana ruled on Tuesday that trans residents of the state have a right to update their legal documents to accurately reflect their genders. [... T]he ruling “reflects what we all know to be true: that the Montana Constitution protects the human dignity of everyone, including transgender Montanans.” [...] In May of last year, the state’s Fourth Judicial District Court officially struck down [... a]  ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth.”

4. Family legacy helps secure carbon-storing powerhouse

“By partially donating carbon-rich peatlands to conservation, a Manitoba family is honouring their uncle’s love for Manitoba landscapes and securing his vision for a healthy future for wildlife and people. [...] At 257 hectares (636 acres), the Monk Creek Peatlands are estimated to store over 340,300 tonnes of carbon[....] Peatlands, though covering only three per cent of the Earth’s surface, store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined.”

5. DNA traces in bird feeders leads to rare bat discovery

“Thanks to traces left at hummingbird feeders, researchers have extended the known range of endangered bats in Arizona. [...] The sweet sugar water in the feeders may be helping the species boost their resources in areas that didn’t have as many of the flowering agave plants they usually rely on. [...] From this work, the team in 2024 confirmed the presence of Mexican long-nosed bats for the first time in Arizona.”

April 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[typhlonectes]

Endangered axolotl release raises hopes for rare amphibian

One of the world's most endangered amphibians - the strange, perpetually smiling Mexican axolotl - has thrived after being released in artificial wetlands, scientists have discovered. In a study that provides hope for the long-term future of a creature that was pushed to the brink of extinction, scientists released 18 captive-bred axolotls in restored and artificial wetland close to Mexico City. The researchers fitted the animals with radio trackers and found that they "survived and foraged successfully at both sites" - even gaining weight. Lead researcher Dr Alejandra Ramos from the Autonomous University of Baja California said this was an "amazing result"...

Read more:

Captive-bred axolotl thrives in restored wetlands in Mexico City

[shamanicganja]

[jadafitch]

Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix) Latin American bird number three for this year's spring issue of Audubon Magazine.

[pangeen]

" Pelagic Thresher Shark 🦈" // © kendall rose