Endangered Fall 2021
A Little Birdy Told Me
Money Made, Blood Paid
Swinging Too Close to Death
A Little Birdy Told Me
Swinging Too Close to Death
Money Made, Blood Paid
aina Jacob By N
Howdy, In this magazine, you can dive deep into poaching, spark a flame of curiosity about wildfires, live a life with a wildlife biologist, and learn about giving a helping hand to the species. We hope you enjoy this magazine as much as we enjoyed creating it. We met each other in our electronic magazine(Ezine) class in our high school, the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. We were brought together by endangered animals to advocate for what these animals can’t say. Although our intentions were more directed toward getting a 100 from our Ezine teacher(Mr. Garcia if you’re reading this, please give us a 100), the endangered animal cause is also important for us. We are proud of the content that we could provide even though it took lots of determination to keep on working on this magazine when we didn’t know what it would look like at the end. Deadlines are a struggle for us. Procrastination was so tempting. Putting good quality work on a time limit is not a good combination. We have this magazine to show for our many many hours of work. This is our blood, sweat, and tears bound to pages with ink. We not ony devoted effort to this, but also something that we can’t get back. Time. Hours and hours of our lives are inlaid into this magazine, as jewels to a crown. Thanks for taking a few minutes to inform yourselves of these issues. Later Alligators, Naina Jacob, Alexa Lorenz, Ashley Ramirez, Brennan Lein
Endangered |1
T
A OF
C
O N T
B
L E
E N T S
MEET THE WRITERS Pg.4
MONEY MADE, BLOOD PAID Pg.6
THE PROBLEM IS ARMED Pg.8
SWINGING TOO CLOSE TO DEATH Pg.12
PLAY WITH FIRE Pg.14
Table of Contents by Ashley Ramirez Dedication by Brenan Lein Back Page by Naina Jacob 2| Endangered - Table of Contents
THE FUTURE FOR ANIMALS Pg.18
HEROES WITHOUT CAPES Pg.20
MONKEYING AROUND Pg.24
HELPING HANDS Pg.26
A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME Pg.28
MONKEYING AROUND Pg.32 (ANSWER KEY) Dedica
Front Page by Naina Jacob Letter from The Editors by Naina JacobMeet The Creators by Alexa Lorenz
n Page tio 3 pg.
3
Table of Contents - Endangered |3
Hiya strangers! I come in peace. I’m Naina Jacob (pic to the right), a freshman at LASA. When you can’t find me at school, you probably can find me doing flips on a trampoline at my friend’s house or in my garden. I love being outside, and my favorite weather is when it’s raining. I’ve worked on the “Heroes Without Capes‘’ feature story. It was great learning about the career of a Wildlife Biologist and how that job impacts the world. I don’t know what I want to do as a career, but I want a job that helps the world. I hope you enjoy reading this magazine just as much as we have enjoyed writing it. Au revoir mes amis!
4| Endangered - Meet the Writers
Hey, there! You! Yeah, You! I’m Brennan Lein (pic to the left), a 9th grader at LASA high school. I play Ultimate Frisbee, and our season starts this Spring! If you ever get bored, consider stopping by! We could use the support. I decided to write about something I feel passionate about. Poaching is my area of expertise, in this group. You can find me at the article, “The Problem is Armed”. I hope this article can drive the fight against poaching at least a little bit further. We all poured so much time and effort into this Ezine, and it warms our hearts that you are taking the time to read it. Please don’t take this and decide to start poaching out of spite. If you hate kids, then why are you here? Well, I’ll stop talking and let you get on to the articles. Find me again in my article! See you there!
Meet
The
Writers
By Alexa Lorenz
Sup dawgs, It’s Alexa Lorenz speaking (pic to the right). I’m probably the raddest freshman at LASA you will ever meet. I’m so fire that I worked on the “Play With Fire” feature story. If you read this whole magazine, I’ll give you a cookie cause we already besties. I would also like to give a shoutout to our unofficial leader Naina, she is mad cool. She’s really kept our group on task and all that, and I really appreciate it. Catch me in the halls, Peace
Hey, there! I’m Ashley Ramirez (pic to the left), a freshman at LASA. I am also the person that is writing the “Helping Hands” story. I’ve always enjoyed baking from time to time. In the future, I hope to open my own bakery with my mom or even a daycare, maybe even both! Before that I hope to major in Education and Business. But one thing I do not enjoy is writing, but I do like when our Animal Kingdom is unthreatened. That is why I chose to write about ways people around the world are helping our environment and animals. You can help too! Even a small act of kindness can make a big difference. Well, I hope you enjoy my article!
Photo by of Naina Jacob and Alexa Lorenz Meet the Writers - Endangered |5
Money Made,
Eventually, if this keeps up, Forest Elephants will go extinct.
Graphic by Naina Jacob
6| Endangered -Money Made Blood Paid
ss
s le n a me e s t an oduc h p pr le e e r s Les als to m ani
Blood Paid
Design by Brennan Lein
Disrup ted gr o of ele phant ups s have h igher le of a st ress h vels ormone associ at muscl ed with e and a weakness m tionin alfuncg system immune .
Poachers have been wiping out Forest Elephants in order to harvest their tusks to sell, or keep as trophies. The Ivory Trade is an incredibly proftable buisness, and many people get rich off the back of it.
Money Made, Blood Paid- Endangered |7
The Problem is Armed Blood, Ivory, and... Fingernails? By Brennan Lein
8| Endangered - The Problem is Armed
ice to see you again! I hope you enjoy this tion of licences and in only some cases, jail time. piece. At the same time, please use it to educate “If you are shooting deer at night, that’s a felony.” yourself. We need more awareness, so please listen. said Benjamin Echleson, a Texas Game Warden. With that out of the way, let’s dive in. In Texas, Pronghorns are among the animals Animals are key to survival. Human civilization that require the most protection because of their would die out from the loss of resources to which high value to big-game hunters. In the late 20th animals are essential. But what does this have to do century, there were 17,000 Pronghorns in the with poaching? So many of Earth’s Trans-Pecos area. Due to most important species are under an all time low in birthing attack because of their monetary rates, their numbers were or cultural value. Oceanic Whitetip put at around 2,000 in Sharks, for example, are currently 2012. There are so many being slaughtered for their fins, on-going cases in which which fetch over a 1000 American Pronghorns have been Dollars’ worth per kilo. Elephant shot for their bones and tusks in Africa are under high skulls, with their bodies -Benjamin Echleson, Texas demand as ivory prices currently being left for people to Game Warden range from 100-1800 American find. Game Wardens are dollars. Many of these animals are working to catch the keystone species in their respecperpetrators, and they are tive ecosystems, meaning they offering thousands of dolprovide a food source or are a lars in reward money leading predator which keeps another organism in check, to the capture and conviction of the poachers. or are in some other way essential. We take that “There are [Pronghorns] that are out towards species away, and a plant eater breeds out of conBig Bend Area, Elephant Mountain, and they need trol, or a predator at the top dies out from a lack of a lot of protecting because there just aren’t very food. Afterward the opposite happens at the other many of them.” Echleson replied when asked what end of the food chain, and the entire ecosystem animals in Texas need the most protection from collapses from a lack of this keystone species. This poaching. Overseas, Asian Elephants are also at happens enough, and eventually the Earth becomes risk. Their tusks are very valuable, fetching 100uninhabitable. Here’s some of the major prob1,800 American Dollars per kilogram. They are at lems, as well as some things you can do to help. massive risk. In Tsavo National Park in Kenya, there The Cambridge Dictionary defines poaching were 50,000 Elephants in 1960. In 2010, there as the act of catching and killing animals without were only 11,000. Since 2009, at least 10 Chinese permission on someone else’s land. Texas Parks and nationals have been arrested at airports in Kenya Wildlife Website defines it as to “Take, attempt to in the middle of trying to transport illegal Ivory take, or possess wildlife resources within a protected back East. Poaching is a ludicrous business, belength limit, in greater numbers, by other means, or cause people who can afford it will pay top dolat any time or place, other than as indicated withlar for thing like antlers, horns, tusks, and other in this guide or as may otherwise be provided by parts of the animal. Ivory from elephant tusks has law.” It goes a little deeper than that, of course, but founded one of the largest crime syndicates in the that’s the general idea. Poaching is illegal fishing world. Antlers from pronghorns are worth quite or hunting, period. However, it takes many forms. a lot to people who want to mount them on their Poaching can entail fishing on someone else’s land, walls, or make their bones into knives. hunting deer when it’s not deer season, or killing an endangered species. Poaching is regarded differently by different cultures. In Kenya, the punishment for poaching is usually jail time, whereas for Texans, they can face anything from a fine, to the revoca-
“We have people who are extremely invasive”
The Problem is Armed - Endangered |9
Internationally, park rangers have been working harder than ever to protect the Elephants. The assault rifles they carry send a pretty clear message. Unfortunately, it’s not clear enough. It’s a deadly sport for rangers and poachers alike. Shootouts erupt from time to time, resulting in deaths on both sides. The ‘89 ban on the Ivory trade worldwide has done little to stem the slaughter. More than 600,000 Elephants have died in the last 50 years, and measures taken to stop them have been unhelpful and ineffective. The punishments for poaching are somehow usually fines, and that’s if arrested poachers are even prosecuted. The problem is, it’s a low risk, high reward scenario. Poachers tend to become obscenely rich off the back of their cruel sport, and fines are so easy to pay for them, it just makes being arrested more of an inconvenience than anything. To aid this cause consider donating to VETPAW, an organization made up of ex-US Military people, fighting poachers and protecting Rhinos in Limpopo, Africa. A big part of the problem is ignorance. “So, there aren’t really poachers here in Texas.” said the Operations Manager at the Austin Wildlife Refuge.
Photo by Greg Schechter
In the image, Pronghorns rest in a field, but are always alert. These creatures take careful measures to survive, and to ensure the survival of their young. With the grouwing dangeres of these creatues in Texas, they must adapt in order to survive. Be aware of problems with poaching, and try to figure out what’s happening nearby. “Just be cognizant of the different laws and if they see someone violating them to contact their local game warden,” said Echleson. If something doesn’t look right, it’s important to report it. This action might save the animals’ lives. Ask where products originate. For example, some necklaces can come from illegal Ivory, or Keratim. Donate to these organizations dedicated to stopping poaching. So act now, and the planet can be saved.
“You need to figure out how to fix the problem” -Jeff O’Block, Texas Rancher
10| Endangered - The Problem is Armed
Interested in more reading? Try out these sites:
tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/hunting/general-regulations/laws-penalties-resti tution
texas-wildlife.org/resources/publications/the-problem-with-pronghorns
nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/poaching-animals
tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education/online-course/wildlife-conservation/threatene d-endangered-and-protect ed-animals
The Problem is Armed - Endangered |11
8,000 Hawksbill Turtles
10,000----8,000------
5,000 Eastern Lowland Gorilla
5,000-----3,000-----1,000------
500 BlackFooted Ferret
500--------400---------
250 Saola
300----------
Swin Too
200--------100---------
30 Amur Leopards 10 -----------
12| Endangered - Swinging Too Close to Death
The closer the animals are to the fire, the closer they are to extinction. The numbers state how many of that species are left.
De
1,040 Yangtze Finless Porpoise
nging
400 Sunda Tiger
Close To
eath
80 Sumatran Rhino 9 Vaquita
Graphics by Alexa Lorenz
Swinging Too Close to Death - Endangered |13
A human-started fire in in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan Tengah, Indonisia taken on September 29, 2011. Photos by Rini Sulalman (Norweigan Embassy) and complimentary of Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
Play
With
Fire
How Wildfires Affect Animals By Alexa Lorenz
14| Endangered - Play With Fire
ince the start of the 21st century, more forest fires are breaking out than before because global warming and climate change are getting worse. All it takes is a little bit of dried grass and the sun to be in the right place for a small spark to ignite a full fledged wildfire. Although most have been naturally started, there have been a number of reports stating that some fires were started on purpose by humans, but sometimes that can be a good thing.
Kimberly Hall, a climate change ecologist from The Nature Conservancy believes that without a controlled wildfire every now and then, a forest would get too overgrown, creating much worse fires down the road. “Forests where you’ve just been putting out fires so long that you have a really high density of trees and maybe a little bit of undergrowth that wouldn’t typically be there,” Hall said. “Those kinds of situations where we’ve really just been putting fires out to protect people usually
lead to, over time, just much bigger fires.” The smaller fires are needed to protect people that live near forest fire zones. Fires are dangerous, not only could they burn people, but also the smoke can damage people’s lungs. Many people with asthma or other lung problems might have trouble breathing when there’s little smoke. When there’s a lot of smoke, everyone will have trouble breathing. This is especially true when the fire is close to a major city or tourist attraction. “There are plenty of forests that keep catching on fire, and keep getting put out immediately,” Hall said. “This can lead to an over density of trees, undergrowth, and deitry [dead leaves].” She believes that if we keep on putting out these fires immediately we are in for much bigger fires later on. She thinks that sometimes, the fires just need to be left to burn. “Fire is often a really big part of how ecosystems work,” Hall said. “A lot of ecosystems really depend on that sort of disturbance.” They depend on a disturbance to flourish and sort of “re-birth.” The ashes and dead nature offer for great fertilizer, for new nature to grow. This kind of disturbance also protects from invasive species, because only the stuff that is supposed to be there will grow back. While Hall does
believe that fires can be beneficial in many many ways, she does believe it has its harms as well. Especially when talking about animals. “The fire can obviously be damaging to individual species,” Hall said. When fires happen in a region sporting an entire species of animal or at least a majority of the species, fires get a lot more serious. Even though Hall knows fires are dangerous, she also knows they can help with
Play With Fire - Endangered |15
future forest growth. “I’m at war with myself here,” Hall explained Hall said fires should be put out for the animals, after stating all the benefits of wildfires to the ecosystems themselves. Tracy Weeks of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) believes that fires
“Fencing and human growth are blocking animals from escape or [safe] habitat,” -Tracy Weeks, IFAW
16| Endangered - Play With Fire
do much more harm than good. That she rather prioritizes the animals’ lives more than the wonderful benefits of wildfires. Animals that cannot escape due to a number of reasons especially concern Weeks, who cares about individual lives as well as the lives of entire species. This makes sense especially considering TNC is more so focused on Nature and IFAW is more so focused on the animals themselves. “Many animals like tortoises, koalas, [and others are] slow moving and cannot escape fires,” Weeks said. While some animals such as birds or snakes,
many are not able to. Some will try to run, some will try to take shelter, and others will actually try to climb the trees. Koalas will actually climb the burning trees in an attempt to escape the fire. Such animals like that are helpless against these catastrophes. “Fencing and human growth are blocking animals from escape or [safe] habitat,” Weeks said. “It’s heartbreaking.” Animals that are so lucky to escape the wildfire may be blocked by human infrastructure. Fences and cities and roads to name a few may trap the animals
in the fire. Even just foot-tall smooth blockers are enough to block koalas. They are placed along roads to prevent animals from getting run over, but there have been quite a few reports of them preventing escape from fires. Fires can be very chaotic for animals, more so when firefighters show up. While the firefighters are there to help, this causes confusion for animals, often causing them to run away and closer to the fire. “Fires are beneficial to make new growth and new habitats for new animals, but they are happening on an epic and very dangerous scale now,”
“Those kinds of situations where we’ve really just been putting fires out to protect people usually lead to, over time, just much bigger fires.” - Kimberly Hall, Climate Change Ecologist, TNCww
Stacey Hedman of IFAW, Donal Boyd of IFAW, and Paolo Torchio of IFAW
Weeks said. Weeks does see Many of the good things forest fires bring. She also addressed how fires make way for new habitats for new animals, proving fires are not all bad for animals as a whole. Individual animals will suffer, but it does have avail for species of animals. “It is nice to go home being a part of making the world better for animals and people, too,” Weeks said. Even if it is difficult to manage forest fires, Hall said it can be rewarding. “Sometimes it’s hard to really feel like you’re making a
difference in the world, but then I take a bigger look and realize that it’s just one step at a time,” Hall said. “I’m doing my best, I’m doing my part and I think that’s what really gives me the most joy from my job.” Play With Fire- Endangered |17
The Future for Animals
Data from survey at LASA conducted by Naina Jacob
) (9.8% s e Y I do my future c n’t kn aree o r( w 17 .4
%
)
Does your future career involve animals? No (72.8%)
1. Texas Kangaroo Rat
The Texas Kangaroo rat classified as threatened species. They like to inhabit places where there are sparse, short grasses and small, scattered mesquite bushes.
3. Golden-Cheeked Warbler
The endangered Golden-Cheeked Warbler only exclusively nests in central Texas, laying only 3-4 eggs during nesting season. Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife
18| Endangered - The Future For Animals
Graphics by Naina Jacob
When people think about changing the world, they think about becoming doctors, firefighters, policemen, but very few imagine a job that saves the animals. Here’s the percentage of people at LASA who want a career with animals.
2. Horny Lizard
The threatened horny lizard, nicknamed “Horny Toad” is found in slightly arid habitats with little plant cover. These horned lizards need loose sand or loamy soils for creating their nesting or hibernation place.
4. Whooping Crane
These endangered species are nearly 5 feet in height with a wingspan 7.5 ft earning their title of the tallest bird in North America. Whooping Cranes typically spend the winter on the Texas coast.
5. Ocelot
The Ocelot is an endangered species who suffers from loss of habitat, but efforst are being made to create a more suitable habitat for theis species
1.
3. 2.
4.
5.
The Animals
Deep in the
HEART of
Texas
Many Texans aren’t aware of the creatures that call Texas home. These endangered or threatened animals all hold a special place in the heart of Texas and its up to everyone to keep these animals from going extinct. Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife
The Future For Animals - Endangered |19
Heroes Without Capes By Naina Jacob
Photo by Nathan Rains
Behind the Scenes of a Wildlife Biologist 20| Endangered - Heroes Without Capes
Wildlife Biologists are involved in prescribed fires and habitat management and improvement.
raveling in a canoe on water tracking birds without depending on sight, or working with snakes and other reptiles to help save ecosystems are situations that Wildlife Biologists can encounter Being a wildlife biologist, traveling, helping, researching, and working with animals are all on the agenda, according to Derrick Wolter works at Texas Parks and Wildlife as a wildlife biologist. “A lot of people when they think of Texas Parks wants to think of law enforcement or Game Wardens,” Wolter said. ”The two big things are we work with private landowners to help them improve habitat for native plants and animals. And number two, we do a lot of what we call regulatory work.”
Photo courtesy of Nathan Rains
Wildlife biologists don’t enforce rules. They work on finding trends in data to influence these rules. Their regulatory work consists of doing surveys, tracking the growth, or the migration patterns of animals. Occasionally wildlife biologists have to work with the creature’s natural rhythm. David Holdermann, a nongame wildlife biologist who works with birds at Texas Parks and Wildlife, explained most jobs have a typical 8-5 work hours, but for a wildlife biologist, the hours depend on the animal they’re working with. “Let’s say if I were doing the breeding bird surveys along the river, rivers over
here, typically, I’d be getting up at three or four in the morning,” Holdermann said. “Because we have to Photo courtesy of Derrick Wolter launch our boats and actually be out monitoring by probably 10 or 15 minutes before sunrise,” said Holdermann. Morning hours don’t apply to all wildlife biologists, a lot of their jobs can be from 8-5 but there are special cases. Holdermannn works with birds who are more active in the morning, so he has to do his breeding bird surveys early. Traveling is another factor that changes between all wildlife biologists Whether it’s a 30 minute drive or a 3 hour flight, wildlife biologists don’t do the same amount of travel. It all depends on the situation. “I’ve worked in Texas, so Texas, New Mexico, Alaska, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia,” said Holdermann. “And, you know, I’ve traveled a little bit internationally giving papers, and that sort of thing.” Where wildlife biologists travel changes between the animals they work or the projects they take. Holdermann has travelled quite exotically when compared to some other Biologists but that doesn’t mean other biologists don’t travel at all. Since some animals have recovery efforts being done in nearby zoos
Snakes are on of the diverse amount of animals that Wildlife biologists work with. Heroes Without Capes - Endangered |21
rather than areas or habitats that require hiking or kayaking some trips can be just a drive away just like for Nathan Rains who is a Wildlife Diversity Biologist at Texas Parks and Wildlife. “So I work with a bunch of different zoos, where we’re trying to breed them[horned lizards] in captivity, and then we release them back into the wild,” said Rains. “ And then we have other stuff that comes up from time to time. We have some rattlesnakes that are in danger, we have some species called a Texas kangaroo rat, which is a little rodent that’s endangered. “ While traveling may seem appealing, there is a part of the job that Rains dislikes. A wildlife biologist must document their data to help determine trends which can help put in place rules and procedures to save these animals. “ So when I get out you know what I get to go out in the field and help with data collection and doing these research projects from field work that’s the funnest part. Of course I’m a lot of my job is sitting at the computer, doing more boring stuff, but getting out in the field and doing research is the best part by far.” said Rains. There are different skills acquired from being a wildlife biologist. Trying to track down an animal in dense foliage can be challenging, especially if the ani22| Endangered - Heroes Without Capes
mal is endangered or threatened, so in the case of Holdermann he had to rely on other senses than just sight. “Because we monitor the birds, we detect them by ear. The birds are in very dense foliage, may be high in a tree may be low in the brush, but you don’t really have the opportunity along these monitoring lines,” said Holdermannn. “That is a kayak
“That’s kind of a spark. For me, it really goes to the concept of discovery. So you’re learning something about the life history, or the biological parameters of an animal that maybe no one knows anything about. So already, you might be finding it in a place where no one’s found it before...” said Holdermannn. Derrick Wolter feels being a wildlife biologist allows him to impact species while helping others maintain their land.
“Breaking into this profession, it is not necessarily easy. It’s not a guarantee.”
-Dave Holdermann, Wildlife Biologist at Texas Parks and Wildlife
going down the river to see the bird because the birds are, you know, they conceal themselves in the foliage. So we’re actually doing the detection by ear where we listen for the bird to sing and the singing of the male breeding birds is in the spring. So that’s when the field work is actually done. That’s when we can detect them.” Aside from travel and documenting, a wildlife biologist does many other activities. For Holdermannn, his favorite part of being a wildlife biologist is discovery,
“The favorite part of my job is the people helping a big part of what we do is because Texas is primarily privately owned, you know, over over 90, about 95% of the land is privately owned in Texas, and so to For Texas Parks and Wildlife to have an impact on native plants and native animals.” said Wolter
Being a wildlife biologist impacts the future, while also having enjoyable experiences traveling and working with animals, Holdermann explained. discovery is something “If that you know, stimulates you or anybody else that’s interested, and studying animals, if that’s important, then this is a good place to be, if you want to make a positive contribution to mankind, to your fellow Texans, to humanity anywhere,” Holdermann said. “This is a good profession.”
Photo courtesy of Derrick Wolter
Photo courtesy of Nathan Rains
Photo courtesy of Nathan Rains
Photo courtesy of Derrick Wolter Photo courtesy of Derrick Wolter
The Scenes
From clockwise, starting from top left: Wildlife biologists work with animals such as turtles, birds, and snakes. Their job involves releasing animals back into the wild, like this morning dove. A wildlife biologist measures and tracks the height of the threatened horny lizard species. Their job usually involves travelling to different areas such as hill country. Since they often track and measure data from the animals, its often helpful to add arm bands around animals such as the white wing dove. Heroes Without Capes - Endangered |23
Monkeying Graphics by Naina Jacob
Feline for a game? Paws what your doing and do these activities. Toucan do it! Check your answers on pg 12.
Find Me Find Me! I appear somewhere in this magazine. Give up?
Solve This Caesar Shift RYRCUNAGF NER GUR BAYL NAVZNY GUNG PNA’G WHZC Source: didyouknow.com Caesar Shift Code: Naina Jacob
24| Endangered - Monkeying Around
Around Which is false? One of these bizarre “facts” isn’t true. Use your smarts and see if you can locate the lie.
Fact #1 Ever eaten a rock? The extinct Dodo bird uses rocks to aid with digestion by eating them with their fruits, nuts, seeds, and other food sources.
Fact #2 Who says fish can’t fly? The Flying Fish is a certain species of fish that can fly by using their “wings” or fins to propel them across long distances. They can be in the air and in the water.
Fact #3 Ever heard of Climate Change? Climate Change is caused by a excess amount of greenhouse gases which trap heat in the earth causing the earth to heat up. Cows are responsible for methane production which is a greenhouse gas. Methane gase from livestock contributes a lot to climate change!
What animal keeps the best time?
Riddle Me This Monkeying Around - Endangered |25
A Little Bird Told Me...
What Do High School Students Think? By Ashley Ramirez High students are ask what kind of organization they know down below, then a little descripition of the organizations too! Then to the right is the vote of the student of what they think is the most endangered animal in the world is right now, and below that is what the students responses on what they think should be done for the animals. W W F
Defender of Wildlife-Defenders of Wildlife is a solution-oriented organization dedicated to saving rare animals and plants, conserving habitat and building a broad constituency for protecting wildlife and wild places. Save the Elephants(STE)-Save the Elephants is working for peaceful coexistence between humans and elephants and provides outreach around the world to help secure a better future for elephants.
H A S
S T E
W C N
I U C N
N D O E F I E D N E D A E R S O F W I L D L I F E
26| Endangered - A Little Bird Told Me
Internationl Union for Converation of Nature(ICUN)-is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. Its experts are organised into six Commissions dedicated to species survival, environmental law, protected areas, social and economic policy, ecosystem management, and education and communication.
O T H E R
Wildlife Converation Network(WCN)-Wildlife Conservation Network(WCN)- theWildlife Conservation has many education programs where they teacher adults how to teach others about the problem of animals and plants and also some other people from the Wildlifre Conservation teach children about the engandered of the world. They also have mant project that are helping many animals in the world today. World Wild Foundation(WWF)-WWF works to help local communities conserve the natural resources they depend upon; transform markets and policies toward sustainability; and protect and restore species and their habitats. Our efforts ensure that the value of nature is reflected in decision-making from a local to a global scale.
What Are The Mosted Endangered Animal Right Now?
Vote Of The Students
9
Top 10 Endangered Animals In The World1. Javan Rhinoceros 2. Orangatans 3. Gorillas 4. Snow Leopards 5. Sea Otters 6. Asian Elephants 7. Blue Whales 9. Tigers 10. Giant Pandas
6
Other 8
22
What should be done ?
3
High school student ‘ Carys DeCrane’ says “we should have better enforcement of hunting laws to protect them”. High school student ‘Vinson Ratcliffgary’ says “Endangered animals should have habitats protected by federal laws, with fines for those who break the regulation. Additionally, they should have some moved to controled habitat so that they can breed, and won’t go extinct.” High school student ‘Chandana Dubakula’ say “We have to fix the root of the problem. Restoring the environment to give these animals a stable habitat is one thing. Another is to get rid of illegal poachers. High school student ‘Mayumi Cardenas’ says “Endangered animals should immediately be moved out of harm’s way and into a safe habitat so that their species can slowly recover. There should be rules of laws established so that the species cannot be killed or harvested for their resources as well.” A Little Bird Told Me - Endangered |27
Helping Hands
The Organizations Of Endangered By Ashley Ramirez
W
rhinoceros, Javan rhinoceros, and damaging in some of the hen people go to the zoo Sumatran rhinoceros in Asia. To habitats for rhinos as well.” said to see animals, they might save these creatures, humans Whitlatch not realize that every According to the World species they look at Wildlife Foundation [WWF], is dying out because the use of plastic worsened “Plastics are getting to of things people have between the 1950s to the done.The poaching of places that you never would late 1970s. Later in the deprevious generations, the plastic use became expect like the top of Maya cades the trash from fast uncontrollable, it began to food, and personal care Mountains.” double through the decades products like palm oil and even tripled in less than a have all affected the -Christopher Witlacth, Helping decade. More than 8.3 billion planet.For planet Earth tons have been produced to survive to the future, Hands since the 50’s. Studies show scientists say people that by 2050 the oceans are going to have to do could more to fix the probcontain more plastic than lems. fish. The International rhino “One of the things we talk Foundation [IRF] is a charity have to control their waste, a lot about is plastics, right?” said that focuses on the conserexplained Christopher Whitlatch Lily Mleczko, a volunteer with the vation of the five species: the of IRF. Wildlife Conservation Society. white rhinoceros and black “... You know, plastics are The non-profit organization has rhinoceros in Africa, the Indian SUMATRAN RHINO- Fewer than 80 left • Status: Critically Endangered • The Sumatran rhino is the most threatened of all rhinoceros species. • Numbers have decreased by more than 50% because of poaching over the last 20 years. • Fewer than 80 Sumatran rhino survive in very small and highly fragmented populations in Indonesia. SUMATRAN RHINO FACTS: • Weight: 1,300 - 2,000 lbs (600 - 950 kg) • Length: 6.5 - 9.5 ft (2.0 - 3.0 m) • Sumatran rhinos are very vocal, with a range of distinct calls. Photo Courtesy of Internation Rhino Foundation Information Courtesy of International Rhino Foundation 28| Endangered - Helping Hands
education programs that teach adults and children about the life of endangered species, said climate change is a major factor, and people can help those species that are endangered. “Using less plastic brings reusable bags and reusable coffee mugs and silverware and reusable tupperware because the plastics are really, really bad in our oceans,” Mleczko said. “I mean, there are big floating
This is the Palm Oil that is a big impact to Rhinos all around the world.
“But most of the plastic we use doesn’t get recycled” -Lily Mleczko, Helping Hands
Photo courtesy Ellie Hutchin islands the size of Texas out in the Pacific ocean that are all made up of plastic and a lot of the scientists that study seabirds will find just so many tropical plastics in them because it looks like food.” The plastic trash in the Pacific ocean is the size of Texas. WCS had a product called bird friendly coffee, which is the coffee that people can buy that they grow coffee underneath the shade of the rainforest and instead of cutting the rainforest down. Also they have chocolate products that grow the same way and we still get our coffee and chocolate.
They have a lot of programs where high school students and they’ll come and they’ll work with them and learn how to research, do research on animals in the wild and they would go to parks all around New York City. They have virtual classes from 1st grade all the way to 8th grade students. This can help the younger generation to learn and experience researching animals, and the studies of the animals, and the importance of the animals that the Wildlife Conservation Society teaches these children.
Photo courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society
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“You say Oh, well, if you recycle, it’s okay. But now we know most of our recycling doesn’t actually ever get reused,” Mleczko said. “So it’s good to recycle if you can, but it’s better to try not to buy plastics in the first place.” The Sumatran rhino is one of the animals that is affected by these palm oil plantations, according to IRF. The palm oil plantation makes the Sumatran rhinos habitat unusable for the species to live because of the production of the palm oil. There are many threats to the rhino population like poaching is one of the biggest threats to the rhino populations. The factories of the production of the palm oil can cause loss of habitat for the rhinos because they drive the rhinos out of their habitat to build factories. Many items not thought to be problematic, like shampoo, instant noodles,pizza dough, or lipstick, could still cause major problems for habitats like those of the rhinos. Mieczko said the Wildlife Conservation rescues animals in Central and South America. Sometimes, those animals get so hurt that they can no longer survive in the wild by
themselves. “We also have programs where we teach the teachers about science and the animals and things like that.” said Mleczko She said two bald eagles, one hit by a plane and the other shot by a hunter, could no longer fly on their own. They had to be taken to a zoo where they could be fed and be taken care of because they could no longer take care of themselves. Then there were two cubs that their mother was shot in the wild, the cubs could no longer survive by themselves because they didn’t know a thing about surviving in the wild, so they went to WCS. “We have lots of different education programs,” Mieczko said. “We work with schools all around New York City. Every year we teach students about the animals and they learn about all the work we do around the world, protecting the animals.” WCS has a lot of programs where high school students come and they’ll work with them and learn how to research, do research on animals in the wild and they would go to parks all around New York City. They have virtual classes from 1st grade all the way to 8th grade students. This can help
the younger generation to learn and experience researching animals, and the studies of the animals, and the importance of the animals that the organization teaches these children. “We really like it’s really important for us to teach them about the things they can do to help animals save endangered species,” Mieczko said. “You know all these things that are affecting them around the world.” “Climate change is a major threat to wildlife we’re seeing all over the world with the bleaching of the coral reefs and animals going in the wrong direction of the migrating further north,” said Mleczko “Thinking about the use and walking and riding our bikes and stuff more, turning off the lights in our houses and switching to renewable energy in our buildings and our cities and driving the buses and things to switch to electric vehicles and more renewable energy.” The International Animal Rescue [IRA] has helped many animals all around the world. Laurence Holyoak, the US program director with IAR, said they have helped many dancing bears in India in 2009. They have many other programs that have
This is Nelson a bear that has spent 30 long years living in this horrendous cage and his owner refuses to give him up, claiming that he loves the bear.
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Photo Courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society
For more than 400 years sloth bears in India were exploited as dancing bears. Mother bears were killed so that poachers could take and sell their cubs to perpetuate this barbaric practice.The practice of dancing bears was made illegal in India in 1972. Working with our Indian partners Wildlife SOS (WSOS) we rescued more than 620 dancing bears and in 2009 together we rescued the very last one off the streets. Photo Courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society
helped them recover from “We had to start with people first, their injuries. because we had to help the people “It’s a very as well,” emotional job,” Holyoak - Laurence Holyoak, Helping Hands said. “When we see an animal getting released back to the wild running into the to help the people as well,” forest like, you know we live for Holyoak said. those moments.” “With the dancing bears, Their main project was that they we knew we just couldn’t just worked on in India. She was take their bears away from given a short DVD that someone them,” Holyoak said. “They showed her and that’s when she would go and poach another knew that she needed to help bear and it would just be a cythem. They had four bear cle that would sanctuaries. The people that continue.” previously owned the bears would IAR then helped the get a poker and put it under a former bear very hot flame and hammer it into owners find new careers that their noses to make them dance. didn’t involve animal cruelty. When they got the sanctuaries for “I think that these the bears they were able to bring problems you really really have the bears to it, and also were able to take a comprehensive apto enforce a law in 2009 so they proach, and I mean it’s kind of could stop people from doing this fascinating to the bears. because I get calls and emails “We had to start with the from people angry actually like people first, because we had these people say they need
to be punished and they would ask me if we had put them in jail,” Holyoak said. Holyoak said that she knew that these people weren’t trying to hurt any animals, and at the end of the day they were trying to survive and trying to feed their families and they had no other way to do that. Most of the time if people are given an alternative, they will take it. “Can you imagine how unsuccessful we would be if we went to a country and said we want everybody and take your bears, like you can’t do that, it’s not helping anyone,” Holyoak said. It is hard to raise money for international projects. Holyoak feels most people want to support things in their local town or state.People want to go and see the difference that they’re making.
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The Answers to Monkeying Around (pg _)
Find Me The picture appears at the top right corner on “Behind the Scenes of a Wildlife Biologist” pg _
Solve This Caesar Shift Shift each letter 13 places from its place in the alphabet, so a becomes n. Then replace each letter with their corresponding shifted place. You get, “ ELEPHANTS ARE THE ONLY ANIMAL THAT CAN’T JUMP”
Which is false? Fact#1: It’s True! Dodo birds eat the rocks to aid their digestion process. These rocks sit and grind up the food. Crazy right? Source: wildkratts.fandom.com/wiki/Dodo Fact #2: It’s false! Despite their name, flying fish can’t actually fly! They use their “wings” to help glide them high above the water. Source: The National Wildlife Federation Fact #3: It’s True! Although carbon emmission is the main cause of Climate Change, livestock do pro duce methane gas as a result from digestion which is the second most present gas in the atomosphere. You can aid in slowing down climate change by biking instead of driving to nearby stores and places. Source: https://www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/making-cattle-more-sustainable
Riddle Me This
Ans: A watch dog! Source: www.brainzilla.com/brain-teasers/riddles/8aV3xpMq/what-animal-keeps-the-best-time/ 32| Endangered - Monkeying Around (Answers)
Dedicated to the Game Wardens, Park Rangers, Wildlife Refugee Volunteers, Biologists and other conservationists. Thank you for the work that’s been tirelessly done to protect our enviornment and the creatures that live in it. Thank you all.
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