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Transcript
The Bahamas National Trust Education Office Endangered species are plants or animals in immediate danger of extinction. While extinction may be a natural process, the rate of extinction has been dramatically accelerated by pollution, development and other industrial activities. As a result, we are losing up to 100 species each day compared to the natural extinction rate of only one species every 100 years. EXTINCTION In biology and ecology, extinction is the disappearance of a species or group of species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species. In species which reproduce sexually, extinction of a species is generally inevitable when there is only one individual of that species left, or only individuals of a single sex. Extinction is not an unusual event in geological time— species are created by speciation, and disappear through extinction. There have been periodic mass extinctions, in which many species have disappeared in a relatively short period of geological time. The most recent of these, the K-T Extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period, is best known for having wiped out the dinosaurs. GOING, GOING GONE Habitat Destruction Competition for Living Space Deforestation Forest Fires Introduction of Exotic Species Overexploitation Other Factors The Bahamas Biodiversity Diverse Habitats Coppice Coppice Pine Shoreline Marine Wetlands Birds Bahama Parrot Amazona leucocephala bahamensis Threats • Feral Cats • Land Crabs • Snakes • Flooding Abaco National Park Inagua Parrots nest in trees Cuban Emerald Hummingbird Bahama Woodstar Ruddy Duck White -Cheeked Pintail West Indian Whistling Duck We all know and could describe our National Bird - the flamingo. It is pink has long legs and a strangely shaped bill. The Inagua National Park is home to a breeding colony of 50,000 flamingos • Breeding season is March to May • Eggs hatch after 29 days • Males and females incubate the eggs • Flamingos eat small microscopic mollusks, salt water snails and brine shrimp • Flamingos can fly when they are about 75 days old Neotropical Migratory Warblers Kirtland’s Warbler Barn Owl Burrowing Owl Osprey • Fish eating bird of prey • Large Nests use year after year • Mate for life Pandion haliaetus Pandion haliaetus ridgwayi Reptiles • Deposit Eggs in soil or sand dunes above the beach • Hatch after several weeks - look like miniature adults • Can forage on their own • Iguanas have detachable tails • Predation by raccoons, rats and dogs Bahamian Boa Constrictor Sea Turtles Loggerhead Green Turtle Hawksbill Mammals Hutia • only endemic mammal • nocturnal • Very endangered • Herbivore Manatee Bahamian Species vulnerable to overexploitation White-Crowned Pigeon • Regional sustainable population • Season Opens Sept. 29th • Season Closes March 1 How can you help Endangered Species? • Know the legislation affecting wildlife in your country • Support exisiting National Parks • Work to establish more National Parks • Plant trees and plants that help wildlife • Never buy undersized marine products • Neuter and spay cats and dogs Let’s not let them disappear forever!
