I’m on a kick here. This time it’s a Southern Right Whale calf sighted near Australia.
Narwhals
I had almost decided that I wasn’t going to blog today. I looked through the days news from the various sources I follow and didn’t find anything that seemed like a fit. I refuse to talk politics, so that was out… I surrendered and went on with my life. Then I found the following post in my Facebook “On this day” list.
The post is so old it was written back when they were still status and appended your writing directly after your name, so I always posted as if it was a statement about myself. With this in my head for the first time in years, I turned to the power of youtube…
I’m completely sure you really wanted a nearly decades old viral ear worm back in your head.
Giant Panda Conservation Success!
Originally Reported by LiveScience by Kacey Deamer.
The giant panda, commonly a symbol for conservation, is no longer considered an endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In an update to their Red List of Threatened Species on Sunday (Sept. 4), which assesses a species’ conservation status, the IUCN reported the giant panda population has improved enough for the endangered species label to be downgraded to “vulnerable.”
A nationwide census in 2014 found 1,864 giant pandas in the wild in China, excluding cubs — an increase from 1,596 in 2004, according to the IUCN. Including cubs, the current population count is approaching 2,060, the organization said. The report credits forest protection and reforestation measures in China for increasing the available habitat for the species.
On September 4th 2016 the IUCN made a historic update to the conservation status of the Giant Panda. This is huge in the conservation world due to how few major success stories there really are. This is also important because of the way the Giant Panda features as a poster child for conservation efforts. What better than to have it become a true success!
Hopefully this is just a reminder that we can make progress on these cases, and that we need to continue to add to the list of conservation success stories.
White Orcas!
I’m always astounded by images of unusual animals. That’s why last year I talked about the albino dolphin found by the Taiji roundup. That story was somewhat sad in that the family of the unusual specimen was destroyed by the pointless atrocity that is the Taiji Cove roundup.
The animal displayed above is called Iceberg. Iceberg was originally spotted in 2010. He’s part of a family that has remained together off the coast of Russia. The modern sighting has verified him and his family as part of the fish eating type of Orca, but his status as either true albino or leuistic has not yet been established. Russian waters are home to more than one white Orca, but this suggests that the population may be breeding closely and thus resulting in this concentration of recessively colored animals. Currently in Russia 5 white individuals have been confirmed, and there is evidence that suggests that the actual numbers might be as high as 8.
I look forward to the ongoing research on this unique population, and hope that the White Orcas of Russia continue to swim free!
