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Wildlife Conservation
Wildlife Conservation
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In the United States alone, there are 986
endangered species (388 animals, 598
plants). Also listed are 276 species which are
threatened (129 animals, 147 plants).
In the world, 1072 animal species are
considered endangered or threatened; 748
plant species are listed as well.
Wildlife Conservation
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Causes of Endangerment
Efforts and Governmental Acts to Protect
Species
Wildlife Refuges
American Bald Eagle Conservation
Whaling
Reasons for
Endangerment
Habitat Destruction
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Our planet is continually changing, causing habitats
to be altered and modified. Natural changes tend to
occur at a gradual pace, usually causing only a
slight impact on individual species. However, when
changes occur at a fast pace, there is little or no
time for individual species to react and adjust to new
circumstances. This can create disastrous results,
and for this reason, rapid habitat loss is the primary
cause of species endangerment. The strongest
forces in rapid habitat loss are human beings.
Habitat Destruction (cont’d.)
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For example, although tropical forests may look as
though they are lush, they are actually highly
susceptible to destruction. This is because the soils
in which they grow are lacking in nutrients. It may
take Centuries to re-grow a forest that was cut down
by humans or destroyed by fire, and many of the
world's severely threatened animals and plants live
in these forests. If the current rate of forest loss
continues, huge quantities of plant and animal
species will disappear.
Introduction of Exotic Species
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Native species are those plants and animals that are part of a
specific geographic area, and have ordinarily been a part of that
particular biological landscape for a lengthy period of time.
These species are introduced into new environments by way of
human activities, either intentionally or accidentally. These
interlopers are viewed by the native species as foreign elements.
They may cause no obvious problems and may eventual be
considered as natural as any native species in the habitat.
However, exotic species may also seriously disrupt delicate
ecological balances and may produce a plethora of unintended
yet harmful consequences.
Introduced insects, rats, pigs, cats, and other foreign species
have actually caused the endangerment and extinction of
hundreds of species during the past five centuries. Exotic
species are certainly a factor leading to endangerment.
Overexploitation
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Unrestricted whaling during the 20th century is an example of
overexploitation, and the whaling industry brought many species
of whales to extremely low population sizes. When several whale
species were nearly extinct, a number of nations (including the
United States) agreed to abide by an international moratorium on
whaling. Due to this moratorium, some whale species, such as
the grey whale, have made remarkable comebacks, while others
remain threatened or endangered.
Animals are also deliberately hunted for their furs and the special
properties some of their body parts have in the making of
medicines. While hunting endangered species is illegal, it
continues in many parts of the world because of the large sums
of money these animals can bring. There are demands for items
such as rhino horns and tiger bones in several areas of Asia. It is
here that there exists a strong market for traditional medicines
made from these animal parts.
More Factors
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Disease, pollution, and limited distribution are more factors that
threaten various plant and animal species. If a species does not
have the natural genetic protection against particular pathogens,
an introduced disease can have severe effects on that specie.
For example, rabies and canine distemper viruses are presently
destroying carnivore populations in East Africa. Domestic
animals often transmit the diseases that affect wild populations,
demonstrating again how human activities lie at the root of most
causes of endangerment. Pollution has seriously affected
multiple terrestrial and aquatic species, and limited distributions
are frequently a consequence of other threats; populations
confined to few small areas due to of habitat loss, for example,
may be disastrously affected by random factors.
Efforts and
Governmental Acts to
Protect Species
The Endangered Species Act
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Passed in 1973
Mission to conserve “the ecosystems upon which endangered
and threatened species depend”
It is illegal to “take” an endangered species
Administered by the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Department of Commerce’s
National Marine Fisheries Service
Individual states are encouraged to develop their own
conservation programs for local endangered species
Current ESA Statistics
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517 animals are
currently endangered
29 animals are
proposed for listing
116 candidate species
541 Habitat
Conservation Plans
(HCPs) have been
approved
NOAA Restoration Center
• Dedicated to the restoration and protection of costal habitats
• Plans and implements both large and small-scale projects
• Community-based Restoration Program (CRP)
• Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP)
More information can be found at:
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/index.html
Greenpeace
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Immediately end industrial
logging and road-building in the
Earth's remaining ancient
forests
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Immediately end clear-cutting
in all forests
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U.S. businesses should
eliminate their use of all
products that destroy or
degrade ancient forests
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Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC)
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/forests/
Endangered Wildlife Trust
(EWT)
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Goal of conserving the
diversity of plant and
animal species in
Southern Africa
“Working Groups”
initiate and fund
projects to further the
maintenance of
biodiversity
Wildlife Refuges
Wildlife Refuges
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“A haven or sanctuary for animals; a wildlife
refuge is an area of land or of land and water
set aside and maintained, usually by
government or private organization, for the
preservation and protection of one or more
species of wildlife.”
Types of Refuges
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The U.S. Wildlife Refuge System in 1997
made up more than 520 different areas in all
the states, covering over 93 million acres.
The system is governed by the Fish and
Wildlife Service of the Dept. of the Interior.
The work of the service includes:
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Biological research
The administration and enforcement of relevant
federal legislation
Numerous related projects
Types of Refuges (cont’d.)
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Refuges have been established for big game,
small resident game, waterfowl, and colonial
non-game birds.
The most numerous are the waterfowl
refuges.
Waterfowl refuges are refuges that offer to
various birds breeding areas, wintering areas,
and resting and feeding areas along major
flyways during migration.
Types of Refuges (cont’d.)
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While the main purpose of the refuge system
is to ensure survival of wildlife by providing
suitable cover, food, and protection from
humans, many refuges have permitted
hunting and fishing in season and other
recreational activities within its grounds.
Some refuges, also, have been designated
wilderness areas.
Wilderness Areas
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A wilderness area is “land retaining its primeval
character with the imprint of humans minimal or
unnoticeable.”
In the United States, the Wilderness Act of 1964
established the National Wilderness Preservation
System - 9 million acres of land in 54 different areas
that provided for the designation of new wilderness
areas.
By 1992, the total had risen to 95 million acres in
708 areas of land.
Alaska, with 57.6 million acres, is by far the leading
repository of wilderness in the United States.
Wilderness Areas (cont’d.)
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According to environmentalists, Wilderness
lands are to be preserved in their natural
condition, wild and undeveloped.
The idea of wilderness has deep roots in
American thought and writings:
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William Penn
Henry David Thoreau
The establishment of wildlife
refuges in the United States
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Refuges have been established by private
individuals and societies and by all levels of
government.
The first state refuge was established by California
in 1870; the first federal refuge was Pelican Island in
Florida (1903).
Other countries throughout the world also maintain
parks, refuges, and game preserves.
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Kruger National Park (est. 1898) in South Africa
Recent Issues with Refuges
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Maintenance and repair of facilities are enormous.
Between 1985 – 1995, Congress added 80 refuges
to the system, but the refuges’ annual operating
budget never kept pace with this growth.
Now, even as refuges are asked to handle more and
more public access, some of these vast holdings are
perceived as burdens on taxpayers.
Some members of Congress have suggested selling
off portions of the refuge system.
Recent Issues with Refuges
(cont’d.)
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Others have favored opening them up for
more public use.
Opponents of these measures arguing that
these bills refuges would be badly weaken
refuges throughout the country.
AMERICAN BALD
EAGLE
CONSERVATION
HISTORY OF THE BALD
EAGLE
-1782 Congress adopted the bald eagle as national symbol; at the
time there were estimated to be between 25,000-75,000 birds
-Females can weigh up to 14lbs and have an 8 foot wing span,
eagles can live up to 30 years in the wild, mate for life and will lay
two to three eggs per year
-Eagles have been known to build nests as big as 10 feet in
diameter and weighing up to 1 ton, and will often nest within 100
miles of where they were hatched
DESTRUCTION OF THE BALD
EAGLE POPULATION
-European settlers saw the eagle as a
threat to livestock telling tales of the
birds carrying away full-grown sheep
-By the 1960s there were fewer than 450
bald eagle nesting pairs in the United
States—due to hunting, habitat
destruction, and environmental
degradation
-By 1940 experts feared the eagle would
be hunted to extinction—leading
Congress to enact the Bald Eagle
Protection Act
PESTICIDES: THE DOWNFALL
OF THE B.E.P.A
-After WWII came the birth of the chemical era in
agriculture and the war to fight invading insects by
using harmful pesticides on crops
-DDT, most widely used pesticide, eventually
concentrated in the tissue of fish population
-Contaminated fish were eaten by the bald eagle and
converted into DDE, another harmful chemical that
prevented the production of calcium in female
eagles—this led to the production of eggs with
extremely soft shells
-Not until 1972 did the federal government ban the
use of DDT when scientists found a link between
declining eagle populations and the use of this
chemical
BALD EAGLE
RECOVERY
-The Endangered Species Act of 1973 listed the American
bald eagle as endangered in most of the contiguous states
-Agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service began to
initiate captive breeding programs, producing birds for
reintroduction into the wild
-By 1988, the bald eagle had recovered and reproduced
enough in the wild to discontinue the federal reintroduction
program
WHERE IS THE EAGLE
TODAY?
-In 1995 the bald eagle population exceeded 4,500 breeding pairs,
which allowed them to be downgraded from endangered to threatened
-There has been a proposal to remove the bald eagle from the
endangered species list, but many fear that without the ESA’s
protection the species will deteriorate once again
-According to many officials, “while the bald eagle no longer faces
imminent extinction, its full recovery is still impeded by the presence
of contaminants such as PCBs, dioxins, mercury and other chemicals. .
. .and by the loss of habitat from a variety of human activities,
including urban expansion and development along shorelines.”
Whaling
The History of Whaling
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Started by the Japanese in
the first few centuries A.D.
Norwegians began whaling
between 800 and 1000 A.D.
Dutch, British, and the
Americans started in the
17th century.
These early whalers hunted
the Northern Right Whale.
Purpose for Early Whaling
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Europeans used the whales for their oil and
baleen
The Japanese ate the meat and found uses
for many other parts of the whale
Early whaling was excessive
Effects of Early Whaling of the
Northern Right Whale
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Now, only about 300 Right Whales survive in
the North Atlantic
Only 250 in the North Pacific
In February of 2002, the National Marine
Fisheries Service refused to designate
Critical Habitat for this species.
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Said they needed to collect more data
The Bowhead Whale
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Hunted to extinction in the
Atlantic Ocean
An estimated 7500 still exist
in the North Pacific
Still hunted at a rate of 67
per year by the Alaskan
Eskimos
In 2002, The International
Whaling Commission
rejected the U.S. request to
continue this hunt.
The Sperm Whale
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Made famous by the
novel Moby Dick
U.S. whalers also
hunted the sperm
whale, first in the
Atlantic out of New
England, and then in
the Pacific off of
Hawaii.
The Sperm Whale Population
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In 2002, population
estimates for the sperm
whale show only
360,000 left in the
world
California Grey Whale
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Hunted in the lagoons of
Baja California
Hunted almost to extinction
in the late 1800’s, then
recovered.
Hunted almost to extinction
again in the 1930’s and
40’s, then recovered again.
Today, the species is up to
pre-exploitation levels
(about 26000).
International Whaling
Commission
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Regulates Whaling, established in 1946
Gave its member nations quotas on the
whales they wanted to hunt
But the quotas were much too high
Whale population declined rapidly
1982 – IWC adopted resolution calling for an
indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling,
which became effective in 1986, ending
commercial whaling.
Recovery of Some Populations
Species
Blue Whale
1979
500
1991
2049
Humpback
Whale
88
607
Although most species are recovering, the
Northern Atlantic Right Whale is in trouble.
In 1999, only two females with calves were
spotted off the coast of Georgia and
Florida.
Loopholes in the IWC
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Compliance to the
moratorium is voluntary
– a member can file a
protest to the
moratorium and then
need not to abide by it.
Norway is still hunting
Minke Whales in the
North Atlantic as a
result of this.
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Aboriginal whale
hunting allows the
American Eskimos to
still hunt the Bowhead
whale and the Grey
whale.
Whaling for “scientific
research” is still allowed
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This is the loophole that
the Japanese use to
whale.
Japanese Whaling
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Although the Japanese say
their whaling is carried out
for “research”, the meat is
sold to wholesalers and
used for school lunches.
Research has shown that
the Japanese are whaling
illegally, and selling the
meat from the whales that
are not allowed to be
hunted.
The Antarctic Sanctuary
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In 1994, the IWC set aside a huge
area around Antarctica as the
Southern Ocean Sanctuary
The purpose is to protect the major
feeding areas of about 90% of the
world’s whales
The proposal passed by a vote of
23-1, with the Japanese being the
only opposition.
The Japanese continue to hunt 400
Minke whales a year in the
sanctuary for “research” purposes.
This is allowed under IWC rules,
because a sanctuary can remain
open to whaling by any nation that
objects to the proposal.
How can I help?
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The easiest and most efficient way to help is
to donate to the various organizations that
are trustworthy and have a well established
reputation.
Wildlife Conservation Network
National Wildlife Federation
Conclusion
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Increased understanding about the world’s
current wildlife situation and an increased
emphasis on education will give future
generations an opportunity to experience
nature to its fullest extent.