Endangered Species – Page 2 – TINA CHIARELLI, PHD, FRGS

Essence of Pakistan’s Wildlife and Biodiversity: An Overview of the Problems and Conservation Needs

July 30th, 2013tinalc0 Comments

Authors: Sunil Nawaz, MSc Zoology, M.phil Microbiology Scholar Natasha Zarish M.Sc Zoology M.Ed Science Education Pakistan is blessed with several natural beauties including indigenous wildlife (including several rare endangered species), beautiful mountains of Himalayas, deserts of Cholistan and Thar, Manmade forests like changa manga forest as well as several natural resources from the Baluchistan trails. It also holds second tallest mountain K-2, which is a really challenging tourist attraction in terms of mountain climbing. Four seasons bloom each year to their fullest, and rain fall of 12-14 inch per year average lead to make Pakistan a very fertile agricultural …

The Internet Influence on Wildlife Conservation

April 22nd, 2013tinalc0 Comments

Dissemination of information has never been easier then at this very moment. The Internet, specifically social media sites, allows us to share concerns regarding wildlife and bring attention to important conservation issues instantly with people around the world. Case in point, you are reading this blog. Unfortunately, along with the potential good this kind of technology brings there is also the bad. With millions of daily tweets, Facebook status updates, Youtube videos, Instagram pictures, Flickr uploads, and blog posts one cannot help but ask if this actually helps or hinders wildlife conservation. There are not too many wildlife conservation …

Can CITES Regulations Help Protect Wildlife?

March 13th, 2013tinalc0 Comments

From 3-14 March, the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is holding their Conference of Parties 16 (CoP16) in Bangkok, Thailand. While some species will get the protection they so desperately need to survive in the wild, others seem to fall by the wayside. What constitutes a species being placed on the coveted Appendix I list? Is a down listing to Appendix II or III, or a delisting a death sentence for species? Do CITES regulations really help protect endangered species or simply pay lip service to the angry mob? A great deal of confusion surrounds what CITES …

Human-Wildlife Conflict Redefined

December 7th, 2012tinalc0 Comments

Five years ago, if you heard the words “human-wildlife conflict” (or HWC) the first thing that probably came to mind was the challenges agriculturalists in range countries face coexisting with native fauna. Maybe you thought about the struggle between Namibian goat herders and cheetahs or East African farmers protecting their crops from raiding elephants. In short, humans had what animals wanted. No doubt those types of incidences still exist, but the overall dynamic of human-wildlife conflicts have changed, and therefore need redefined. Perhaps the first thing we should change is our way of thinking; how we view conflict between man …

Wildlife Trafficking: Be Part of the Solution, Not the Problem

November 13th, 2012tinalc0 Comments

With the holidays right around the corner many people have started their yearly quest for one of a kind gifts. It is very easy amidst the hustle and bustle to purchase items based on beauty alone. Please be wildlife aware when buying and receiving gifts. The cost may only be a few dollars out of your pocket, but for an animal it just may have cost his life. It has been well known for quite some time that the illegal trafficking of wildlife and their parts is a multi-billion dollar a year business. Falling behind only drugs and weapons, wildlife …

Sea Otters: A Species Under Threat

September 29th, 2012tinalc0 Comments

With the new challenges wildlife faces daily, it is no longer enough just to survive. To ensure species longevity, individuals must learn to quickly adapt. Although a lot of attention is given to the conservation of the large, iconic creatures of land and sea, it is often those species that reside in the middle of the food chain that play the most vital rolls in ecosystem balance that are overlooked. One particular animal that fits into this category is the sea otter. Like all otters, the sea otter is a member of the weasel family. The three subspecies of Enhydra …

Animal Extinctions: What Can We Learn From Past Mistakes

April 30th, 2012tinalc0 Comments

Across the globe animal species are going extinct. From such contributing factors such as disease, persecution, poaching, displacement, and habitat destruction, we are losing some of our most amazing creatures at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, species extinctions are nothing new. But can we learn from past mistakes to ensure more magnificent animals do not do the way of the dodo? One of the most iconic species to have become extinct in the 20th Century was the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger. The last known thylacine was observed in captivity at the Hobart Zoo in 1936. Although the thylacine was a large …