21 Years and Still Endangered...Hawk-ward

Emily Barlog

About:

Buteo platypterus brunnescens, also known as the Puerto Rican Broad-Winged Hawk, is a raptor endemic to the islands of Puerto Rico and has been listed as endangered since 1994. While knowledge in regards to the biology of this bird is fairly limited, it is known that the Broad-Winged Hawk is a small sized raptor at about 15.5 inches. Females tend to be slightly larger in size than the males, but both have similar color ranges as seen in the photo above. Unlike other raptors that prey in the air and on the ground, the Puerto Rican Hawk tends to hunt primarily from the canopies, watching for prey in the understory of the forests. They tend to kill small mammals and reptiles and even insects such as centipedes. A pair of hawks, after having engaged in courtship, can produce anywhere from 2-4 eggs, which they care for jointly. Due to recent decline however, hawks only produce an average of 1.1 offspring.

The female adult hawk keeps watch over its (1.1) chick at the nest

According to the Puerto Rican Broad-Winged Hawk and Puerto Rican Sharp-Shinned Hawk Recovery Plan( here out known as ‘Recovery Plan’), current populations of this species occurs in elfin woodland, sierra palm, caimitillo-granadillo, and tabonuco forest types of the Río Abajo Commonwealth Forest, Carite Commonwealth Forest, and El Yunque National Forest as well as within hardwood plantations, shade coffee plantations, and mature secondary forests.

Geography and Population:

The Recover Plan states that when the Hawk was first discovered in 1878, it was reported as being a common species with in the interior of the Puerto Rican forests. However, just a few years later in 1883 the bird was reported as being transient. Eventually in 1927, the Broad-Winged Hawk was believed to be extinct until there were sightings again 9 years later in 1936. Currently according to the Recovery Plan update, The Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk population is estimated at about 125 individuals island-wide. 

Click here for a map of the habitat of the Peurto Rican Hawk.

Reason for Listing:

-Habitat Destruction resulting in fragmentation of predominately patchy habitat for agriculture, lumber harvest and roadway construction.

-Natural Disasters especially hurricanes can wipe out mature forests which are essential to the nesting habits of these hawks.

-Illegal shooting is a potential reason, however no such activity has been reported.

Goals:

-Down list from Endangered to Threatened

-Eventually delist the Puerto Rican Broad-Winged Hawk

Recovery Plan:

1.    Monitor the Puerto Rican Broad-Winged Hawk by conducting surveys to determine population trends with a 2-year census. Get a better sense of current habitat conditions and identify additional habitat opportunities. Within theses opportunity sites, look for new populations. Overall, identify mortality factors and threats, evaluate the effects of the red tailed hawk on the populations

2.    Protect the populations through management plans and enforcing the Commonwealth and Federal endangered species regulations. Also protecting habitats on privately owned land.

3.   Educate the public on the protection and conservation of the species, helping individuals to become aware of the laws that exist to protect these species.

4.    Refine recovery goals as more information is discovered.

Sources:

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/970908.pdf

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc3575.pdf

http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B06Y

Images:

http://www.taenos.com/img/ITIS/Buteo-platypterus-brunnescens/Buteo-platypterus brunnescens-10.jpg

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_broad-winged_hawk

The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat | Paris Allen

The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat

A local adorable tiny little Roo Rat. 

Recovery Plan for the Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat
Species Name: Dipodomys Heermannii Morroensis
Listing Type: Endangered
Listing Date: 25 January 2000

Description and Ecology

• It is the smallest subspecies of the Heermann Kangaroo Rat
• They resemble tiny kangaroos with bodies ranging from 4 to 5 inches and tails from 6 to 8 inches
• They have short front legs, strong hind legs for jumping, and a long tail used for balance
• Being nocturnal, they have huge adorable eyes
• They weigh between 70 and 80 grams
• Males are larger on average than females
• Their primary food is seeds
• They have 2 to 3 litters a year, each litter containing 1 to 7 pups (average being 2)
• Pups are born with no hair or teeth and with their eyes and ears closed. 
• They are commonly brown and gray with white bellies

Geographic and Population Changes

• Historically, they inhabited about 4 square miles south of Morro Bay. More recently, they can be found on less than one square mile of privately owned land. 
• The Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat occurs only in habitat with stabilized sand dune and coastal dunes. They require sandy soils for their burrows.
• The estimated population size in 1957 was 8000, and dropped to 3000 in 1970. This downward trend continued and there are likely fewer than 50 individuals left.  

Cause of Listing and Main Threats

• Loss of habitat: due to residential development
• Changes in habitat characteristics: mostly vegetation changes
• Destruction of burrows by pedestrian and vehicular traffic
• Predation from domestic animals: mostly feral cats and dogs
• Habitat fragmentation
• Possibility or an inbreeding problem

Recovery Plan

• Original Plan approved in 1982, revised in 1999
• Recovery Priority is  C6, meaning a high degree of threat, with a low potential for recovery
• The objective is to downlist to threatened. It is not likely to be delisted due to insufficient habitat. 
• May be reclassified as threatened if an effective generic population size (number of breeding individuals in an idealized population) of 500 is achieved for 10 consecutive years. An acutal population size for this would be about 2000 individuals.
• Actions needed:
• Breed up to 100 Morro Bay Kangaroo Rats in captivity with the Lompoc Kangaroo Rat
• The first captive breed program was operated at Cal Poly SLO from 1985 to 1988. The program was successful with a 13 percent mortality rate in litters until it was transferred elsewhere due to insufficient funds. Later attempts at captive breeding were less successful.
• Work with various agencies to procure, maintain, and improve habitat in all the available areas in the historic habitat. 
• Reestablish individuals bred in captivity with the Lompac Kangaroo Rat back into the wild.
• Revise the plan again based on more analyses after these measures are taken. 
• Raise awareness in the public and make fundraising efforts. 

Let's Save Them! Why?

• They are highly adorable.
• Captive Breeding has worked, and with a sufficient amount of funds, we could get there. 
• These little guys could be wiped out by a single catastrophic event. 
• Who wants to live in a world where Morro Bay Kangaroo Rats ain't a thing? 

Sources

http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=67

http://gilbertqjassos.blogspot.com/2011/09/kangaroo-rat-clenched.html

http://www.pinstopin.com/kangaroo-rat/

http://humus.doonks.com/kangaroo-rat.html

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-drift-and-effective-population-size-772523

Threatened Mexican Spotted Owl- Paige Brandon

We Love Our Hooters! 

Recovery Plan for the Threatened Mexican Spotted Owl 

Species Name: Strix occidentalis lucida 

Listing Type: Threatened                       

Listing Date: September 5, 2012           

 

Description & Ecology of the Mexican 

Spotted Owl: 

• The Mexican spotted owl is a medium-sized owl without ear tufts 
• The white spots of the Mexican spotted owl are generally larger and more numerous than in the other two subspecies, giving it a lighter appearance. 
• Females are larger, on average, than males. 
• The Mexican spotted owl, being territorial and primarily nocturnal, is heard more often than
  
  seen. 
• Most calls are low in pitch and have pure tones- essential for accurate communication through dense vegetation. 
• Males have a deeper hoot than females, and call out more often. 
• The most common set of hoots is four unevenly spaced hoots with females using a sharp whistling sound. 

Geographic & Population Changes: 

• The Mexican spotted owl occurs in forested mountains and canyon lands throughout the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico 
• In addition, previously occupied riparian communities in the southwestern U.S. and southern Mexico have undergone significant habitat alteration since the historical sightings. 
• For example, in southern Utah and northern Arizona, inundation of Glen Canyon by Lake Powell created a 299-kilometer (km) (186-mile [mi]) long and 40-km (25-mi) wide reservoir that may have flooded habitat for a potentially large population in the canyon lands region. 
• In the United States there are an estimated 2,106 Mexican Spotted Owls. Numbers in Mexico are also dangerously low and declining. 

Cause of Listing & Main Threats: 

• Top Three Main Threats: 
• 1) Destruction of Habitat: Timber-harvest practices in the Southwestern Region 
• 2) Overutilization for Scientific Purposes: examples include studying the birds for educational purposes 
• 3) Disease or Predation: Great Horned Owls are a major predator of the MSO. Increased habitat for Horned Owls caused by humans threatens the MSO. 
  
• Cause of Listing: 
• Mexican Spotted Owl population is steadily declining. 
• Major concern for population of this owls as climate is changing. 

Recovery Plan: 

• Originally completed in 1995, revised and approved in 2012. 
• Attempts to: 
• Includes an ESA five-factor threats analysis. 
• Changes RUs to EMUs to conform to FWS policy. 
• Provides a more explicit definition of an owl site. 
• Merges Southern Rocky Mountain (SRM)-Colorado and SRM-New Mexico EMUs into one (SRM). 
• Revises boundary between Colorado Plateau (CP) and SRM to reflect ecological differences between the two EMUs. 
• Extends boundary of Basin and Range East (BRE) EMU into Texas to incorporate verified sightings and suspected habitat. 
• Reduces the size of the Basin and Range West (BRW) EMU by removing much of the western part where there are no records of owls and little, if any, known owl habitat 
•  Adds descriptions of canyon cover types as they relate to the owl. 
• Provides a clearer definition of riparian habitats as they relate to the owl.  

Fun Facts: 

• Height: 16-19 inches.
• Length: 17 inches (wingspan of 42-45 inches).
• Weight: 1.2-1.4 lbs; males smaller than females.
• Lifespan: 16-17 years in the wild. 

Sources Used: 

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/MSO_Recovery_Plan_First_Revision_Dec2012.pdf 

http://www.defenders.org/mexican-spotted-owl/basic-facts 

http://blog.cuzie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Did-you-know.jpeg 

http://www.charlesbergman.com/Animals/Spotted-Owls/i-4Z3Cw2w/5/L/Owl-Spotted--Crystal%20Mtn--Female%20Fly%201-L.jpg 

http://images.parentherald.com/data/images/full/4190/don_diego_spotted_owl-co-wild-at-heart-owls-jpg.jpg?w=500

The Green Turtle's Got the Blues

American Crocodile - Travis Berridge

American Crocodile

 The American Crocodile

Being from the beautiful Sun Shine State of Florida, I hold most reptiles near and dear to my ecological heart. It might simply be because I am so used to seeing them as part of my daily life in my home state. Turtles waddle across four lane highways dodging semis as their bellies burn on the hot asphalt. Lizards scurry through your lanai (screened in pool area for you non-Floridians). Bullfrogs and toads screech all through the night looking for a mate. However, none of these little reptilians leave such a lasting impression as when an American alligator surfaces next to you in a murky lake you decided was a good place to wakeboard for the day. On more than one occasion have I been within ten feet of a very large and territorial beast in the water. Something I haven't seen in the wild though, is an American crocodile.

A distinguishable difference between crocodiles and alligators is alligators have a rounded snout, while crocodiles have more of a very prominent, more pointed snout. The American Crocodile can measure up to fifteen feet long and weigh up to a whopping two-thousand pounds (natgeographic.com). The prehistoric beast live over sixty years and inhabit coastal waters and wetlands. (cincinatizoo.com). This makes Florida prime real estate for American Crocodiles. A place surrounded on three sides by water and humidity you can feel as soon as you get off the plane. In the United States, Florida is the only area these crocs live. American Crocodiles also inhabit coastal areas through the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America (ecos.fws.gov). These large reptiles are a keystone species, having a very large impact on their habitat. They will eat just about anything they can fit on their mouths. Birds, fish, crabs, turtle, or small mammals along the water-line (cincinnatizoo.com).

In 1999 a recovery plan was enacted for the American Crocodile. Due to over harvesting of Crocodile for their hide and habitat destruction American Crocodiles' populations dwindled by the 1980s. It was legal to hunt these animals until around 1962. By the middle of the 1970s American Crocodile populations were between 100 and 400 individuals in Florida. Crocodiles were listed as endangered throughout their range in 1975 (40 CFR 44151) and critical habitat was established for this species in 1979 (44 CFR 75076) (ecos.fws.gov).

By 1997 there had been many improvements in populations of American Crocodiles (ecos.fws.gov). With crocodiles being protected from hunting, reproduction was able to take place without interference. However there is a new threat. An invasive species has moved into the everglades and has been competing and arguably out-competing with the American Crocodile as well as the American Alligator, the Burmese Python. This new competitor adds another aspect of endangerment.

The good news, we have made progress and we are constantly learning more about species and their habitats. With combined efforts of federal and state governments, solutions can be reached to save the American Crocodile.

Sources:

"American Crocodile - The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden." The Cincinnati Zoo Botanical Garden.               N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2015.
            <http://cincinnatizoo.org/blog/animals/american-crocodile/>

"American Crocodiles, American Crocodile Pictures, American Crocodile Facts - National      
           Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2015.     
           <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/american-crocodile/>.

"Species." SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Web. 4 June 2015
            <http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/sfl_msrp/SFL_MSRP_Species.pdf>.

Images: In order of appearance

http://cincinnatizoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/crocodile.jpg

http://cincinnatizoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/American-Croc-copy.png

https://www.fort.usgs.gov/sites/default/files/Burmese%20Python%203.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/crocodile_hunter_9.jpg

The "Bear" Necessities: Conserving the Grizzly Bear

Source: pinstopin.com

THE "BEAR" NECESSITIES:
CONSERVING THE GRIZZLY BEAR

By: Matthieu Bouchard

NAME: Grizzly Bear

SPECIES NAME: (Ursus Arctos Horribilis)

POPULATION SIZE (TODAY): Approx. 1,500

ESA STATUS: Threatened

LISTING DATE: July 28, 1975

OVERVIEW:  When people typically think of the Grizzly bear, a few images may come to mind.  Maybe they imagine a bear rummaging through a campsite, or a mama bear protecting her cubs. Not many know about their status as threatened on the Endangered Species Act and how they affect the ecosystem that they are a part of. Grizzly bears are a North American subspecies of the brown bear (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/ animals/mammals/grizzly-bear/). They are also an “umbrella species” which means when they are protected, every organism in their ecosystem also gets inherently protected. 

HABITAT: Grizzly bears are located in mostly the western portion of North America. Historically, they could be found anywhere ranging from as north as Alaska, as south as Mexico, as west as California, and as east as Ohio; however, now they are mostly found in Western Canada, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and parts of the state of Washington. Their habitat terrain covers a wide array of variability. Grizzlies have been known to make their homes in dense forests, damp meadows, open plains, and arctic tundra. (http://www.defenders.org/grizzly-bear/basic-facts).

BEHAVIOR: Grizzly bears are not known to be very territorial. Often times where there is an abundance of food, you will likely see many grizzlies feeding in the same areas, such as streams with large numbers of salmon swimming in them. Although they are not territorial, they do seemingly travel in a solitary manner. Mother grizzlies are very protective of their cubs. If they feel that they or their cubs are threatened they are known to attack.

Source: annefontainefoundation.org

DIET: Grizzly bears are omnivorous. The diet of a grizzly bear consists of what is available to them as they eat pretty much anything. Depending on what is abundant in their habitat, grizzlies eat berries, fish, elk, deer, small mammals, roots, grass, fungi, dead animals, and even insects. Their diets are very adaptable which gives them a leg up on surviving extinction. During the late summer and fall seasons, grizzlies drastically increase their caloric intake to help compensate for their winter hibernation periods.

POPULATION CHANGES: Grizzly bear populations have plummeted since the beginning of westward expansion in North America. Prior to this time, there were upwards of 50,000 grizzly bears roaming the continent. Now, the population of grizzlies is about three percent of what they used to be.  The main cause for these changes is a great deal of fragmentation that is being done to their habitats. Fragmentation is when a habitat is divided into smaller sections due to a natural disaster, or in most cases, by humans harvesting the land. Fragmentation causes the bears to cluster together and form smaller populations, cutting off access from the other portions of their habitat. These smaller clusters give the bears less options for mating, which in turn generates less genetic diversity, making the smaller, isolated populations more prone to be wiped out by diseases. Another threat to grizzlies is humans in general. When grizzlies feel threatened, they often times attack, which labels them as threats to humans; and when humans feel threatened, they feel the need to eliminate the threat. Although this does not drive down the bear populations exponentially, it does not help with the conservation efforts in place to keep the grizzlies away from extinction.

EFFORTS TO SAVE: On July 28, 1975, the grizzly bear was listed as “threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since the bears were added to this list of threatened and endangered species, conservation efforts have been put in place to help increase population size of the grizzlies. The newest draft of the conservation plan for grizzly bears was drafted in May of 2013. This version of the recovery plan focuses on learning more about grizzly bears. Most of the document deals with researchers trying to discover what the main cause of the decrease in population is and figuring out ways to reverse this trend. Factors such as climate change altering grizzly bear’s normal hibernation cycles are too large to combat with just the Endangered Species Act, so the report focuses more on efforts to conserve the habitats grizzlies live in now. To do this, efforts to educate people on how to coexist in the same ranges of the bears is crucial. A portion of the recovery plan deals with educating the public about how to stay safe in the event of encountering a grizzly bear. Grizzly bears are just like any other animal, they need their basic survival sources of food, water, and space to roam. Conserving the grizzly’s habitat is what needs to be done to help increase their population and keep them from extinction. The current plan in place states that it will remain in effect until five years after the grizzly bear is moved off the threatened list.

FUN FACTS:

• Grizzly cubs normally leave their mothers after two to three years. However, when they do leave, they typically do not stray too far, setting up their home ranges close to their mother’s.
• When grizzly bears reproduce, they normally have cubs in sets of twins.
• Female grizzlies normally have their cubs during their hibernation periods. The large amounts of food consumed prior to this time helps the mother grizzlies nourish their cubs.
• Grizzly bears get their name because of their grizzled fur.
• Grizzly bears can run up to thirty miles per hour.

Source: http://feelgrafix.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/grizzly-bear/

http://www.defenders.org/grizzly-bear/basic-facts

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/NCDE_Draft_CS_Apr2013_Final_Version_corrected%20headers_1.pdf

Largest Animal in the World - Tommy Acton

Largest Animal on Earth

By: Tommy Acton

       The blue whale, or the Balaenoptera musculus, is a cosmopolitan species of baleen whale (Lockyer, 1984). It is the largest animal ever known to have lived on Earth; and adults in the Antarctic have reached a maximum body length of about 33 m and can weigh more than 150,000 kg.   Blue whales are long-bodied and slender in comparison to other whales such as the right whale. The dorsal fin is set far back, closer to the tail flukes than to the middle of the body. The blue whale species inhabits and feeds in both coastal and pelagic environments. When feeding, the blue whale’s pleated throat and chest expands to accommodate the enormous intake of seawater and food, before filtering the plankton into their stomach and releasing the water back into the ocean. There has been slight variability found in the blue whale species, leading to the creation of three subspecies (Rice, 1977):

1)    m. Musculus in the Northern Hemisphere

2)    m. Intermediary from the Antarctic

3)    m. Brevicauda is significantly smaller and found in the sub Antarctic zone of the southern Indian Ocean

                                          (SchoolInTheCloud)

Is it assumed that the blue whale distribution is fueled by food requirements and that regional populations are based on seasonal migration patterns. Poleward movements in the spring allow whales to take advantage of high plankton production in the summer. Movement toward the subtropics in the fall allows blue whales to reduce their energy expenditure while fasting, avoid ice entrapment in areas, and engage in reproductive activities in warmer waters of lower altitudes. Blue whales have been described as “very nomadic”, as they rarely stay in the same particular area for more than ten days. Individual whales were documented to travel more than 400 km in a two-week period during the summer.

                                             (Online.SFSU)

        Blue whales were protected in portions of the Southern Hemisphere beginning in 1939. In 1955, they were given complete protection in the North Atlantic and this was extended to the Antarctic in 1965 and the North Pacific in 1966 (Gambell,1979; Best,1993). Blue whales are protected under both the Endangered Species Act (as an endangered species) and under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals (Baillie and Groombridge 1996) lists three geographical populations of blue whales, as follows: Antarctic stocks are “endangered”, North Pacific stocks are “low risk, conservation dependent”, and the North Atlantic stock is “vulnerable.”

           

            The human impact on blue whales is tremendous. Besides the Southern Japan subpopulation, which has nearly been extirpated by whaling, other human impacts on the blue whale population includes: collisions and disturbances from vessels, entrapment and entanglement in fishing gear, habitat degradation, and military operations such as sonar signals. Commercial whalers in the North Pacific, between 1910 and 1965, killed a reported total of 9,500 blue whales (Ohsumi and Wada 1972).

.

                                          (GettyImages)

The goal of the Recovery Plan is to promote recovery of blue whale populations to levels at which it becomes appropriate to down list them from endangered to threatened status, and to ultimately remove them from the list of Endangered and Threatened species. The primary purpose of the Plan is to identify a set of actions that will minimize or eliminate effects from human activities that are detrimental to the recovery of blue whale populations. However, since blue whales move freely across international borders, the Plan is going to need to not only focus on US waters but also involve a multi-national approach to blue whale protection. A brief outline of the Blue Whale Recovery Plan involves 7 major steps:

1)    Determine stock structure of Blue Whale populations occurring in U.S. waters and elsewhere

2)    Estimate the size and monitor trends in abundance of Blue Whale populations

3)    Identify and protect habitat essential to the survival and recovery of Blue Whale populations

4)    Reduce or eliminate human-caused injury and mortality of Blue Whales

5)    Minimize detrimental effects of directed vessel interactions with Blue Whales

6)    Maximize efforts to acquire scientific information from dead, stranded, and entangled Blue Whales

7)    Establish criteria for deciding whether to delist or down list Blue Whales

Works Cited Page

Baillie, J., and B. Groombridge (eds.). 1996. 1996 IUCN red list of threatened animals.       IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. 368 pp.

Best, P.B. 1993. Increase rates in severely depleted stocks of baleen whales. ICES J. mar.    Sci. 50:169-186.

Gambell, R. 1979. The blue whale. Biologist 26:209-215.

Lockyer, C.L. 1984. Review of baleen whale (Mysticeti) reproduction and implications         for management. Rep. int. Whal. Commn., Special Issue 6:27-48.

Ohsumi, S., and S. Wada. 1972. Stock assessment of blue whales in the North Pacific                    Unpublished working paper for the 24th meeting of the Scientific Committee of     the International Whaling Commission, 20 pp.

Rice, D.W. 1977. A list of the marine mammals of the world. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS      SSRF-711.

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/whale_blue.pdf

Pictures:

https://www.theschoolinthecloud.org/big_questions/why-is-there-nothing-bigger-in-the-ocean-than-a-blue-whale

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/blue-whale-fatally-injured-in-collision-high-res-stock-photography/476863311

http://online.sfsu.edu/bholzman/courses/Spring%2005%20projects/BlueWhale.htm