IUCN Species of the Day: Social Wrasse

 

 

Photo credit: Dr. Luiz Rocha

 

The Social Wrasse, Halichoeres socialis, is listed as ‘CRITICALLY ENDANGERED‘ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.

IUCN Species of the Day: Seychelles Paradise-flycatcher

 

Photo credit: Jason Houston

 

The Seychelles Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone corvina, is listed as ‘CRITICALLY ENDANGERED‘ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.

IUCN Species of the Day: Cainarachi Poison Frog

 

Photo credit: Kah-Heinz Jungfer

 

The Cainarachi Poison Frog, Ameerega cainarachi, is listed as ‘VULNERABLE’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species^TM. This small poison frog is found only in the Cainarachi Valley in the northern part of San Martin Department, Peru, where it is most common in the Huallaga Canyon, between elevations of 250 and 750 metres.

Not Another Dodo: The Success of Saving the World’s Most Endangered Parrot

In the late 1980s, the Mauritian Parakeet (Psittacula eques), also called the Echo Parakeet, was considered the most endangered parrot on earth.  By that time, researchers, who had become really good at finding them, could only account for four or five pairs in the wild. These emerald green parakeets are only found on the island of Mauritius in the Western Indian Ocean, and 30 years ago you would have been extremely lucky to see one or two pairs fly over the Black River Gorge. It was clear then that this species was teetering on the brink of extinction, along with several other Mauritian endemics.

Photo credit: Gregory Guida

Many mainstream conservation funds and authorities didn’t want to invest in what they saw as a certain failure, effectively writing off the Echo Parakeet as a nonviable species, even though they were still holding on. Then stepped in the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and World Parrot Trust. To ensure there would be no more species lost from this island, made famous by the extinction of the Dodo in 1690, a team of dedicated people banded together with the National Parks and Conservation Service. It was a unified effort that included people like Carl Jones, Vikash Tatayah, Mike Reynolds, Heather Richards, and many other researchers, collaborators, volunteers, and conservationists.

 Illustration via anyonefortree.dotc.om

The last remaining Mauritian parakeets were challenged a chronic lack of suitable nesting trees, unprecedented nest predation by a booming population of introduced black rats, ceaseless human disturbances, feral pigs and deer, and staunch competition with the more plentiful and aggressive Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) introduced by the island’s immigrants. By the late 1970s, the two to four Echo Parakeet pairs remaining in the wild were gravely threatened by heightened vulnerability to disease outbreaks and tropical cyclones, which made every year a nerve-wracking experience for those concerned with the future of this species.

 Echo Parakeet nesting box (photo credit: Dennis Hansen)

After successful captive breeding efforts, the MWF and its partners made a bold decision in the 1990s to launch intensive population management measures. Captive-bred Echo Parakeets were released and provided with artificial nest boxes and supplementary feeding stations.  Captive-bred chicks were also introduced to nest boxes, and so began the process of rebuilding a viable population. By 2010, they had achieved a population of 500 Echo Parakeets (a total of 550 Echo Parakeets expected in February 2011)!  A huge conservation milestone and a wonderful story!

Captive-bred chicks (photo credit: Heather Richards) 

Vikash Tatayah from the MWF says that, since 1984, the Mauritius Kestrel, Pink Pigeon, Rodrigues Warbler, Rodrigues Fody and Echo Parakeet have been saved from extinction. This means that Mauritius has saved more species than any other country in the world.  Even more than New Zealand and the United States (including Hawaii), which have each saved four species from the point of no return. The MWF and its partners have also prevented the loss of numerous plant species and have worked hard to restore native forest habitats, establishing Mauritius as a leader in endangered species conservation. Yet, Vikash points out: “There is still a lot more to do!”.

Mauritius Kestrels (photo via World Parrot Trust)

Today, the Echo Parakeet is restricted to a remnant of native forest that comprises less than 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of the Black River Gorge National Park. Like most endangered parrots, they saw their limited forest habitat degraded and broken down until they were forced to seek new food resources and nesting sites in habitat that simply couldn’t support them.  Now, only 1% of their natural habitat remains.

Photo via World Parrot Trust

We must continue to support the species until the forest habitat they depend on has been rehabilitated. Threats posed by nest predation, competition with honeybees, and further habitat destruction have been controlled.  However, we now face the ominous arrival of Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), which has already begun to reduce body weights in healthy Echo Parakeets and has seen featherless birds unable to survive in the wild. Many have died from the disease and the international community in parrot research and conservation is working feverishly to combat this debilitating “Doomsday Virus” for endangered parrots around the world.

 

Echo Parakeet infected with PBFD (photo credit: Elaine Fraiser)

 

The World Parrot Trust will continue supporting what is widely recognized as the most successful parrot conservation program ever undertaken.  To read more about these magnificent birds, please click here.

Photo via World Parrot Trust

 

 

Photo of the Day

 

“What the Sifaka is THAT?!”

Photo credit: Andy Kammer

 

Sifakas are a one of the many varieties of lemur that are found on the island of Madagascar.  The word “lemur” comes from the Latin word lemurs, referring to ghosts and spirits.  Their staring eyes, haunting calls, and nocturnal nature led early observers to think these primates were ghosts or forest spirits.   Unlike most lemurs, Sifakas remain upright and leap from tree to tree, using their powerful hind legs to clear distances of over 30 feet (nine meters).  Sifakas can also cover open ground remarkably fast by sashaying, or leaping, on their hind limbs.  This movement is often referred to as “dancing.”

There are several species and subspecies of sifaka.  Of the most endangered are the Silky Sifaka and the Perrier’s Sifaka, which are both deemed ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.  Sadly, both species have fewer than 250 individuals.  Five other sifaka species (Coquerel’s, Crowned, Diademed, Milne-Edward’s, and the Golden-Crowned)are listed as ‘endangered’.  Madagascar is undergoing extensive deforestation and habitat loss, which, along with poaching, are the primary threats to the nation’s lemurs.

 

Enjoy this video of some Sifakas “dancing” across their habitat:

 

Please click here to see ALL of our Photo of the Day winners and for more information on the Bush Warriors Photo of the Day Contest, including how to enter.  Enjoy the beauty of nature, just as it was intended to be!

Tattoo of the Day

 

Tattoo by Jason Goldberg.

 

The Red Panda is a small, arboreal, omnivorous mammal that is listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.  It is found in China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and India.  Sadly, red panda populations are undergoing a significant decline and it’s estimated there are now fewer than 10,000 mature individuals remaining in the wild.

To save the red panda, we must first protect its habitat, as habitat loss is the number one threat to their existence. Logging and other types of deforestation have reduced a great deal of the forests this animal relies on.  These activities have also upset the delicate balance that exists between the forest’s dense root systems and the soil.  In Nepal, the lack of the dense root systems has caused the rich soil to cascade down mountainsides during monsoons, burying communities, destroying habitat, and leaving human and animal death in its wake.

In Bhutan, this critter is hunted for its fur, which is used to make hats.  In China, Red Panda pelts can be found in many local markets and poaching pressures have furthered population decines, and has even led to extinction in some areas.  Red Pandas are protected in all of the countries where they are found, with the exception of Myanmar.  In China, the species fortunately receives increased protection where it occurs within Giant Panda reserves.

 

Remember: Tattoos are forever… and so is extinction.  To see all of the FANTASTIC art featured on Bush Warriors Tattoo of the Day, and to learn more about this initiative, please click here.  You can also share photos of your own wildlife tattoos and enjoy others’ at our Facebook group, Bush Warriors Inked Nation for Conservation.