Category:Wildlife
We share this planet with thousands of other animal species, which you can learn more about on this page.
See also Biodiversity, ReWilding, and Marine Mammals pages, and of course Global Warming and Deforestation. Antidote to trendlines: New Page: Awwwwwwwww (pictures of baby animals) as well as Take Action (online petitions).
New PBS series: M. Sanjayan (biology Ph.D., '97), executive vice president and senior scientist for Conservation International and host of EARTH A New Wild, will give the Alumni Weekend keynote in a talk entitled, "A New Wild: Saving Nature in a Human-Dominated World."
Contents
Overviews/Background
U.N. Report: 1 Million Species at Risk of Extinction especially mammals and insects 5/19 see Bio-diversity.
Humanity 'Sleepwalking Towards the Edge of a Cliff': 60% of Earth's Wildlife Wiped Out Since 1970 11/18.
New Chinese Law a ‘Death Warrant’ for Endangered Rhinos and Tigers: China alarmed animal rights activists around the world Monday when it weakened a 25-year-old ban on the trading of tiger bone and rhinoceros horn.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, (video interview), [audio interview). extended video talk 3/14.
1.5 Billion Birds Lost in North America Since 1970s 9/16.
Smuggled Rhino Horns Seized In Largest European Bust Ever, Worrying Conservationists but Can Drones Stop Poaching and Save Rhinos and Elephants? see below
The Atlas of Global Conservation is being published by UC Press and The Nature Conservancy on this day. Presented here at Google by The Nature Conservancy's Lead Scientist, Dr. M. Sanjayan (a Slug!).
10 Species we'll probably lose and 10 success stories (condor is on both lists, see below).
How Long Do Animals Live? (interesting graphic)
Powerful video: She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite...Hurting...Worth dying for (too many activists killed by poachers and loggers.
16 wildlife hotspots in the U.S. that need protecting (East coast).
UCSC pioneered the idea of rewilding, including bringing back extinct species. This has been taken up by LongNow, and was basis of TEDx conference.
News Articles
News Sources
Yale's Environment 360 has many great articles on bio-diversity, for example How humans are affected in unexpected ways by species loss.
Animal Lifeboats, zoos and biodiversity.
Stories:
California Will Build the Largest Wildlife Crossing in the World 12/19. see California.
Beat the poachers: Scientists plan to flood black market with fake rhino horn, "Fantastic day for elephants': court rejects ivory ban challenge 11/19 (see below in Species). podcast on how to save wildlife. 11/19.
Wolves ‘Established’ in Netherlands for First Time in 140 Years 4/19 see specific species below.
Five Hawks Down: watch the tragic migration of six Californian raptors 3/19 see Birds below.
Border Wall Threatens 93 Endangered Species 2/19.
Ospreys’ Recovery From Pollution and Shooting Is a Global Conservation Success Story 2/19.
Victory: A state court judge today upheld protection for gray wolves under the California Endangered Species Act 1/19. see specific species below
Marine Mammals and Turtles Protected by the Endangered Species Act Are Bouncing Back 1/19.
Wild animals key to mediating landscape’s capacity to store carbon, researchers say: UCSC's Chris Wilmers coauthors new report saying carbon-cycle models must consider animals 12/18.
Iconic Yellowstone Wolf Shot Dead in Legal But 'Senseless Killing' 2/18 see Specific Species below.
Our New Favorite Judge May Have Saved Red Wolves From Extinction 11/18
Proposed Rule Change Would Be 'Death Sentence' for Nearly 300 Species, Activists Warn 3/18.
Polar bears finding it harder to catch enough seals to meet energy demands: UCSC Study reveals high metabolic rates, meaning polar bears need a lot of fat-rich prey, but more than half of those studied were running an energy deficit 2/18.
Earth Has Entered Its Sixth Mass Extinction Event, Report Asserts: We’re witnessing a “frightening assault on the foundations of human civilization,” the authors say. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, biologists from Stanford University and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México investigated the health of Earth’s vertebrate population and described their findings as “biological annihilation.” 7/16.
Top 25 Most Endangered Primates: the Most Current List. 11/17.
Want to save 41 percent of the planet’s highly threatened vertebrates? Work on islands New UCSC study maps the world’s most vulnerable island species and identifies invasive species as a key threat to their survival 10/17.
For Critically Endangered California Condors, Oregon's Hunters May Pose the Gravest Threat 9/17
Meet the World's Most Poached and Trafficked Mammal The gentle pangolin is being pushed to extinction due to demand for its meat and scales. 7/16
How Factory Farms Are Pushing the Jaguar to Extinction 4/17 see big cats in species below.
Disastrous Decision for Rhinos: South Africa's Top Court Lifts Ban on Rhino Horn Sales 4/17. see rhino below
Trump rolls back lead shot rules, endangers condors?
Poachers Kill 4-Year-Old Rhino After Breaking Into Zoo 3/17.
Fate of World's Last 45 Red Wolves in the Wild in Hands of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 9/16. see below.
Paul Allen's 'Great Elephant Census' Shows Catastrophic Decline in Africa 8/16.
Huge News for Elephants: U.S. Bans Ivory Trade 6/16.
97% of Endangered Species Threatened by 3 Common Pesticides 4/16.
WWF and Leonardo DiCaprio: Wild Tiger Populations Increase for First Time in 100 Years
THE INSPIRING HEROES BATTLING THE HIDDEN POACHING EPIDEMIC 4/16.
5 Species Bouncing Back From the Brink of Extinction 3/16.
Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit on behalf of Lucky the Elephant against the San Antonio Zoo would move forward 1/16. See below
The Surprising Good News for Wildlife in 2016 scan includes Rockstrom. 12/15
Oppose Welfare Ranching, Not Wolves The yahoo jihad at the wildlife refuge in Oregon is part and parcel of the larger problem across the public lands of the West including here in Colorado. Ranchers aren’t just occupying that federal building in Oregon, they’ve been occupying our public lands across the West for over a century and that occupation has been armed, violent and completely subsidized by state and federal taxpayers 1/16.
Oregon Wolves Lose Endangered Species Protections 11/15 see specific species below.
Huge Victory: U.S. Government Slams Door on Invasive Experiments on Chimps 11/15
The Panoche Valley is one of the last refuges for some of our most imperiled wildlife in California,a place to weather the coming threats due to climate change. Right now the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering whether to allow a solar project to destroy this crucial habit (endangered species -- the giant kangaroo rat, San Joaquin kit fox and blunt-nosed leopard lizard).11/15 take action. Sierra Club.
World’s Largest Wildlife Corridor to Be Built in California 9/15.
Alaska Decides It's Fine to Kill Endangered Wolves 9/15, see Specific Species section below.
THE MOST OBSCURE SPECIES COULD BE KEY TO SAVING THE PLANET: according to the Jenga hypothesis, first proposed in the journal Science in 2005, the keystone analogy is too static.
Audubon Society: North American Birds Are Threatened by Climate Change 9/15.
Activists Score Victory in Effort to Stop the Government Killing of Millions of Animals 8/15.
Cowspiracy: As California Faces Drought, Film Links Meat Industry to Water Scarcity & Climate Change 5/15, 55% of water in CA goes to meat and dairy, major cause of deforestation.
75 Percent of Animal Species to be Wiped Out in ‘Sixth Mass Extinction’ says Stanford, UCB and Princeton study 6/15.
The Unseen Extinction Wiping Out the World's Wildlife 6/15.
5 Easy Actions You Can Take to Help Animals on Endangered Species Day 5/15.
Climate Change Could Wipe Out 16 Percent of World's Species see Global Warming
Bison-tennial: Alaska wildlife officials are preparing to release North America's largest land mammal into its native U.S. habitat for the first time in more than a century. But...
These Gory New Hunting Competitions Have Taken the Country by Storm. Contestants can earn tens of thousands of dollars for killing coyotes, bobcats, and foxes. (disturbing images). 3/15.
Conservation Biologists Using DNA Methods To Track Elusive Or Unwanted Species
FIRST GRAY WOLF SPOTTED AT GRAND CANYON IN 70 YEARS SHOT DEAD BY HUNTER 2/15 see wolves section below.
Wolf OR7 has three pups in Oregon which will be safe from hunters if they wander in CA; also one in Grand Canyon. 12/14.
Earth lost 50% of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF 10/14.
Greenhouse Gas Levels In Atmosphere Surged To New High In 2013, World Meteorological Organization Reports, so More Than Half Of North American Birds In Trouble Thanks To Climate Change.
2 Million Animals Killed by Federal Wildlife Program in 2013 (graphic photo).
Slothageddon 4/14.
Buffalo slaughter : In harsh winters like this one, Yellowstone's bison -- the last genetically pure wild bison in the country -- naturally migrate outside the park in a desperate search for food, where the National Park Service rounds them up and ships them off to slaughter. More than 250 wild bison, symbols of the American West, have already been needlessly killed this year.3/14.
40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (links).
Hunter shoots the first endangered wolf seen in Kentucky in 150 years 10/13.
Przewalski's Horse Foal Born By Artificial Insemination 8/13.
Update on species 7/13.
The awesome-looking Iberian lynx might not go extinct after all 7/13.
Obama's Executive Order To Combat Wildlife Trafficking Lauded By Conservation Groups 7/13
John Davis and Trek West. At this very moment, Davis is walking, biking, paddling, and horseback riding 6,000 miles through a chain of mountain ranges that stretches like a spine across North America from the Sierra Madres of Mexico through the Rockies of the American West up into Canada. He started this winter in the Sonoran desert and will cross many of our most treasured national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, the ones that tourists love, but his trek is no sightseeing adventure. He is advocating for what they call “landscape connectivity” on a continental scale. Two years ago, Davis trekked from Key West to Quebec, 8,000 human-powered miles. Same theme: conserve and connect. 6/13.
Rhinos In Mozambique Likely Extinct, Expert Says; Elephants May Be Next 5/13
Central African Republic Elephants Killed By Poachers In Dzanga-Ndoki National Park (GRAPHIC PHOTOS) 5/13. Elephant stomps on a poacher who tried to shoot him.
Who Would Kill A Monk Seal? 5.13.
Vineyards Could Shrink 73 Percent by 2050. That means the wine industry is going to start using more water. Some wineries may move to new areas, such as Montana and British Columbia."Those are areas that can be important for grizzlies and moose and wolves and a whole range of wildlife," Hannah said. Central China, home to the giant panda, also could become suitable for vineyards, according to the study. Setting up wildlife corridors now is one way to protect wildlife as wineries put down new roots, said co-author Rebecca Shaw of the Environmental Defense Fund. 4/13.
Lawmakers Push To Take Gray Wolf Off Endangered Species List 3/13
DNA makes possible resurrecting extinct species See also Lazarus Project brooding frog NPR audio 3/13. Stewart Brand muses.
5 big breakthroughs at CITES 2013, sharks, apes, rhinos, elephants, tutrles 3/13
Tiger Bone Wine Trade Reveals China's Two-Faced Approach To Conservancy (NSFW) 3/13.
Wolverines Threatened By Climate Change, Officials Propose Endangered Species Act Protection turns out (turns out the honey badger WILL give a bleep). More on Wolverines.
Please do feed the polar bears (or they’ll die)
Biotechnology to save species.
2011 Elephant Poaching Surged To Record Levels, WWF Report Finds (PHOTOS).
Animals Lost in Wolf Hunts Near Yellowstone including, sadly, the beloved 832F.
Lone Wolf returns to California looking for love. 4/12. Coyotes in NYC. More. 12/12 Update.
Predators moving into cities 12/12
Efforts To Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade Will Be Stepped Up, Says Hillary Clinton 11/12
Animal Lifeboats, zoos and biodiversity.
Montana Wolverine Protection Sought By Conservationists 10/12.
A Barrier for South Texas Wildlife 10/12.
New species of monkey found 9/12.
Dogs used to find(audio and text).
Wildlife Crime: Vietnam Ranked Worst Country In New WWF Report On Animal Protection. 7.12
California Condors Still On Brink Of Extinction Due To Lead Poisoning 'Epidemic' 6.12 (Cites Slug Finkelstein).
Poachers attack reserve in DRC.
Stewart Brand, author of Whole Earth Discipline and founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, is working on a new project to bring back extinct animals. From the passenger pigeon to the wooly mammoth, Brand explains why and how the project, "Revive and Restore," plans to bring back some extinct species.audio and text interview. 6.12. Rewilding is a UCSC idea (see Soule).
Good news for Endangered Species Day but WWF shows we've lost 30% since 1970. 5/12
Should We Move Creatures Threatened by Climate Change? 1/12
Chimps use for research outdated 12/11. a win for orangutans
Fierce Advocate for Grizzlies Sees Warning Signs for the Bear (text and audio interview) 1/11
Lady Ditch Tiger Restoration Plan.
"Facing Extinction: Nine Steps to Save Biodiversity"
Shafqat Hussain, Pakistani economist and conservationist, started Project Snow Leopard, providing innovative solutions for the preservation of the elusive snow leopard.
Santa Cruz Island Fox recovery inspired novelist TC Boyle to write about it, When The Killing's Done.
Grey Wolves delisted from Endangered Species List by politicians, not scientists, being hunted.
Northern Spotted Owl Protection Plan May Harm Rival Birds 3/12
Yangtze River Dolphin Declared Extinct as of 2006
Websites/Organizations
UK Guardian newspaper has extensive coverage 11/19.
World Wildlife Fund helps stop trade in animal parts and tracks threats from climate change, and deforestation among others.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Bay Area organizations related to endangered species. Local and state resources
A seminal study last fall in Nature put climate in perspective of 10 biophysical systems crucial to human health -- and it found biodiversity loss more troubling than any other Link
Slideshow of endangered animals for World Animal Day.
Species Watch from NRDC.
Interactive/Maps
Center for Biological Diversity maps: example MAP: U.S. THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES BY COUNTY 11/19.
Three global conditions – and a map – for saving nature and using it wisely 10/19.
Atlas for the End of the World (article); link 4/17.
Interactive Map Shows Which States Kill the Most Black Bears, Mountain Lions, Wolves and Bobcats 8/16.
Hotspots from WWF.
Map Shows How Your Consumption Habits Impact Wildlife Thousands of Miles Away 1/17.
Take an interactive tour of the world’s (cutest) vanishing species 6/15.
Science for Citizens is searchable. Environmental projects.
Encyclopedia of Life is an online, collaborative project where you can learn about any species on Earth, as well as contribute information and submit photos. This global initiative seeks to create an "infinitely expandable" resource for all of our planet’s 1.9 million known species.
Wildlife Watch allows you to input data and see results of others
Books
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, (video interview), [audio interview). extended video talk 3/14.
Peter Alagona, professor of environmental history at UC Santa Barbara and author of "After the Grizzly: Endangered Species and the Politics of Place in California." excerpt.
The Snow Leopard Project and Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation by Alex Dehgan — A stunning true story about efforts to protect these endangered cats and other rare species while also helping to defend the human culture around them — and strengthening the bond between people and nature in the process. 1/19
Mary Ellen Hannibal, Bay Area writer and editor focusing on science and culture and author of "The Spine of the Continent: The Most Ambitious Wildlife Conservation Project Ever Undertaken" audio interview. Spine project website, inspired by UCSC's Soule, see Slugs in Action.
From Island Press, John Terborgh and James Estes (Go Slugs!) explore importance of predators in Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature. They explain how top predators play an essential role in maintaining ecosystem well-being, and how this natural regulatory system is often drastically disrupted by human interventions-when wolves and cougars are removed, for example, populations of deer and beaver become destructive. Author and conservation biologist Cristina Eisenberg offers her perspective in The Wolf's Tooth, sharing accounts from her fieldwork to bring to life the relationships among keystone predators, trophic cascades, and biodiversity. Energy Development and Wildlife Conservation in Western North America, edited by David E. Naugle.
Thinking Like a Mountain excerpts a clear and inviting introduction to the science of conservation biology from Ed Grumbine and Michael Soule's (Go Slugs!) previous book, Ghost Bears.
Joe Roman, author of the new book, “Listed: Dispatches from America’s Endangered Species Act.” is interviewed here
Douglas Adams. Best known for the amazing Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, he also wrote Last Chance to See about endangered animals. Intro Ch. 1 password required. Author reading about Komodo dragon encounter. Warning, some animals were harmed in the production of this book ;) NEW! at UC talk based on Last Chance experiences. The BBC has done a new series in which Stephen Frye retraces the original journey. Here are some of the original radio dispatches.
Intelligent Tinkering: Bridging the Gap between Science and Practice (The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration Series) by Robert Jonathan Cabin
Never Cry Wolf : Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves Farley Mowat
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen 12/08 Interview PBS. Short essay on Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR). On Bengal Tigers
Diane Ackerman The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds
Video
Why Just One? Help Save the World’s Last Dinosaur. 6/16
Wolves Have Some of the Worst PR in the Animal World — This Short Film Sets the Record Straight 3/16.
RACING EXTINCTION: Academy Award-winning The Cove director Louie Psihoyos bears witness to another global problem—mankind's role in precipitating mass extinction See Bio-diversity.
EARTH A New Wild (home); new PBS series 2/15. New PBS series: M. Sanjayan (biology Ph.D., '97), executive vice president and senior scientist for Conservation International and host of EARTH A New Wild, will give the Alumni Weekend keynote in a talk entitled, "A New Wild: Saving Nature in a Human-Dominated World."
Cowspiracy: As California Faces Drought, Film Links Meat Industry to Water Scarcity & Climate Change 5/15, 55% of water in CA goes to meat and dairy, major cause of deforestation.
Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah is one of the largest independent film festivals in the world, attracting some 50,000 attendees, created by eco-hero Robert Redford]; One of the standouts premiering at the festival is Racing Extinction. There have been five mass extinctions in the history of our planet and we may be in the midst of a sixth. We could lose up to half the world’s species and humans are to blame. 3/15.
Nature on PBS has great programs and resources. Search by animal.
Wild Predator Invasion: Can we return apex predators to their natural environments without endangering humans? PBS Nova (see also related).
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History(book) by Elizabeth Kolbert, (video interview), [audio interview). extended video talk 3/14.
In his native South Africa, Boyd Varty builds wildlife corridors to restore the environment and literacy centers to restore the human spirit. (TEDtalk)
LongNow talk on rewilding by Stewart Brand.
CBS 60 Minutes frequently covers green issues, including jaguar, also elephants, a great African migration threatened by deforestation, Tasmanian Tiger and sharks.
60 Minutes Presents: Into The Wild 13 min - Sep 19, 2010 Scott Pelley visits Kenya, the site of the great wildebeest migration, and looks at the threats to this natural spectacle. Secret language of elephants.
Night vision video from Stanford (e.g. mountain lion). UCSC cougar footage from Puma project.
Photographer Paul Nicklen found an extraordinary new friend diving under the Antarctic ice to get close to the much-feared leopard seal. Share his hilarious, passionate stories of the polar wonderlands, illustrated by glorious images of the animals who live on and under the ice. TEDtalk.
UCSC pioneered the idea of rewilding, including bringing back extinct species. This has been taken up by LongNow, and was basis of TEDx conference.
Researcher Elizabeth Murchison tells us how she's fighting to save the Tasmanian Devil, and what she's learning about all cancers from this unusual strain. (Contains disturbing images of facial cancer). TEDtalk
Bats in the Bay Area. Bats are in trouble in North America because of a disease. TEDtalk video 11/12.
Raoul du Toit coordinated conservation initiatives that have helped to develop and maintain the largest remaining black rhino populations in Zimbabwe. Learn more at Goldman Prize.
Dmitry Lisitsyn fought to protect Sakhalin Island's critical endangered ecosystems while also demanding safety measures from one of the world's largest petroleum development projects. Learn more at Link.
Beverly + Dereck Joubert live in the bush, filming and photographing lions and leopards in their natural habitat. With stunning footage (some never before seen), they discuss their personal relationships with these majestic animals -- and their quest to save the big cats from human threats. Note some disturbing images.(TEDtalk). Last Lions documentary trailer
Pacific Flyway (California bird migration).
Milking the Rhino examines the deepening conflict between humans and animals in an ever-shrinking world. It is the first major documentary to explore wildlife conservation from the perspective of people who live with wild animals. John Kasaona Conservationist TEDtalk. video of rhino airlift to save. Some populations extinct because traditional medicine thinks the horn cures cancer.
How Poachers became Caretakers TEDtalk video.
Wildlife trade for traditional medicine Hotspots (PBS Conservation Documentary). Three years in the making, this 2-part program follows Conservation International's president and author Dr. Russell A. Mittermeier on his journey to assess key biological hotspots around the world areas at greatest risk of extinction. It takes viewers to multiple locations throughout New Zealand, the United States, Peru, Brazil, Madagascar and Chile's remote Easter Island to capture the precious array of life at stake. The documentary takes a sobering yet hopeful look at conservation biology: the trench warfare, the subtle policy decisions, the slippery slopes, the unknown dimensions and the real creatures whose lives hang in the balance.Website.
Kartick Satyanran works tirelessly to save India’s wild animals from illegal captivity and poaching -- most notably rescuing hundreds of “dancing” bears. TEDtalk
Grizzly Man (2005) Werner Herzog’s documentary on Timothy Treadwell, a man who spent 13 summers with grizzlies in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. He felt a close affinity to the bears, and would approach and even touch them. Treadwell used film he took of the bears to raise awareness of their situation. Herzog uses Treadwell footage from the last 5 years of his life and interviews with people who knew him well to create a snapshot of a man most people can’t understand. Herzog portrays Treadwell as a disturbed individual who may have had a death wish towards the end. As you likely know, Treadwell ends up being killed and eaten by a grizzly, along with his girlfriend. Herzog’s film is moving and beautiful, and deals well with a subject most filmmakers couldn’t begin to touch.
Never Cry Wolf, based on book of same name by Farley Mowat online video segment. Wolves in Yellowstone. Also The Wolf That Changed America
Wolves at our Door. A pack of wolves are raised by the filmmakers. They explore the behaviors and social lives of the wolves. (1997, 50 min.)
Bears PBS Nature doc
Planet Earth McHenry Library DVD5143
A stunning 11-part series that captures rare action, impossible locations, and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest, and most elusive creatures. 550 min.
Winged Migration. Codirected by Jacques Cluzaud and Michel Debats (Paris: Galatée Films, 2001.) DVD1702
KQED Channel 9 (also available on its digital channels).
Radio interview with makers
Schedule. Hummingbirds and Raptor cam (Peregrine falcons, saved by UCSC research)
The Last Survivors website raises awareness of the last surviving Caribbean endemic land mammals and focuses conservation attention on these valuable but highly threatened species. Before humans arrived, around 120 species of land mammal (excluding bats) occurred in the Caribbean region, but many have now gone extinct, some very recently, with possibly only 15 surviving today. For two of the “Last Survivors”, the Hispaniolan solenodon and Hispaniolan hutia, a Darwin-Initiative funded project was launched in the Dominican Republic in October 2009 see also and more footage.
Audio
RadioLab does brilliant work on a wide variety of topics, including green issues such as bats and rabies, endangered species *** and conservation. RadioLab on bird conservation. Altruism vs reductionist Darwinism.
podcast on how to save wildlife. 11/19.
To the Best of Our Knowledge NPR **** January 25, 2015 Our planet is facing a mass extinction crisis. By the end of the century, we could lose up to half of all living species. But people are working hard to save endangered species and habitats, and a few scientists are even trying to bring lost species - like passenger pigeons and woolly mammoths - back to life (Shapiro UCSC).
Jesse Ausubel Nature is Rebounding: Land- and Ocean-sparing through Concentrating Human Activities, talk at LongNow 1/13, 02015.
Panel discussion of 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (links) 12/13.
The world’s largest online nature sounds archive features 8,000 hours of animal noises
Wildlife in NYC Science Friday 4/12 including coyotes.
Joe Roman, author of the new book, “Listed: Dispatches from America’s Endangered Species Act.” is interviewed here. Co-author of "Facing Extinction: Nine Steps to Save Biodiversity".
Stewart Brand, author of Whole Earth Discipline and founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, is working on a new project to bring back extinct animals. From the passenger pigeon to the wooly mammoth, Brand explains why and how the project, "Revive and Restore," plans to bring back some extinct species.audio and text interview. 6.12.
Animal Language from RadioLab
Blood-sucking bats lends a startling twist to our understanding of altruism and natural selection. Also from RadioLab
Author Sy Montgomery's latest adventure took her to Mongolia to join a scientific expedition tracking snow leopards. link LOE.org
Richard Ellis, artist and author of "On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear" 12/09
Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa (excerpt) Mark Seal has written a book about wildlife activist and filmmaker Joan Root. Joan Root was murdered in her home in Nairobi Kenya. audio interview with author
Tracking jaguars 6/09 images
Brent Stirton, Chronicling the Virunga Gorilla Murders
Images
8 Incredible Images Win Top Prize for 'Illustrating the Rich Diversity of Life on Earth'
Photo Ark: One Man’s Journey to Save the World’s Most Endangered Species 3/16.
Pictures of every species that's gone extinct in last 100 years (annoying opt-out?) 3/15.
Moose Peterson's book Captured: Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer is more than just a photography book-it's a chronicle of more than 30 years'worth of unbelievable moments that only nature can reveal. (Google talk) video.
UCSC has produced at least three world class nature photographers: Gordon Wiltsie (NPR audio interview), [http://www.lanting.com/worldview.html Frans Lanting (a TEDtalk video), and Kennan Ward.
This Is What Wildlife Crime Looks Like (GRAPHIC PHOTOS).
This koala had the worst day ever.
Jim Balog won the Rowell Award. Here he documents global warming. Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change.Link. New documentary Chasing Ice.
9 threatened animals of the Southeast.
Still images from automatic camera. Steve Winter, Co-author of the new National Geographic book Tigers Forever.
Florida's endangered speciesThe most eye-catching creature among the 60 listed is the alligator snapping turtle, a ferocious looking reptile that can get as big as 165 pounds and has a menacing hooked beak. It lives in the rivers of the state's panhandle, FWC officials reports. The snapping turtle is considered a "species of concern" as its numbers have dwindled due to fishing injury, dredging, and pollution.
Specific Species
Primates/Apes
Orangutans: Palm Oil Scorecard: Find Out Which Brands Are (and aren’t) Helping Save Indonesia’s Rainforests 3/16.
Huge Victory: U.S. Government Slams Door on Invasive Experiments on Chimps 11/15.
Virunga is a 2014 British documentary film directed by Orlando von Einsiedel; it focuses on the conservation work of rangers within Virunga National Park, and the activity of a British company, Soco International, which began exploring for oil within the UNESCO World Heritage site in April 2014. The film has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Arguing in Court Whether 2 Chimps Have the Right to ‘Bodily Liberty’ 10/15.
A Plan to Save the Great Apes of Central Africa 4/15.
Jane Goodall legendary primatologist and environmental educator (TEDtalk video). She is the subject of a new feature film Jane's Journey. Chimps in trouble 3/12.Google Street View Takes You To Gombe National Park, Home Of Jane Goodall's Chimpanzees. Her work contined by Dian Fossey was a pioneering gorilla researcher video. Her life was depicted in the movie Gorillas in the Mist. 20 year BBC retrospective. See eco-heroes.
This Is What Wildlife Crime Looks Like (GRAPHIC PHOTOS). 3/15.
Why is the Orangutan in Danger? (Orangutan Foundation International) 2/14.The rainforests that endangered orangutans call home are quickly disappearing, and McDonald's may be to blame. One of the leading drivers of tropical deforestation is palm oil. At the current rate of deforestation, the Sumatran rainforest will disappear within twenty years, taking the 7,000 remaining Sumatran orangutans with it. Take action at SierraRise1/15.
Millions of acres of rainforest habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia are destroyed to plant giant industrial palm oil plantations in response to increasing market demands. RAN calls these destructive palm oil products "conflict palm oil." Only an estimated 60,600 orangutans exist on earth today, and they are on a rapid path to extinction due to palm oil plantations' obliteration of their rainforest habitat. 9/13. see Forests.
New species of monkey found 9/12.
Orangutans Threatened By Forest Fires And Land Clearing.
The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda is an insider's account of life in the remote African bush as a Peace Corps volunteer by Thor Hansen. video review.
Bears
Yosemite bears and human food UCSC research 3/14.
20 Years in the Making, Great Bear Agreement Protects World’s Largest Temperate Rainforest. The landmark deal between 27 First Nations, environmentalists, forest industry and government preserves 85 percent of old-growth in one of the world’s great forests. 4/17
Shocking Polar Bear Photos Show Stark Reality of Climate Change 9/15.
This Is What Life Is Like For Polar Bears In An Era Of Climate Change (video).
Please do feed the polar bears (or they’ll die) 2/13. LOE audio. related: Ringed, Bearded Seals Listed Under Endangered Species Act Due Partially To Climate Change Concerns 1/13
Bear cubs come for bbq (pictures).
This guy is babysitting 27 orphaned bear cubs, and he could use your help 1/13
Fierce Advocate for Grizzlies Sees Warning Signs for the Bear (text and audio interview) 1/11.
Killer bears, and the humans who track them down 4/12.
Kartick Satyanran works tirelessly to save India’s wild animals from illegal captivity and poaching -- most notably rescuing hundreds of “dancing” bears. TEDtalk.
Beth Shapiro and Ed Green of UCSC’s Paleogenomics Lab at UCSC used ancient DNA extracted from fossils to study evolution. This year they sequenced the genome of a horse that lived 700,000 years ago, and found intriguing evidence that polar and brown bears mated at the end of the last ice age, eventually transforming a local polar bear population into a group of brown bears.
Grizzly Man (2005) Werner Herzog’s documentary on Timothy Treadwell, a man who spent 13 summers with grizzlies in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. He felt a close affinity to the bears, and would approach and even touch them. Treadwell used film he took of the bears to raise awareness of their situation. Herzog uses Treadwell footage from the last 5 years of his life and interviews with people who knew him well to create a snapshot of a man most people can’t understand. Herzog portrays Treadwell as a disturbed individual who may have had a death wish towards the end. As you likely know, Treadwell ends up being killed and eaten by a grizzly, along with his girlfriend. Herzog’s film is moving and beautiful, and deals well with a subject most filmmakers couldn’t begin to touch.
Bears PBS Nature doc.
Richard Ellis, artist and author of "On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear" 12/09.
Images: Cutest grizzly bear attack ever. More bears.
Big Cats
Mountain Lions, Ghostwalker book author audio interview. 1/19
The Snow Leopard Project and Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation by Alex Dehgan — A stunning true story about efforts to protect these endangered cats and other rare species while also helping to defend the human culture around them — and strengthening the bond between people and nature in the process. 1/19.
New Chinese Law a ‘Death Warrant’ for Endangered Rhinos and Tigers: China alarmed animal rights activists around the world Monday when it weakened a 25-year-old ban on the trading of tiger bone and rhinoceros horn.11/18.
UCSC students get first-hand scientific experience while monitoring the elusive big cats as part of the Puma Project.(video). In the first published results of more than three years of tracking mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains, UC Santa Cruz researchers document how human fragmentation of habitat affects the predators' habits. UCSC helps capture and safely release puma near downtown. New research on hunting techniques 10/14.
How Factory Farms Are Pushing the Jaguar to Extinction 4/17.
WWF and Leonardo DiCaprio: Wild Tiger Populations Increase for First Time in 100 Years 4/16.
Tigers Declared Extinct in Cambodia 4/16.
World’s Largest Wildlife Corridor to Be Built in California to help LA cougars. 9/15.
These Gory New Hunting Competitions Have Taken the Country by Storm. Contestants can earn tens of thousands of dollars for killing coyotes, bobcats, and foxes. (disturbing images). 3/15.
This Is What Wildlife Crime Looks Like (GRAPHIC PHOTOS).
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just announced that a record-breaking number of endangered Florida panthers were killed in 2014. What little habitat remains for this endangered species is under constant siege from development, oil drilling and mining. The development on their habitat creates a profound threat to their survival and led to the death of 33 Florida panthers last year. take action 1/15.
Wild Predator Invasion: Can we return apex predators to their natural environments without endangering humans? PBS Nova (see also related shows on big cats).
Lynx Protection Expanded, But Not All Habitat Designated As Critical 9/14.
Clouded Leopard images. See also Steve Winter, Co-author of the new National Geographic book Tigers Forever.
Hundreds of South African lions are being slaughtered to make bogus sex potions for men. But we can stop this cruel trade by hitting the government where it hurts -- the tourism industry. A global ban on tiger bone sales has traders hunting a new prize -- the majestic lions. Lions are farmed under appalling conditions in South Africa for "canned hunting", where rich tourists pay thousands to shoot them through fences. Now experts say lion bones from these killing farms are being exported to phony 'medicine' makers in Asia for record profits. Trade is exploding and experts fear that as prices rise, even wild lions -- with only 20,000 left in Africa -- will come under poaching attack. 11/13.
Buddhist Monks And Snow Leopards Become Surprising Allies 9/13.
The awesome-looking Iberian lynx might not go extinct after all 7/13.
India, home to the world’s largest population of wild tigers, created a new protected area for the big cats. In March, the Indian government declared the forests of Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary a Tiger Reserve. This new reserve connects two other protected areas and secures another critical piece in one of the most important and largest contiguous tiger habitats in the world. In addition to sheltering a healthy tiger population, this forest complex is home to leopards, elephants, hyenas and vultures.
Scientists: To save the lions, fence them in .
Kidnapped Ethiopian girl rescued by caring, protective lions
Snow Leopard Raw Footage: Endangered Species Caught On Camera In China (VIDEO).
Tiger Bone Wine Trade Reveals China's Two-Faced Approach To Conservancy (NSFW) 3/13.
These are the youngest wild tigers ever captured on film.More tiger cubs(images).
Indian State OK's Shooting Tiger Poachers 5/12
The president of the California Fish and Game Commission created a controversy by killing a mountain lion out of state. Dan Richards was lambasted by critics over a photo that shows him with a mountain lion he shot during a January visit to Idaho. Hunting mountain lions is legal in Idaho and other states but banned in California. Richards, a Republican commercial real estate developer, has maintained he will not step down from his appointed position, despite efforts to remove him by 40 members of the state Assembly, the lieutenant governor and animal rights activists...Californians who have twice voted down statewide efforts to reinstate mountain lion hunting. More 3/12
Shafqat Hussain, Pakistani economist and conservationist, started Project Snow Leopard, providing innovative solutions for the preservation of the elusive snow leopard.
Lady Ditch Tiger Restoration Plan.
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen 12/08 Interview PBS. Short essay on Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR). On Bengal Tigers.
Jaguars (video).
Beverly + Dereck Joubert live in the bush, filming and photographing lions and leopards in their natural habitat. With stunning footage (some never before seen), they discuss their personal relationships with these majestic animals -- and their quest to save the big cats from human threats. Note some disturbing images.(TEDtalk). Last Lions documentary trailer.
Tracking jaguars 6/09 images.
Empirical Proof that all cats like boxes (images).
Elephants, Hippos and Rhinos (see also videos above and Featured Stories)
PBS News Hour stories (video).
Beat the poachers / Scientists plan to flood black market with fake rhino horn 11/19.
'Fantastic day for elephants': court rejects ivory ban challenge 11/19.
Disastrous Decision for Rhinos: South Africa's Top Court Lifts Ban on Rhino Horn Sales 4/17.
Poachers Kill 4-Year-Old Rhino After Breaking Into Zoo 3/17.
Paul Allen's 'Great Elephant Census' Shows Catastrophic Decline in Africa 8/16
Huge News for Elephants: U.S. Bans Ivory Trade 6/16.
Researchers Celebrate First Live Encounter With Sumatran Rhino in Borneo for 40+ Years
Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit on behalf of Lucky the Elephant against the San Antonio Zoo would move forward 1/16.
Hope for Elephants as China to Shut Down Domestic Ivory Market 6/15.
Elephant Massacre Uncovered In Democratic Republic of Congo; 30 Animals Killed In 15 Days 3/15.
Dallas Safari Club Cancels Plans To Auction Off African Elephant Hunt 3/15.
This Is What Wildlife Crime Looks Like (GRAPHIC PHOTOS).
China Suspends Ivory Imports, But African Elephants Still In Danger Of Extinction 3/15.
Can Drones Stop Poaching and Save Rhinos and Elephants?(Update 3/15), not if NRA can help it
20,000+ Elephants Poached in Africa in 2013 6/14. See Africa.
Chinese State Visit To Tanzania Used To Smuggle Ivory, Report Says 11/14.
PBS Newshour update on poaching 9/14 video.
U.S. Prepares To Crack Down On Illegal Ivory Trade As Elephant Populations Dwindle 2/14.
Ivory Coast's Elephant Relocation Program Is First Of Its Kind In Africa 1/14.
Elephants Pushed Toward Extinction as Terrorist Groups Bankrolled With Ivory Trade to US and China 1/14.
N. White rhinos in trouble 10/14.
Smuggled Rhino Horns Seized In Largest European Bust Ever, Worrying Conservationists.
Meet the 14-year-old elephant whisperer who saved her city
Cincinnati Zoo's Rhino Breeding Efforts Reach Desperate Point As Sister Is Matched With Brother 7/13.
Rhinos In Mozambique Likely Extinct, Expert Says; Elephants May Be Next 5/13.
Central African Republic Elephants Killed By Poachers In Dzanga-Ndoki National Park (GRAPHIC PHOTOS) 5/13. Elephant stomps on a poacher who tried to shoot him, can ya blame him?
Video of rhino relocation from WWF.
Elephant conflicts with ranchers.
2011 Elephant Poaching Surged To Record Levels, WWF Report Finds (PHOTOS).
An Indian rhino calf that lost its mother to poachers earlier this week is clinging to life with the help of conservationists, according to WWF staff assisting with its care. The 2-week-old calf is in critical condition after poachers gunned down its mother and chopped off her horn on April 2. WWF celebrated the arrival of two calves—one from the poached rhino and one from another translocated rhino—just last week. The disturbing incident marks the latest in a surge of poaching plaguing India’s Assam state, where 16 greater one-horned rhinos have been killed already this year.
Doctors save elephant’s eyesight with historic cataract operation
Poaching thrives 10/12
elephants video. Scott Pelley visits Kenya, the site of the great wildebeest migration, and looks at the threats to this natural spectacle. Secret language of elephants.
Drones to protect rhinos (video)
Raoul du Toit coordinated conservation initiatives that have helped to develop and maintain the largest remaining black rhino populations in Zimbabwe. Learn more at Goldman Prize.
Rhino poaching update 12/12.
Hippo attack video
Milking the Rhino examines the deepening conflict between humans and animals in an ever-shrinking world. It is the first major documentary to explore wildlife conservation from the perspective of people who live with wild animals. John Kasaona Conservationist TEDtalk. video of rhino airlift to save. Some populations extinct because traditional medicine thinks the horn cures cancer.
Rhinos hunted in Viet Nam for medicine 4/12
Rhino poaching (some disturbing images). Huffpo has extensive coverage.
Birds/Raptors
UCSC played a pivotal role in saving raptors (ucsc instructor may well have funded Carson's DDT book, and provided congressional testimony to get it banned.College 8 instructor Glenn Stewart worked on Exxon Valdez cleanup and is breeding and releasing hawks, falcons and other predatory birds video lecture. History of saving the falcon from DDT extinction by Brian Walton video.
Five Hawks Down: watch the tragic migration of six Californian raptors 3/19.
Ospreys’ Recovery From Pollution and Shooting Is a Global Conservation Success Story 2/19.
For Critically Endangered California Condors, Oregon's Hunters May Pose the Gravest Threat 9/17.
1.5 Billion Birds Lost in North America Since 1970s 9/16.
Todd Newberry renowned Santa Cruz birder, who worked with a student on a book project to teach some of the basic skills of becoming a “nature detective” at the Arboretum. oral history. hummingbird event has various UCSC researcher 2/16.
1,000,000,000 Birds - Just Gone ; Audubon on climate. 5/16.
Penguin Swims 5,000 Miles Each Year to Visit the Man Who Rescued Him.
Rising Global Temperatures Threaten Survival of Birds and Reptiles 11/15.
Audubon Society: North American Birds Are Threatened by Climate Change 9/15.
Todd Newberry renowned Santa Cruz birder, worked with a student on a book project to teach some of the basic skills of becoming a “nature detective” at the Arboretum. oral history.
RadioLab on bird conservation.
Australia's Oldest Man Knits Tiny Sweaters For Penguins Injured In Oil Spills 2/15.
Greenhouse Gas Levels In Atmosphere Surged To New High In 2013, World Meteorological Organization Reports, so More Than Half Of North American Birds In Trouble Thanks To Climate Change 9/14.
California Wind Farm Will Become First To Avoid Prosecution For Eagle Deaths 6/14.
During Drought, Pop-Up Wetlands Give Birds a Break 1/14.
Penguin Awareness Day! see Anarctica.
This Crow Is The Smartest Bird You've Ever Seen see also TEDtalk crow vending machine
To Save Threatened Owl, Another Species Is Shot (audio) 1/14.
Night Parrot, Nocturnal Bird In Australia, Seen Alive For First Time In Over A Century 7/13
Phillips 66 kills hundreds of birds in Texas, gets fined by feds see Fossil Fuels
Feds give pass on bird strikes 5/13.
The oldest known wild bird, a 62-year-old albatross, just hatched a miracle baby
California Condors Still On Brink Of Extinction Due To Lead Poisoning 'Epidemic' 6.12
Fledging season for Great Horned owls means clumsy chicks on the ground at UCSC. 6.12
Condors not out of the woods yet 6/12.
Bald Eagles nesting near UCSC and at Big Bear in Southern Ca (found by 3rd graders on a field trip).
Winged Migration. Codirected by Jacques Cluzaud and Michel Debats (Paris: Galatée Films, 2001.) DVD1702
KQED Channel 9 (also available on its digital channels).
Radio interview with makers
Schedule. Hummingbirds and Raptor cam (Peregrine falcons, saved by UCSC research).
Why Feathers Matter by conservation biologist Thor Hanson. Audio interview of author of book. 9/12.
Wolves /Foxes/Coyotes
Wolves ‘Established’ in Netherlands for First Time in 140 Years 4/19.
Iconic Yellowstone Wolf Shot Dead in Legal But 'Senseless Killing' 2/18
Our New Favorite Judge May Have Saved Red Wolves From Extinction 11/18.
Fate of World's Last 45 Red Wolves in the Wild in Hands of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 9/16
Oregon Wolves Lose Endangered Species Protections see also Kit Fox in San Joaquin Valley vs solar plant.
Wolves Have Some of the Worst PR in the Animal World — This Short Film Sets the Record Straight
Alaska Decides It's Fine to Kill Endangered Wolves 9/15
Arizona Sues USA to Protect Gray Wolves 7/15.
5 Easy Actions You Can Take to Help Animals on Endangered Species Day includes 2 wolves.
There Are Only Three Wolves Left at Michigan's Isle Royale National Park 5/15.
These Gory New Hunting Competitions Have Taken the Country by Storm. Contestants can earn tens of thousands of dollars for killing coyotes, bobcats, and foxes. (disturbing images). 3/15.
video primer on wolf function in ecosystem.
FIRST GRAY WOLF SPOTTED AT GRAND CANYON IN 70 YEARS SHOT DEAD BY HUNTER 2/15 Petition to protect.
Two Dozen Coyotes Killed in ‘Wolf-Kill Derby’ Hunting Contest. The second-annual hunting derby of Idaho's coyotes and wolves just ended... 1/15
Wolf OR7 has three pups in Oregon which will be safe from hunters if they wander in CA; also one in Grand Canyon. 12/14.
Wyoming and California protect grey wolves 5/14.
How to coexist with coyotes. Project Coyote.
CA State Officials Back Away From Outlawing Coyote-Killing Contests (audio) 1/14.
Hunter shoots the first endangered wolf seen in Kentucky in 150 years 10/13.
Watch two guys free a wolf who was caught in barbed wire video 9/13.
Lawmakers Push To Take Gray Wolf Off Endangered Species List 3/13
Lone Wolf returns to California looking for love. 4/12 Oregon grey Wolf returns to California 3/12. More. 12/12 Update.
Animals Lost in Wolf Hunts Near Yellowstone including, sadly, the beloved 832F.
Author and conservation biologist Cristina Eisenberg offers her perspective in The Wolf's Tooth, sharing accounts from her fieldwork to bring to life the relationships among keystone predators, trophic cascades, and biodiversity.
Grey Wolves delisted from Endangered Species List by politicians, not scientists, being hunted.
Wolves at our Door. A pack of wolves are raised by the filmmakers. They explore the behaviors and social lives of the wolves. (1997, 50 min.)
Never Cry Wolf, based on book of same name by Farley Mowat online video segment. Wolves in Yellowstone. Also The Wolf That Changed America.
John Terborgh and James Estes (Go Slugs!) explore importance of predators in Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature. They explain how top predators play an essential role in maintaining ecosystem well-being, and how this natural regulatory system is often drastically disrupted by human interventions-when wolves and cougars are removed, for example, populations of deer and beaver become destructive.
Bats
THE MOST OBSCURE SPECIES COULD BE KEY TO SAVING THE PLANET: according to the Jenga hypothesis, first proposed in the journal Science in 2005, the keystone analogy is too static, including bats helping farmers.
Bats in the Bay Area. Bats are in trouble in North America because of a disease. TEDtalk video 11/12.
[http://news.ucsc.edu/2015/04/bat-disease-treatment.html Bacteria inhibit bat-killing fungus, could combat white-nose syndrome].Bacteria found naturally on some bats may prove useful in controlling the deadly fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome, which has devastated bat populations throughout eastern North America and continues to spread across the continent. Joseph Hoyt, a UC Santa Cruz graduate student who leads the study. 4/15
RadioLab does brilliant work on a wide variety of topics, including green issues such as bats and rabies, endangered species and conservation. America's Bats on the Brink LOE.org 1/13.
Blood-sucking bats lends a startling twist to our understanding of altruism and natural selection. Also from RadioLab.
UCSC's Winifred F. Frick (B.A. ENVS Porter '98), in a study published in the August 6 issue of Science, writes that a disease is spreading quickly across the northeastern U.S. and Canada and now affects seven bat species. NPR.org interview Update: NSF grant. effects of wildfires 3/13.
UCSC Research and Local Resources
(see Slugs in Action for others) as well as volunteer page.
Wild animals key to mediating landscape’s capacity to store carbon, researchers say: UCSC's Chris Wilmers coauthors new report saying carbon-cycle models must consider animals 12/18.
Polar bears finding it harder to catch enough seals to meet energy demands: UCSC Study reveals high metabolic rates, meaning polar bears need a lot of fat-rich prey, but more than half of those studied were running an energy deficit 2/18.
Want to save 41 percent of the planet’s highly threatened vertebrates? Work on islands New UCSC study maps the world’s most vulnerable island species and identifies invasive species as a key threat to their survival 10/17.
UCSC wildlife. Natural History of the UC Santa Cruz Campus search.
Birds: Todd Newberry renowned Santa Cruz birder, who worked with a student on a book project to teach some of the basic skills of becoming a “nature detective” at the Arboretum. oral history. hummingbird event has various UCSC researcher 2/16.
Winifred F. Frick (B.A. ENVS Porter '98), in a study published in the August 6 issue of Science, writes that a disease is spreading quickly across the northeastern U.S. and Canada and now affects seven bat species. NPR.org interview Update: NSF grant with A.M. Kilpatrick who has tracked effect of global warming on West Nile virus. Update 5/12.
Bacteria inhibit bat-killing fungus, could combat white-nose syndrome. Bacteria found naturally on some bats may prove useful in controlling the deadly fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome, which has devastated bat populations throughout eastern North America and continues to spread across the continent. Joseph Hoyt, a UC Santa Cruz graduate student who leads the study. 4/15
Mark Cioc has researched environmental history, and wrote The Game of Conservation: International Treaties to Protect the World’s Migratory Animals 2009.
Hopkins research finds Yosemite bears and human food shifts 3/14.
Beth Shapiro, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and her colleagues analyzed genome-wide DNA sequence data from bears, and found that polar bears are a remarkably homogeneous species with no evidence of brown bear ancestry, whereas the ABC Islands brown bears show clear evidence of polar bear ancestry. She's also working with a project within Long Now called “Revive & Restore,” which is pushing to make de-extinction a reality, starting with the fabled passenger pigeon and moving on to the woolly mammoth. See “TEDxDeExtinction” (See re-wilding in Soule below).
College 8 instructor Glenn Stewart worked on Exxon Valdez cleanup and is breeding and releasing hawks, falcons and other predatory birds. History of saving the falcon from DDT extinction video.
Bill Walton, Predatory Bird Research Group leader, was instrumental in saving the Peregrine Falcon, the fastest animal in existence, from extinction. Article on falcon comeback The history of falcon recovery is told by him in this 42 minute video.
Nathaniel Dominy helped document that he legendary "man-eating lions of Tsavo" that terrorized a railroad camp in Kenya more than a century ago likely consumed about 35 people--far fewer than popular estimates of 135 victims.
John Mock works to remove landmines and preserve wildlife in Afghanistan.
Erin Vogel studies primate population.
Marc Mangel, distinguished professor in applied mathematics and statistics discovered a continued increase of Lyme disease in the United States, once linked to a recovering deer population, may instead be explained by a decline of the red fox, along with his UCSC co-authors, A. Marm Kilpatrick, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; Taal Levi, and Chris Wilmers (see below).
James Estes and John Terborgh in a new book explore the importance of predators in Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature. They explain how top predators play an essential role in maintaining ecosystem well-being, and how this natural regulatory system is often drastically disrupted by human interventions-when wolves and cougars are removed, for example, populations of deer and beaver become destructive. classic but accessible essay on trophic cascades with Soule et al (see below). Important work on sea otters and climate change (see Wilmers).
Chris Wilmers and Terrie Williams', a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCSC, will team up to explore questions of puma behavior, physiology, and ecology using radio collars. Cougar GPS story. Story of Atlas, who crosses Hwy 17. UCSC students get first-hand scientific experience while monitoring the elusive big cats as part of the Puma Project.(video). In the first published results of more than three years of tracking mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains, UC Santa Cruz researchers document how human fragmentation of habitat affects the predators' habits. 4/13. UCSC helps capture and safely release puma near downtown. New research on hunting techniques 10/14.
Erika Zavaleta, environmental studies, conceived new Conservation Scholars Program will partner with other organizations including Santa Cruz-based SACNAS: Advancing Chicano/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science. 11/15.
UCSC Alums/Emeriti
UCSC has produced at least three world class nature photographers: Gordon Wiltsie (NPR audio interview), [http://www.lanting.com/worldview.html Frans Lanting (a TEDtalk video), and Kennan Ward.
Burney Le Boeuf has conducted extensive research on the behavioral ecology and physiology of marine mammals. In particular, he is known for his work on sharks and elephant seals, as well as their diving, foraging, and migratory behavior. While much of his research was conducted at nearby Año Nuevo Island Reserve, Le Boeuf has led expeditions to research sites throughout the world, including Mexico, Argentina, the Galapagos Islands, and Japan. He is the author of three books and more than 157 peer-reviewed articles.
Michael Soule (short bio), one of the founders of conservation biology, Paul Ehrlich's student, and currently an advocate of Rewilding, that is bringing back extinct ecosystems and even species This idea has been picked up by Stewart Brand.A Soule Interview. Co-author of Ghost Bears. tropic cascades. See also Wildlands Network, working to connect islands of bio-diversity. UCSC pioneered the idea of rewilding, including bringing back extinct species. This has been taken up by LongNow, and was basis of TEDx conference.
Local Organizations
The Wildlands Studies Program, California State University, Monterey Bay offers a series of environmental and cultural ecology field studies that we invite you to join. This year you can choose among sixteen wildlife, wildland and cultural ecology field studies searching for solutions to environmental and cultural challenges. Field studies take place in wildland locations throughout the Montana Rockies, California, Alaska, Canada, Belize, Peru, Chile, India, Thailand, Nepal, Tasmania, Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica and New Zealand. website
Articles in category "Wildlife"
The following 9 pages are in this category, out of 9 total.
