Results tagged “threatened” on Earth Touch Blog
Did you know? African penguin May 12 2008
Formerly known as the jackass penguin, the African penguin (Spheniscus dermersus) got its original name from its call, which is uncannily similar to that of a donkey.
African penguins are endemic to the Southern African countries of South Africa and Namibia, and mostly occur within a few kilometeres of the coastline. Non-breeding birds spend most of their time at sea.
Tags: africa, african penguin, bird, call, cape, conservation, dive, eat, fish, jackass, namibia, ocean, penguin, sea, south africa, swim, threatened, waterFlickr group: pic of the day – white rhino May 1 2008
White rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) are found in central and southern Africa. According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), they are considered near threatened, with only an estimated 11,670 white rhino individuals left in the wild.
Tags: africa, conservation, flickr, kenya, mammal, photograph, photography, rhino, threatened, vertebrate, white rhinoDid you know? Differences between black and white rhinos Mar 28 2008
Black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) and white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) are both grey in colour. But there are many differences between them.
Tags: africa, black, black rhino, browse, colour, conservation, endangered, feed, feeding, grass, graze, grazing, hluhluwe, imfolozi, kwazulu-natal, lip, mammal, rhino, rhinoceros, smell, south africa, threatened, trees, white, white rhino, wildlifeCapturing spirit of place Jan 29 2008
Guest Blog By Diane Hossick
Back in the 1970s, the novelist Lawrence Durrell (brother of naturalist Gerald Durrell) presented a memorable BBC TV series entitled Spirit of Place. Beautifully shot, it matched Durrell’s inimitable use of language with landscape, flora, fauna, and people, focusing on European and North African places of great beauty: towns, villages, coast and countryside.
Wildlife news from around the world
River dolphin count completed Jan 29 2008
BBC Wildlife magazine reports that the recent completion of a survey of pink (Inia geoffrensis and Inia boliviensis) and grey (Sotalia fluviatilis) river dolphins in South America’s Orinoco and Amazon Basins was “a triumph for freshwater dolphin conservation”.
Did You Know? How bats hunt at night Nov 26 2007
Wrinkle-lipped bats (Chaerephon plicata) are found in caves from sea level to about 200m (656ft) and require forested habitats. These bats have been listed as low risk on the IUCN Red List of threatened species in 2007.
Did you know? Coral reefs Nov 8 2007
One of the biggest threats to coral reefs is climate change. The natural oranges, purples and greens could be bleached a ghostly white if the sea temperature continues to increase.
In the past 100 years the sea temperature has increased by 1°C (33°F) and it is predicted to rise even more in the coming 50 years. This rise could result in sea temperatures that are intolerable to coral life and could result in the extinction of coral species and reef communities.
Wildlife news from around the world
India to recruit ex-army personnel to protect tigers Nov 6 2007
The Indian government will step up the protection of tigers in the country by employing retired army personnel to guard sanctuaries where they live, the BBC, AFP and others have reported.
The government announced the move after a census conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India found there were fewer than 1500 of the iconic animals left in the country – less than half of the 3642 estimated after the last major survey, conducted in 2002.
Tags: asia, bengal tiger, hunt, india, threatened, wildlife institute of indiaWildlife news from around the world
Boost for black rhino conservation in South Africa Nov 5 2007
Eleven critically endangered black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) have been relocated to a community-owned park in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, returning them to an area they haven’t roamed in decades and helping people previously dispossessed of their land to develop it for tourism.
Did you know? - American bison Oct 24 2007
The American bison is a bovine mammal, also known as the American buffalo. It is not related to the Asian or African buffalo, however.
At one time millions of bison roamed the North American continent, but over the years poaching and hunting greatly affected the bison population. There were only about 1500 bison in Yellowstone National Park in the 1950s. This has increased to about 3500 today as a result of conservation initiatives.
The skimmers have returned Oct 23 2007
After a period of absence from the sandbanks of the Nxamaseri Channel in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, the African skimmers appear to have returned.
The Earth-Touch film crew spotted these endangered birds after it was thought that they had left the Nxamaseri area for the season.
Tags: african skimmer, bird, chick, egg, skimmer, threatenedWhat happened to the skimmers? Oct 10 2007
Much to everyone’s surprise, the migratory African skimmers have already left the sandbank at Nxamaseri in the Okavango Delta, where they were nesting and attempting to raise their chicks. This abrupt departure brings to an end a spectacularly unsuccessful season for the endangered birds.
New footage from Brazil Oct 9 2007
Earth-Touch has already published footage from the expedition crew in Ecuador. The same crew also went to the Pantanal wetlands in Brazil and Earth-Touch is now publishing that material.
Wildlife news from around the world
Kelp not gone after all Oct 2 2007
Researchers have found forests of a kelp species that was thought to be endangered or extinct.
The team, led by San Jose University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, used a mathematical model to pinpoint places where the kelp, Eisenia galapagensis, was likely to be found.
Tags: galapagos island, kelp, plant, san jose university, scuba, sea, south africa, south america, threatened, university of california, santa barbaraDo or die? Sep 10 2007
By Andy Crawford, field crewNature is harsh. Sometimes exceedingly so. This is obvious to anyone who has seen the Earth-Touch video clip of the nesting skimmer colony in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, entitled Tension mounts on skimmer bank. The seemingly senseless killing of a two-day-old skimmer chick by an adult skimmer is difficult to watch, and even more difficult to comprehend. Since mentioning this incident to a few people, the question most often asked is, “Why didn’t the film crew help the chick?”
Did you know? Bird bones Sep 10 2007
To be able to fly, a bird‘s skeleton needs to be lightweight and strong. To achieve this, nature has endowed birds with several adaptations for flight. They have fewer bones than mammals. Many of their bones, such as the middle and lower vertebrae, are fused together, and some tail, finger and leg bones are missing. Some of their bones are hollow, with internal struts for reinforcement, much like the lightweight wooden struts in early aeroplanes.
African skimmer chicks hatch Sep 6 2007
In the past few days Earth-Touch has broadcast footage of this season’s first African skimmers being born in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
African skimmers are an endangered species. They are striking black and white birds, with large, orange beaks, which they use to skim the surface of the water for fish, as they fly along. Their chicks are the colour of tortoise shell, and they have yet to develop their iconic beaks.
Tags: african skimmer, beak, bird, chick, colour, fly, skimmer, threatenedWildlife news from around the world
‘Extinct’ Yangtze River dolphin reportedly sighted Sep 3 2007
A captive baiji. This animal has subsequently died. Image: Courtesy Wikipedia
A Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji as they are known in Chinese, widely regarded to be extinct, was spotted and recorded on video by a businessman in Tongling City in east China’s Anhui Province, it has been reported by ChinaDaily.com, the Daily Telegraph and ScienceDaily among many other news sources. The dolphin was positively identified by Prof Wang Ding, a Chinese expert on baiji.
Tags: asia, baiji, china, discovery, dolphin, east chinas anhui province, extinct, threatened, world wildlife fund, yangtze river, yangtze river dolphinWildlife news from around the world
Researchers attempt to save ‘living fossil’ in China Aug 29 2007
One of the world’s largest species of freshwater fish, the Chinese sturgeon, has survived since the time of the dinosaurs, but with only perhaps 1000 left in the wild, is now facing extinction.
National Geographic News reports that scientists at the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute in Jingzhou, China, are trying to avert that by breeding the massive sturgeon, which can grow to 4m (13ft) in length and weigh 450kg (1,000lb), in captivity, and then releasing them into the Yangtze River, where they have traditionally spawned.
Tags: asia, china, chinese sturgeon, dinosaur, fossil, jinhzhou, size, threatened, yangtze river fisheries research instituteWildlife news from around the world
Bald eagle numbers growing in 2 US states Aug 24 2007
Bald eagles were once on the brink of extinction, but now seem to be doing well – at least in the north-eastern states of Maine and New Hampshire in the United States.
The Boston Globe reported earlier this month that there were 14 nesting pairs in New Hampshire this year, and that in Maine, the number of fledglings had increased from 266 fledged eaglets in 2001 to 316 last year.
Wildlife news from around the world
East Timor declares first national park Aug 22 2007
The South-East Asian country of East Timor, which became independent of Indonesia in 2002, has declared its first national park, the Associated Press has reported, in a story run by The Star of Malaysia.
The Nino Konis Santana National Park is home to endangered birds such as the yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea), and the green pigeon (Treron psittaceus), and a rich diversity of coral and reef fish, among other species.
African skimmers lay their first eggs Aug 20 2007
By Andy Crawford, field crew
The African skimmers resident on the sandbank in the Nxamaseri channel in the Okavango Delta of Botswana have laid their first eggs, which means that in about three weeks we will have tiny fluffy bundles wobbling around learning how to be real birds.
Tags: african skimmer, bird, chick, fur, sandbank, skimmer, threatenedWildlife news from around the world
Study counts rare river dolphins Aug 20 2007
A group of Bolivian, Colombian, and Argentine scientists are taking part in a year-long census of freshwater dolphins in the Amazon and Orinoco river basin. The river dolphins of South America are among the most endangered mammal species on earth.
Read the Christian Science Monitor’s in-depth reporting on this study of the rare powder-pink dolphins, entitled ‘A quest to save South America’s freshwater dolphins’.
Did you know? Skimmers Aug 8 2007
An African skimmer fishes by flying close to the surface of the water, scooping up unsuspecting prey with its lower beak. Watch the first of Earth-Touch’s coverage of these endangered birds this season: African skimmers return to Nxamaseri.
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