Rhinos Listed as one of the Most Endangered Species

It's sad, but I have to say not very surprising: Asia's surprisingly few remaining Javan and Sumatran rhinos have been listed as one of the 100 Species Most at Risk of Extinction, a list issued by the London Zoological Society along with the IUCN (World conservation union). There are fewer than 50 remaining Javan rhinos, and while Sumatran rhinos live in a scattered distribution, there are an estimated 200 remaining in the wild. Also not surprisingly, this all is mostly because of poaching for Ivory. More than one Rhino subspecies has gone extinct because of this, along with other immediate threats such as habitat loss. The increasing demand for ivory, primarily from Vietnam, has caused poaching to skyrocket to record levels. Ivory is said to be a miracle cure for everything from flu to cancer, but obviously this is superstitious, just fuelling the ravenous sector of the Black Market that hungers for Ivory and ivory alone. But thankfully, actions are being taken to curb this hunger, and last year Nepal celebrated a year of no recorded poaching, mainly because of more and better law enforcement. But as long as poachers are put under the illusion that the rewards of doing this terrible crime outweigh the risk of being caught, rhinos remain at risk...

-PJ

source: WorldWildlife.org

     

Bardia National Park Tests Non-Lethal Unmanned Aerial Vehicle To Resist Poaching

In Bardia National Park in Nepal, poaching rangers are learning how to operate UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), which conservationists plan to use against illegal wildlife poaching. Hopefully, the non-lethal vehicle should catch heavily-armed poachers in the act, and scare others away. Another advantage is that this can keep the park rangers out of harm's way. Nepal is home to tiger, rhino, and  elephant species that are teetering on the edge because of poaching, and, with poaching records reaching new highs, now is the time to take strict action on this subject. I give my sincere thanks to the rangers in various national parks that help make sure this issue is getting attention and, hopefully,is halted.

-PJ

Source & photo: WorldWildlife.org

Romney Reveals Plan to Drill in Alaska Wildlife Refuge

Recently, Mitt Romney revealed his plans to "aggressively" expand offshore drilling in places like Virginia and South Carolina, but, as if things weren't bad enough, what he plans to do if he's elected president just got even worse. He proposes to start drilling smack in the middle of Alaska's National Arctic Wildlife Refuge. I was kind of neutral at first when it came to the presidential debate, but now I'm Obama all the way. The National Arctic Wildlife Refuge is home to everything from wolves to caribou to wolverines to our beloved polar bears, and I just can't stand to see them threatened by Romney's plan to "expand" our oil resources. We all know how the Gulf of Mexico turned out. Let's not let it happen again. As Romney said, "This isn't a 'pie in the sky' sort of thing. We will succeed in expanding our oil resources and making America an independent country when it comes to energy and fuel resources." In other words, he plans to guarantee this chaos will occur...

-PJ

To help the refuge, click the link below:

National Arctic Wildlife Refuge

Source: NPR (National Public Radio)

Conservation Groups cry out Against Dam in Thailand

Recently, three indochinese tigers (a mother and her cubs) were caught on a motion-sensored camera, the mother inspecting the device closely. Unfortunately, this would have been a good thing had the tigers' territory not have been where a proposed hydroelectric dam is proposed to be built soon. Indochinese tigers are a subspecies of tiger that lives in Indonesia and the surrounding areas. Studies show that fewer than 1,500 wild indochinese tigers are alive today. And now, environmental organizations are protesting against a nearly $400 million dollar project that aims to build a hydroelectric dam that could flood over 5,000 acres of valuable land in Mae Wong National Park. The dam including others proposed as part of the same plan, is also expected to reduce the region's fish supply by 16 percent, according to a study by conservation groups. We can only hope that the dam and its counterparts will be halted, because a lot more could be at risk than those three tigers.

-PJ

Source: The World Wildlife Fund/ LiveScience.com