WhiteTigress's Weblog

All things must end…

whitetigress — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:07:38 +0000

This is the last week for the Global Village blog project. I must say, I’ve learned a lot more about endangered species. While I knew it was a serious problem, I’ll admit to not realizing the extent of the problem. It’s sad. There are so many animals that are dying, and a lot of the causes are because of human interference and hunting. I respect that there are organizations and countries that are trying to do more, but bans and laws will only get so far. Much more needs to be done, and what’s already in place needs to be maintained or improved. The Endangered Species Act is another big concern in the U.S., especially given the state of some of the North American wildlife. While there is a lot of things that I myself can’t do because of inexperience and age, there are plenty of things I can do. I’m seriously contemplating adopting a grey wolf and a tiger and perhaps a few more animals once I get the money. I also plan to buy a bunch of chocolate from the Endangered Species Chocolate Company. Even if it’s only ten percent of the profits that go towards funding endangered species conservation, it’s better than nothing. Hopefully, when I’m older, I’ll be able make enough money to donate more to various organizations since this is a topic that means something to me. After all, once a species is gone, it’s gone for good.

eBay

whitetigress — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:48:40 +0000

EBay has banned the sales of any item containing ivory. Recent arguments have been given that online auction sites encourage the sale of products related to endangered species and endangered species themselves, so it’s nice to see that people are working to correct that. Over six weeks, 7,000 items were tracked and found to be sold on 185 websites in 11 countries. According to the survey, ¾ of the items were elephant related. Obviously, it’s difficult to track who is following the terms of the ban. After all, there’s only so much word filters and such can do before people begin to find ways around them.

On a side note, I’ve also commented on Lisa’s Blog.

Bush and Palin and eBay…oh my!

whitetigress — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:32:38 +0000

The time Bush has left in office is limited. The amount of time members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have to review around 300,000 comments from the general population on changes the Bush Administration is trying to make to the Endangered Species Act is also limited. First they want to change regulations so the government doesn’t really have to worry about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on arctic wildlife, like polar bears, and then they want to make it so federal projects would not have to be reviewed by third-party organizations to determine the impact projects would have on the environment. By law, the government must open such regulatory changes to public comment, but apparently they don’t have to pay much attention to said comments. They have given the fifteen members reading the 300,000 comments until November 1st to review everything. That’s less than a week. Fifteen people and 300,000 comments. Not even a week. That’s a crap ton of comments to read and absorb. It’s too bad the damage that could be done would take years to fix. Although, once a species is gone, it’s gone for good, and good intentions can’t bring them back.

But it seems like Sarah Palin doesn’t have very many good intentions towards wildlife. Apparently, she doesn’t think polar bears and beluga whales should be placed on the endangered species list. I mean, seriously, this new status for the two animals could hurt off-shore drilling, the expansion of Port Anchorage, and of course, the most important thing of all, a proposal for a bridge to be built connecting Anchorage to Matanuska-Susitna Valley and Wasilla. That and, as Gov. Palin so kindly pointed out, unnecessary changes could “do serious long-term damage to the vibrant economy of the Cook Inlet area.” Heaven forbid such a travesty occurs. In the Cook Inlet area of all places in the U.S….

Chocolate, Comments, and Candy Corn

whitetigress — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:40:08 +0000

I thought I’d take some time to explain one of the links I’ve placed in the blogroll since it’s not the typical informative site and kind of write a promo for said site. Think about how much money people spend a year on chocolate and candy. I bet you spend a lot more than you’d like to admit. Well, there’s a great company that’s called Endangered Species Chocolate. From extreme dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 88% to milk chocolate with cranberries, toffee, or blueberries and dark chocolate with espresso or forest mint to organic chocolate with Lacuma and Golden Berries, they sell it all. The ESC holds good values in high regard as well. Their chocolate is 100% ethically traded, and the best part is what they do to promote awareness. Each type of chocolate has a picture and information on the wrapper about an endangered or threatened species, and 10% of the net profits are used to support endangered species, habitats, and humanity. They’re sold in places like Target or zoos, so if you ever see any, I encourage you to buy a bar. It’s not much more expensive than some of the more popular brands of chocolate like Lindt or Ghirardelli, and it goes to support a good cause. Plus, it’s really good chocolate! BUT WAIT! There’s more! They’re currently selling bite sized candy packages for Halloween, so instead of buying candy corn or Hershey’s chocolate, you should buy a bag of Endangered Species Halloween chocolate!

As a side note, I’ve also commented on Jenny and Michelle’s blogs. I’ll post the comments here at a later date.

The Wolves Are Back!

whitetigress — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:33:19 +0000

So, this is a bit of a follow up of a breaking news segment I did a few weeks ago. In the segment, I talked about how the gray wolves had been taken off the endangered species list, but some environmentalist groups were protesting the decision. The judge on the case suspended wolf hunting in a few of the states planning to hold wolf hunts this year. A recent decision has since been passed down ordering that the wolves be placed back on the list of endangered species. To do this, their current status must either be dropped, or changes must be made to the proposal to deny wolves their federal protection as endangered species. Either way, the wolves will now be back under federal protection. Yay!

New Species

whitetigress — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:53:57 +0000

Nearly three hundred new aquatic species have been found near Australia. Yay! This is always a good thing, but there are still many species that are struggling to survive. Recently, a National Geographic article focused on the decline of bird populations around the world. Bird populations are used to gauge the overall health of an ecosystem and the biodiversity, so the decline is not a good thing. Rare species are only becoming more rare, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re eventually extinct. Costal areas are beginning to feel the effects from disturbed food chains. In fact, a recent study shows that the Bald Eagle has taken to eating smaller sea birds due to the decline in fish, which is a result of a decline in sea otters who eat the sea urchins who eat the kelp forests that said fish need to survive. I just thought these were some interesting facts, and I think this shows just how a decline in one species affects the other species. Even if the loss of one type of animal doesn’t hurt us, it hurts the environment, so wildlife conservation is important. Check out some of the links in the Blogroll when you get the chance!

Lost and Found

whitetigress — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:24:04 +0000

I was browsing through the National Geographic pages on animals and the environment when I came across this little fellow. S/He’s a Sumatran muntjac that was previously “lost.” This picture is the first record of the Sumatran muntjac in nearly eighty years. Since its rediscovery, it has been placed on the global Red List of Threatened Species. I thought this was a neat article because it’s not everyday that you find a “lost” species. Unfortunately, they are now thought to be endangered, which is sad considering they’ve just be found again. Scientists believe the dog-sized deer might be living in higher altitudes, which would explain why they haven’t been seen for so long. In fact, it was just a coincidence that someone recognized the fellow below as a Sumatran muntjac. The man who recognized was only able to because he had recently “re-discovered” a stuffed Sumatran muntjac in London’s Natural History Museum. Anyway, I just thought this was a neat article considering that a new genus of monkeys has been discovered in Tanzania, and a large population of lowland gorillas has been found in the Congo Republic. Isn’t he awesome?

Lost and Found: Sumatran muntjac cought in trap

Bah! Face-palm…

whitetigress — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:15:15 +0000

The breaking news section is getting on my nerves. It took me thirty minutes to get the two new articles to post the way I wanted them to. Dumb formatting. On a brighter note, the white-headed langurs of China are making a comeback! On a dark, depressing note, almost half of the 634 primate species we know of are in danger of extinction, one third of all amphibians are extinct or endangered, and 188 animals are now marked as critically endangered, which is as bad as it can get aside from extinction or functional extinction…

Read more about it in the breaking news section. Also, I was reading random articles in the NY Times when I came across an article from August that talked about how Dirk Kempthorne, the interior secretary wants to revamp the Endangered Species Act. And by revamp, I mean destroy. He thinks it’s a good idea to allow federal agencies to decide if their actions pose threats to wildlife and endangered species rather than letting agencies like the Fish and Wildlife Service decide. That’s a brilliant idea if I’ve ever heard one. I mean, what agency doesn’t like to look out for themselves with little or no regard for the surrounding environment? That’s a TERRIBLE idea. Those statistics I posted above this paragraph won’t get any better if we don’t make some attempts to protect the remaining and struggling species, but then, what do I care? It’s not like I’m creating a blog about wildlife conservation and endangered species, ha ha ha.

One more thing! If you haven’t already, I really urge you to check out the IUCN’s Red List. I’ve provided a handy little link in the Blog Roll.

It’s Monday…

whitetigress — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:30:53 +0000

…and I did some research! So, I was looking at a bunch of sites today and stumbled upon the IUCN website’s Red List. They’ve got a bunch of tables under the statistics summary that lists all the number of endangered species by country or major organism group. The U.S. has 1,179 threatened species. Most of the countries had anywhere from ten to three hundred. There weren’t very many in the thousands, which leads me to believe that the United States, while well populated with wildlife, has a lot of species that are endangered. I guess we’ve got some work to do. I was also reading a few articles about the gray wolf controversy. I love wolves, so it was interesting. It’s ironic how the one year they aren’t on the endangered species list, the population declines for the first time in ten years. Go read more about it in the breaking news section! Well, that’s all for now.

Hello world!

whitetigress — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:34:46 +0000

Hello! This is a project for my Global Village class. The point is to create a blog about a global topic of interest for you. My focus will be on animal conservation and endangered species. It’s undeniable that the world has a plethora of wildlife inhabiting it. They’re everywhere you look, but there are species of plants, animals, and marine life that are struggling to survive in the changing global environment. Such species are in danger of dying out completely, and the cause isn’t just natural change. Many of the problems are the result of human interaction with and destruction of the environment. Sadly, quite a few species are already extinct, and many more are on the verge or extinction. The purpose of this blog will be to spread information about wildlife conservation and ways to help preserve world wildlife.