Snow Leopards-- Endangered Species

Snow Leopards 

Endangered Species Information

FACT

Snow Leopards have light green or gray eyes, which is very unusual for big cat species, who normally have yellow or gold eyes!

Due to its shy nature, it is hard to determine an exact number of snow leopards that are left in the wild. However, it is estimated that there's fewer than 7,000 in the wild and these numbers continue to decline. 600-700 of these snow leopards are found in zoos around the world. 

Background Information

The Snow Leopard, Panthera uncia is found in 12 different countries including China, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Mongolia, and Russia. However, China contains about 60% of the snow leopard habitat.

In these countries, the snow leopard seeks out high, mountainous habitats with cold temperatures. Over time, snow leopards have evolved to live in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. These can include areas with steep cliffs, rocky outcrops, and ravines. 

These kinds of habitats allow the snow leopards to camouflage to their surroundings, which ultimately helps them catch unsuspecting prey. 

A interesting fact is that unlike other large cats, Snow Leopards aren't able to roar! 

In addition, snow leopards are most active at dawn and are rarely seen in the wild. They travel in solitude and normally pair only during the breeding season. 

-----> Snow Leopards have been found to weigh between 77-120 pounds. They have short forelimbs and long hind-limbs that allow them to leap 6 times the length of its body!

They have thick yellowish, white, or gray-colored fur with distinct black ringed spots and a long tail that provides them with balance and agility. Their tails are incredibly unique because they're thickly furred and can wrap around the snow leopards' bodies to provide added protection from the cold. Their wide feet or paws are fur-lined as well, and act almost like snowshoes when these animals are roaming through the snow and ice. 

-- The snow leopards is an incredible predator that is capable of killing prey that's 3 times its weight. What they prey on depends on this animal's specific location, but most eat wild sheep and goats. Sometimes they seek out smaller animals such as rodents, hares, and birds as well. 

Threats and Causes of its Decline

• Climate Change: A snow leopard's typical habitat is on the snow-covered mountains, just beyond where the snow line begins. However, as the climate changes, temperatures have risen significantly, which causes receding snow lines. This forces snow leopards to move further and further up the mountain. As the snow leopards moves to higher elevations, the vegetation becomes much more scarce, which leads to a limited supply of prey as well. The snow leopards are now having difficulty finding enough sufficient food to survive. 

• Habitat Loss: Human settlement and increased use of grazing space has lead to an extreme decline in the snow leopard's habitat range. Overgrazing damages the fragile mountain grasslands and leaves less food for wild sheep and goats that are the snow leopards' main prey.

• Human and outside interference: Sadly, humans are the sole predators of snow leopards. Due to the high demand for their distinct coats, they are often illegally hunted for the fur trade. Their pelts have been transformed into coats or other garments and some of the snow leopard's bones and body parts are also used in traditional Asian medicine. It is also very harmful when humans mine in the snow leopard habitats. In addition, they are sometimes killed by local farmers, due to fear of losing livestock such as sheep, goats, and horses that are preyed on by the snow leopard. 

Why Are Snow Leopards Important!?

- Snow Leopards are symbols for the countries and areas that they live in.

- As the top predator in these Asian areas, snow leopards are an important ecological role in controlling the population and health of the different species they prey on. 

- Snow Leopards are a very valuable indicator of environmental health in an area. Their declining numbers means that they places in which they live are threatened as well. Protecting the prey and its habitat are also important for protecting areas like grasslands and wetlands in the Yangtze River region. 

Current Conservation Efforts

The World Wildlife Fund has put forth a great amount of effort in conserving the wild snow leopards. 

They have focused on 

• Reducing the conflict between humans and snow leopards and rural development
• Education for sustainable development
• Stopping harmful mining in the snow leopard habitats
• & Controlling illegal wildlife trade.

As for stopping illegal trade and the hunting of snow leopards and its prey, the WWF works with TRAFFIC-- the wildlife trade monitoring network, to hopefully eliminate the illegal trading of snow leopard bones, fur, and other body parts. 

The WWF also works with local communities to monitor snow leopards and reduce the retaliatory kills through insurance plans. Building awareness is also important here, and Through the Land of Snow Project, the WWF looks to secure crucial snow leopard

habitats in Mongolia. 

The Snow Leopard was placed on the endangered species list in 1972 to help protect its declining numbers. Defenders of Wildlife has conservation groups near the snow leopards habitats that work with local farmers to provide them a better understanding of how to co-exist with these endangered species and minimize conflict. 

Reimbursement programs have also been set up to give the farmers a fair market value for the animals or livestock they have lost in return for not killing the snow leopard. 

Panthera's Snow Leopard Program is additional approach for future conservation of the snow leopard. Through scientific research, Panthera has gained and contributed a great amount of knowledge about the best ways to conserve this species. 

Their 3 Fundamental Approaches include

• Identifying the geographic gaps and opportunities for best conserving the species
• Understanding the basic science about this species' to inform and address specific issues such as habitat fragmentation
• Working with existing partners greater effectiveness and generate new projects and partnerships to address existing conservation gaps.

Pathera's conservation efforts currently extend to 7 of the 12 snow leopard countries and they hope to expand over the next few years to inform conservation policies, engaging all 12 snow leopard range countries. 

The Snow Leopard Trust is another group that provides ongoing conservation efforts in the snow leopards' countries. To strengthen conservation, the Snow Leopard Trust holds environmental education seminars in these areas. These seminars provide its partner communities with information about their local ecology and the role that snow leopards play in it. These seminars also allow them to demonstrate the need to protect snow leopards and reinforce the importance of conservation programs in these areas. 

How YOU Can Help!

• Through the WWF you can  symbolically ADOPT A SNOW LEOPARD to help support the conservation efforts. 
• Defenders of Wildlife also provides opportunities where you can symbolically adopt a snow leopard. In addition, they provide ways to take action, stay informed, and speak up for wildlife. These opportunities can all be found HERE
• Donate to Panthera's Snow Leopard Research
• The Snow Leopard Trust provides a wide range of ways to support the snow leopard. Not only can you make a donation here, but you can also find ways to volunteer and join Team Snow Leopard. These opportunities can be found HERE

Save the Borneo Pygmy Elephants!

Borneo Pygmy Elephants

Endangered Species Information

Fact

The Borneo Pygmy Elephant is the smallest elephant in Asia, and today there's fewer than 1,500 of them left in the wild!

Background Information

The Borneo Pygmy Elephant, Elephas maximus borneensis mainly lives in the tropical and subtropical forest habitats of Borneo and Sumatra in Asia. 

DNA evidence proved these elephants were isolated about 300,000 years ago from their cousins on mainland Asia and Sumatra. Over time, they became smaller with relatively larger ears, longer tails and straighter tusks.

These elephants are forest herbivores and primarily eat foods such as palms, grasses, and wild bananas.

A FUN FACT is that swimming is definitely not a problem for these animals! They can swim across river barriers with very impressive strength. 

They have thick legs and large feet for balance, as well as thick skin with small hairs to help keep them warm. In addition, their large trunk is used for eating and drinking. All of these structural adaptions are what helps the Borneo Pygmy Elephant survive in the wild. 

Borneo Pygmy Elephants can live to be up to 60 years old in the wild, and up to 80 years old in captivity!

As for breeding, one calf is born at a time and female Asian elephants have about 7 calves in a lifetime. They give birth about every 4 - 6 years, although this period may be extended when there are poor conditions for survival, such as during drought.

Threats and Causes of its Decline

• Habitat Loss: The single most important cause of the decline of the Borneo Pygmy elephant has been the loss of its habitat. Large blocks of forests required for their survival have been fragmented by conversion of extensive natural forests, formerly the Borneo Pygmy’s main habitat, to commercial plantations. Human disturbances within forests such as logging and hunting also worsen contact between sub-populations of elephants.

• Conflict with Humans: Shrinking forests bring the elephants into more frequent contact with people, increasing the human-elephant conflict in the region. New oil palm plantations in the area also mean more human settlements, with some people setting illegal snares to catch small game. In the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, it is estimated that 20% of resident elephants have sustained injuries from these snares.

• In addition, poaching has been a threat, because many people seek out the Borneo Pygmy Elephant for its ivory tusks. 

Why are Borneo Pygmy Elephants Important!?

-----> Until recently the pygmy elephants of Borneo were believed to be a remnant population of a domesticated herd abandoned on the island by the Sultan of Sulu in the 17th century. However, a 2003 DNA analysis carried out by WWF and Columbia University proved that the pygmy elephants were genetically distinct from other Asian elephants, thereby recognizing it as a likely new subspecies and emphasizing its conservation priority. 

----> This is a species of elephant unlike any other, and we should do everything in our power to conserve and protect them for the future. 

Current Conservation Efforts

The WWF began working on its conservation efforts in 2005 in Boreno, and before then nobody had ever studied the Boreno Pygmy Elephant!

During this time, the WWF successfully attached satellite collars to 5 pygmy elephants in different herds in the Malaysian state of Sabah. The satellite collars are part of the first scientific research ever conducted on this little understood population of elephants.

This distinct tracking data has proven to be beneficial. It has provided insight into the movement of these elephants and their use of their forest habitats. Based on the study, WWF has made recommendations to help manage elephant forests, identify elephant corridors and maintain critical forest areas for the future and their survival. 

The WWF also concluded that sustainable forest management is extremely important for the conservation of Boreno Pygmy Elephants. To address the problem, WWF works with plantation managers and owners in key pygmy elephant habitats to create reforested wildlife corridors that allow elephants and other species to move freely between the natural forests. 

In Malaysia, the Borneo elephants are protected under  the Wildlife Conservation Enactment. Any person found guilty of hunting elephants is may be convicted and given a large fine or five years imprisonment or both.

How YOU Can Help

•  Donate to the World Land Trust's Borneo Rainforest Appeal. This will help their efforts to secure and extend the forest and river habitats of the Borneo Pygmy Elephant. 

• Adopt a Pygmy Elephant through the World Wildlife Fund and support its future survival! 

Saving the Giant Panda

Giant Pandas

Endangered Species Information

Fact: 

The Giant Panda is the rarest member of the bear family and the severe threats from humans have left fewer than 1,600 of them left in the wild! 

Background Information

The Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca mainly live and can be found in habitats that include Temperate, Broadleaf, and Mixed forests high in the mountains of Southwestern China, where they primarily eat bamboo. They can live up to 20-30 years old in captivity. 

There are some very distinct and interesting facts about Giant Pandas:

• Newborn pandas are about the size of a stick of butter (about 1/900th the size of its mother), but can grow to weigh up to 330 pounds as adults! Despite how much they weigh, these animals are excellent tree climbers.
• Giant Pandas have the digestive systems of carnivores so they're not able to digest the plant matter in bamboo efficiently, therefore deriving little energy and protein from eating it. So to make up for this, the average giant panda has to eat around 26-84 pounds of bamboo shoots a day. Now that's a lot of bamboo!
• Unlike other bears, Giant Pandas don't hibernate. In the winter they move to lower elevations to keep warm, and travel to higher elevations in the summer to stay cool. They also can be active at any time of the day or night. 

---> Giant Pandas have evolved special features that help them eat bamboo, the food which mainly makes up their diet. They have strong jaws, large molars, and enlarged wrist bones that function as opposable "thumbs". On occasion, giant pandas are also known to eat flowers, vines, grasses, green corn, honey, and rodents. 

---> Adult giant pandas can get to a height of more than four feet long. During their March-May breeding season, females may end up breeding with multiple mates. The birthing often takes place in rock dens or hollow trees and occurs in August-September. Although one or two cubs are born, the mother only raises one.

Threats and Causes of its Decline 

• Habitat Loss: Restricted and degraded habitat is the greatest threat to Giant Pandas. Already confined to small remote areas in the mountains of China, much of their natural lowland habitat has been destroyed by farmers, development and forest clearing, forcing them further upland and reducing and fragmenting their habitat. This fragmentation of habitat is detrimental to the panda’s ability to find food.
• Food: Because they can consume up to 45 pounds of bamboo in a day, it is sometimes necessary for pandas to travel to a new location once the bamboo supply of an area is all gone. However, the displacement of their range by humans can make finding new food very difficult. Any climate changes that alter the natural range of bamboo species will make these remaining  habitats even more troubling.
• Hunting: Hunting still remains a threat to Giant Pandas. The poaching of them for their fur has declined due to the strict laws, severe penalties, and increased public awareness of their protected status. However, Giant Pandas are still sometimes killed in snares or traps set by hunters seeking other animals in the same habitat.  

Why are Giant Pandas Important!?

---Giant Pandas play a crucial role in the bamboo forests where they roam by spreading seeds and facilitating growth of vegetation. In China's Yangtze Basin where pandas live, the forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife such as dwarf blue sheep, multi-colored pheasants and other endangered species, including the golden monkey, takin and crested ibis. The panda’s habitat is at the geographic and economic heart of China, home to millions of people. By making this area more sustainable, we are also helping to increase the quality of life of local populations. Pandas bring huge economic benefits to local communities through tourism.

---So, by encouraging people to protect and save the Giant Panda, we are also preserving the rich biodiversity in its habitat. 

---The Giant Panda is a national treasure in China and has been the World Wildlife Foundation's logo since it was founded in 1961. 

---We don't want to lose these incredible, distinct creatures!

Current Conservation Efforts

Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund are doing a lot to help protect the Giant Panda for the future. The WWF was the first international conservation organization to work in China from the Chinese government's invitation. WWF’s main role in China is to assist and influence conservation decisions through information collection, demonstration of conservation approaches, communications, and capacity building.

For protecting giant pandas they strive to

• increase the area of panda habitat that's under legal protection
• create green corridors to link isolated pandas
• patrol against poaching, illegal logging, and human encroachment
• build local capacities for managing nature reserves
• & continue further research and monitoring

The WWF has also been helping with the Chinese government's National Conservation Program, preserving the giant panda and its habitat. Through this program, the panda reserves now cover more than 3.8 million acres of forest!

The Chinese government's National Conservation Management Plan for the Giant Panda and its habitat consists of specific goals and guidelines that includes: 

• Reduction of human activities in the panda habitat
• Removal of human settlements
• Modification of forestry operations
• Control of poaching
• Rehabilitation of habitat
• Management of bamboo habitat
• Extension of the panda Reserve system
• Achieving outbreeding between panda populations
• Maintaining a captive population
• Release of captive-born pandas into the wild

Overall, the major conservation efforts have been about restoring the giant panda's habitat, which is crucial to their survival for the future. 

How YOU Can Help

Researchers focusing on giant pandas still are studying how giant pandas breed in order to increase its population.

To help with this and other conservation efforts you can 

-- Adopt a panda through the WWF here: ADOPT A PANDA

--- DONATE to the WWF to help further build the giant panda's future

---Spread the word about the Giant Panda's future

--- Donate to other conservation funds supporting giant pandas

--- Speak up for Wildlife. Learn how you can BECOME AN ADVOCATE for giant pandas and other wildlife.

BENGAL TIGERS, save this endangered species!

Bengal Tigers

Endangered Species information

FACT 

The Bengal Tiger is one of the largest species of tigers in the world. Although it is the most numerous of tiger subspecies, there are fewer than 2,500 of them left in the wild!

Background Information

The Bengal Tiger, Panthera tigris tigris is primarily found in India, but has smaller populations in other places such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China, and Myanmar.

Its habitats include the dry and wet deciduous forests, grassland and temperate forests, as well as mangrove forests.

An interesting fact is that there's about 1% of Bengal Tigers  that are DNA verified hybrids. That is when they have one parent that's a Bengal Tiger, and the other that's a Siberian Tiger. It is believed that this genetic link was the result of mistakes in breeding while in captivity, and then released to the wild instead of a natural occurrence that takes place in the wild. 

---> Bengal Tigers can weigh up to 500 pounds for a full grown male and about 310 pounds for a full grown female! They also feature very long tails and heads that are larger than that of other species. They are excellent hunters and feed on a variety of prey found around India. They include deer, antelope, hogs and buffalo. They have also been seen consuming monkeys, birds, and other small prey when their main food selections become scarce.

Threats and Causes of its Decline

• Loss of Habitat-- Less than 100 years ago, Bengal tigers prowled free all across India. However, booming human populations, particularly starting in the early 1940s, have resulted in a loss of this tiger's habitat. The habitats are being harmed even more due to agriculture and the clearing of forests for new developments and roadways. This then forces tigers into smaller, scattered habitats. 

• Illegal Wildlife Trade-- Before the international ban on tiger trade in 1993, tiger populations were being decimated by poaching and trade. Despite the ban in the past few decades, the illegal demand for tigers as status symbols, decorative items, and folk cures has increased dramatically, leading to a new poaching crisis. Poaching driven by the international illegal wildlife trade is the largest immediate threat to the remaining tiger population.

• Loss of Prey-- Bengal Tigers are losing natural prey like deer and antelopes. These numbers are declining and harming tigers because of poaching for meat and trade, competition with other livestock over food, and habitat infliction due to excessive wood removal for fires. 
  

• Conflict with Humans-- Since Bengal Tigers have been losing their habitat and prey for food sources, they have been coming in contact with humans, attacking their livestock, and sometimes attacking people as well. This in turn has lead to some tigers being killed by angry villagers. 

Why are Bengal Tigers Important!?

-- Bengal Tigers are vital to maintaining the diversity of nature in the ecosystem. These tigers are carnivores and at the top of the food chain in the wild. However, when we protect them, we end up protecting and saving much more. For instance, with just one tiger, we end up protecting around 25,000 acres of forest. These ecosystems are important because they supply people and nature with fresh food, water, and health. If the world were to lose Bengal Tigers it would be a horrible tragedy for future generations both socially and scientifically. 

-- Bengal Tigers also have a positive effect on poor communities. Wherever Bengal Tigers exist, tourists go. When tourists go to these poor areas, money can be made by communities with few alternatives for making a living. 

--Saving these tigers can also save the rich and diverse landscapes in which they roam.

Current Conservation Efforts

The World Wildlife Foundation has done a lot to help conserve the Bengal Tiger species. 

They are:

• Conserving lanscapes (especially in India)
• Strengthening anti-poaching efforts
• Empowering communities
• & Stopping illegal wildlife trade to prevent tiger parts and products from being sold into black markets.
  

In addition, the Wildlife Protection Society of India continues to strive to look into all allegations of tiger poaching. They have confiscated large amounts of tiger parts and pelts but it is often hard for them to get to the source of who is actually responsible for killing and for shipping them. Even though they detain those caught with them there are more people involved in the process than they are able to uncover. Key landscapes vital to Bengal Tigers are consistently trying to be preserved and conserved for this animal's future. 

How YOU Can Help!

-- Help stop wildlife crime against Bengal Tigers! Learn how you can take action here: STOP WILDLIFE CRIME AGAINST TIGERS

-- Become a monthly member to the World Wildlife Foundation with a monthly gift that helps protects Bengal Tigers and other species. 

Introduction for the GEOG1043 Readiness Assessment

Hello!

My name is Gloria McNerney and I will be a senior this year at University of Cincinnati. I am majoring in Journalism and minoring in Public Relations!

Some interesting things about me include that I am a triplet, I used to be a musical theatre major in Los Angeles, I once played a hardcore gothic girl in a movie, I am obsessed with sushi, and tigers are my favorite animals!

Science isn't necessarily my strongest subject, so I am excited to learn a lot more about the role of geography in biodiversity conservation and the ways to conserve natural wildlife and habitats for our future.


I'll end with a picture of my triplet sisters and I! (I am on the left).

---Gloria McNerney