..
Click here to get more mini-SharkBreak widgets - www.SharkBreak.com/
.. ..
PLEASE SAVE OUR WILDLIFE AND KEEP THEM FREE!!!!!!!!!! How Many Panthers Are Left? Only 80 to 100 panthers still remain in Florida, making this one of the most rare and endangered mammals in the world.Panthers are most active at dusk and dawn, they can travel 15-20 miles a day, often moving in a zig-zag pattern, though they tend to rest during the daytime, travel & hunt during the cooler hours of the night. Panthers can swim and will cross wide bodies of water. They have a keen sense of smell and a field of vision of 130 degrees, they have excellent depth perception but lack the panoramic view that deer have.They can run up to 35 mph but only for a few hundred yards, their preferred method of hunting is to creep up as close to their prey as possible and launch a short spring attack. Panthers do become used to man-made noises and frequently cross roads. They are attracted to woodland fires, and may stay near burned sites for days as deer and other prey are drawn to new vegetation. When humans approach an area they will either be still, disappear, or attempt to circle behind. Panthers can live up to between 12-15 years in the wild. A male can measure 7-8 feet from the nose to tail tip and weight 100-160 lbs. Females are about 6 feet in length and weight between 60-100 lbs.Once on the brink of extinction, these birds have made a triumphant comeback in the wild and are close to being taken off the list of threatened species.Here is what made the eagle population decline in the first place. When humans began moving into their territory in the 1800's, humans hunted and fished causing less food for the eagles. People began cutting down forests to build houses and farms. Because of that some eagles began dying off due to lack of food and a shrinking habitat. Around the 1940's there was a sharp decline in the eagle population due to farmers using pesticides like DDT. This harmful pesticide was passed to animals like mice and other small animals when they would eat the plants that were treated and when the mice were hunted and eaten by the eagles they would ingest the poison. DDT caused sterility and death in eagles. Another cause for the decline in the population of eagles were that power lines were placed too close together on high tension wire poles and when the eagles would land or try to take off, their wings would touch both wires at the same time and electrocute the birds. This became a big problem. When, in the 1960's, eagles had been placed on the endangered species list, things were done to preserve the eagles.Over the years the power lines were replaced and spaced further apart to protect the eagles. DDT and other harmful pesticides were also banned from use. Laws were passed to preserve what eagles were left in the wild. US Fish & Wildlife Service put programs in place to reintroduce eagles to regions where the population had declined. Eagles were hatched in captivity and then reintroduced to the wild. By 1988 the program had been so successful that they no longer needed to breed them in captivity. The eagles were beginning to flourish again on their own. Their condition was then upgraded from endangered to threatened.The American bald eagle continues to thrive because of the intervention of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and because people decided to do their part to save these magnificent birds.Polar Bear Headed for Endangered Species Act Protection: May Become Extinct Due to Global WarmingOn February 16, 2005 — the same day the Kyoto Protocol entered into force without the participation of the United States — the Center for Biological Diversity filed a scientific petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Polar bears are at risk of extinction because global warming is causing catastrophic environmental change in the Arctic, including the rapid melting of sea ice. Because the bears are deeply dependent on the sea ice for their survival, they stand to become the first mammals in the world to lose 100 percent of their habitat to global warming effects!!!!!!!!!!!!!Living Indian Ocean giant tortoises:Aldabra giant tortoise - Dipsochelys dussumieriThis species is often known as Geochelone gigantea or Dipsochelys elephantina but should, more correctly, be called Dipsochelys dussumieri. It is naturally restricted to Aldabra atoll, and possibly the nearby atolls, although it has been introduced to several of the granitic Seychelles islands. Some 100,000 wild tortoises live on Aldabra.It is a domed species adapted to grazing on the low grass and herbs of the atoll.Seychelles giant tortoise - Dipsochelys hololissaThis species inhabited the granitic islands of the Seychelles group where it grazed the vegetation on the edges of marshes and streams. By 1840 it had disappeared from the wild and was assumed to be extinct. In 1997 8 captive survivors were recognised in Seychelles. These are now included in the NPTS Seychelles Giant Tortoise Conservation Project. Since then other survivors have been found in zoos elsewhere in the world. Only 12 individuals are known.As a grazing species, it superficially resembles the Aldabran tortoise in its domed shape but is distinct .. examination.Arnold's giant tortoise - Dipsochelys arnoldiAlso known as the Seychelles saddle-backed tortoise. This species also inhabited the granitic Seychelles islands until 1840. Captive tortoises were recognised in 1997 and are part of the NPTS Seychelles Giant Tortoise Conservation Project. Only 18 individuals are known.This species is adapted to browsing, it has a flattened 'saddle-backed' shell and unique jaw and leg modifications to enable it to browse efficiently. The 'saddle-backed' shape is most developed in some Galapagos tortoises where it is involved in browsing and in ritual combats. Such combats are not known in Seychelles tortoises and the 'saddle-backed' shell is less extreme
..
fantisy,native american
Fast isn’t always good. Species, for instance, are estimated to be heading towards extinction at a rate of about one every 20 minutes. That’s a pace a thousand times faster than the norm during Earth’s history. That’s not just fast, that’s out of control. And it’s definitely not good.This situation is directly tied to two issues- habitat destruction and climate change. In the same 20 minutes, we will destroy 1,200 acres of forest and emit 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere worldwide. Less forest cover means fewer acres of habitat for species and more climate-changing carbon in the atmosphere. As climate, landscapes, and oceans change, species must move or adapt. Those that can’t simply die out.The English Wolf. The wolf became extinct in England in 1486, Scotland in 1743, and Ireland in 1770.The Newfoundland was a subspecies of the grey wolf, which is a predator with whom the cattlemen and ranchers still take issue today.The Newfoundland wolf lived on the island of Newfoundland which is off the east coast of Canada.The Newfoundland wolf was a large wolf which was said to be white, with a black stripe down its spine.Newfoundland Wolf DiagramThe wolf was said to have been a large, white animal with a black stripe down its spine.No images are available of this animal although its extinction is relatively recent within the last hundred years.This beautiful animal lasted as long as it took people to settle the island, who arrived and promptly destroyed much of the animal population in the area.Newfoundland now has a high population of moose, which create numerous road collisions and forest destruction and devastation.Very possibly this is because the wolves were hunted and haunted into extinction on Newfoundland.European settlers were only too willing to view the wolf as a cattle killer, and so decided to kill off the islands population by setting a bounty on the wolf there.On September 14, 1839, the government put out a bounty on wolf hides.Vigorous hunting and trapping led to its extinction in 1911. Hunting, trapping and vigorous predator control methods destroyed the last remaining survivors on the island.There are now over twenty species of wolf which have been hunted and harried to extinction by our over eagerness to view them as bad, or something which hurts our interests.The following wolves are an example of our overzealous methods of dealing with natural creatures we do not understand.Kenai Peninsula Wolf - EXTINCT Manitoba Wolf - PRESUMED EXTINCT? Newfoundland Wolf - EXTINCT Northern R Cascade Mountains Wolf - EXTINCT Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf - EXTINCT Southern Rocky Mountain Wolf - EXTINCT Great Plains Wolf/ Buffalo Wolf - EXTINCT Texas Gray Wolf - EXTINCT Banks Island Tundra Wolf - EXTINCT Mogollon Mountain Wolf - EXTINCT Spanish Wolf - EXTINCT Isn’t it time we began to think about what we are doing when we harass any animal into complete absence from our planet.African Carnage: One Year's Seized Ivory Likely Came from 23,000 ElephantsScience Daily February 27, 2007African elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory at a rate unprecedented since an international convention banning ivory trade took effect in 1989, a University of Washington biologist says.The problem is so serious that the giant creatures might be on the path to extinction unless western nations reinstate strong enforcement efforts that all but halted black-market ivory trade in the four years immediately after the ban was enacted, said Samuel Wasser, director of the UW Center for Conservation Biology. He is the lead author of a paper detailing the problem published the week of Feb. 26 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and he argues the continued loss of elephants will have serious consequences."Elephants are majestic animals and are not trivial to the ecosystem. They are a keystone species and taking them out significantly alters the habitat," he said. "It has ripple effects on lots of different species."For the year ending in August 2006, authorities seized more than 23,400 kilograms, or nearly 24 tons, of contraband ivory, Wasser said. But the paper notes it is commonly assumed that customs agents typically detect only about 10 percent of contraband, so the actual amount of poached ivory probably is closer to 234,000 kilograms. That means more than 23,000 elephants, or about 5 percent of Africa's total population, likely were killed for that amount of ivory.African and Asian elephants descended from a long line of giant animals that included the wooly mammoth and mastodon.The word "elephant" comes from the Greek word elephas, meaning ivory, in reference to the animal's prominent tusks, which are actually elongated incisor teeth. Excepting tusks, elephants have only four molar teeth. These teeth are replaced as they are worn away, up to six times throughout an elephant's life.The elephant's trunk is another unique and important feature. It is used not only for drinking and bathing but for smelling, breathing, feeling, and grasping food. At the end of the trunk is a sensitive "finger" for grasping things as small as a berry or as large as a branch. African elephants have two fingers while the Asian has only one. They also use their trunk as a snorkel when crossing deep rivers. Baby elephants are not born knowing how to use their trunk -- they must learn.Elephants live in the hot climates of Africa and Asia. To help protect themselves from the heat, elephants have large ears, with prominent veins, that they can flap to cool their blood. They must stay near water, not only for drinking, but also for bathing and cooling. In addition to mud baths, elephants also take dust baths to try to keep cool and deter insect attacks.Elephants are herbivores, or plant-eaters. They feed on grasses, fruits, leaves, branches, bark, and twigs. Because of their large size and because as much as 60 percent of what they eat passes through without being digested, elephants spend about 16 hours a day foraging for nearly 350 pounds of food. In addition, they drink about 18 gallons of water each day.Elephants are very social animals. They live in small herds composed of a group of females, or cows, and their young (calves) which are led by an older, experienced cow called the matriach. The herd works together to take care of the calves and to signal the others of danger. When a member of the herd dies, the other elephants may cover it with twigs and leaves and mourn their loss by staying at the gravesite for hours. Some males, or bulls, form bachelor herds, joining the females only to mate, while other bulls are loners.The elephant's lifespan is up to 60 years. Elephants do not mate until they are about 15 years old, and usually give birth every 4 years. After 22 months of pregnancy, a single calf is born weighing about 250 pounds and standing almost 3 feet tall. While the calf will begin eating vegetation within a few months, it continues to nurse on its mother's milk until it is at least 2 years old.While calves may fall prey to lions or hyenas, adult elephants have no natural predators except man. Not only have elephants been slaughtered for their ivory tusks, but their populations have declined significantly because of habitat destruction and fragmentation.While Asian and African elephants have a lot in common, each species looks a bit different and each faces different threats to its survival.Under the Endangered Species Act, the African elephant is listed as a threatened species and the Asian elephant is listed as an endangered species. "Endangered" means a species is considered in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and "threatened" means a species is considered in danger of becoming endangered. This protection prohibits elephant parts and products from being imported into the United States except under certain conditions.
Nowadays, there are only five subspecies of Tigers left because the Javan tiger, Caspian tiger, and Balinese tiger are extinct. The five subspecies are the Bengal tiger, Indo-Chinese tiger(this classifies two tigers), Sumatran tiger,and Siberian tiger.Turanian Tiger, Caspian TigerCaspian Tigers lived in China, Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. They were hunted for their furs and to protect livestock. A ban on hunting the Caspian Tiger in the USSR in 1947 followed their greatest destruction in the 1930s. The last Caspian Tiger reported shot was in 1957.Caspian tiger killed in Northern Iran, early 1940’s, © Boomiran/The Tiger FoundationEndangered Turtles and Tortoises of the WorldChinise Three-striped Box TurtleIndian Roofed TurtleWood TurtleDesert TortoiseOlive Ridley TurtleHawksbill Sea TurtleLeatherback Sea TurtleGreen Sea TurtleBox TurtleLoggerhead Turtle