Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Admin Rollback of Law Protecting Migratory Birds
12 August
Politics
A northern mockingbird on June 24, 2016. Renee Grayson / CC BY 2.0
Environmentalists and ornithologists found a friend in a federal court on Tuesday when a judge struck down a Trump administration attempt to allow polluters to kill birds without repercussions through rewriting the Migratory Treaty Bird Act (MBTA).
<p>The issue at the heart of the case is that the Trump administration intended to change decades of established policy to allow the incidental slaughter of migratory birds as long as an individual or corporation could prove they did not intend to intentionally kill the bird, according to The Washington Post.</p><p>In a scathing decision, U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni questioned the humanity of an administration that would interpret the "taking" and "killing" of birds in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as only applying to actions that specifically targeted birds.</p><p>In upholding the longstanding interpretation of the century-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act that energy companies and other businesses have opposed as too broad, she quoted the iconic American novel <em>To Kill a Mocking Bird</em>, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-birds-trump/u-s-court-blocks-trump-administrations-relaxation-of-migratory-bird-safeguards-idUSKCN2580EK" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>"It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime," the judge wrote, according to Reuters.</p><p>"That has been the letter of the law for the past century. But if the Department of the Interior has its way, many mockingbirds and other migratory birds that delight people and support ecosystems throughout the country will be killed without legal consequence."</p>
<p>As <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/511603-interior-memo-scaling-back-bird-protections-is-contrary-to-law" target="_blank">The Hill</a> noted, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) has for over 100 years offered protections to 1,000 different types of birds, instigating penalties for companies whose projects or infrastructure harm them. Yet, in 2017, the Interior Department's Solicitor Daniel Jorjani, a former Koch Industries employee, advised punishing the oil and gas industry, construction companies, and others only if their work intentionally kills birds, effectively ending the spirit of the law that asks for the migratory patterns of birds to be considered when developing a project.</p><p>"The opinion freezes the MBTA in time as a hunting-regulation statute, preventing it from addressing modern threats to migrating bird populations," Caproni wrote in a decision vacating the opinion, calling it "an unpersuasive interpretation of the MBTA's unambiguous prohibition on killing protected birds," according to The Hill.</p>
<p>As The Washington Post pointed out, the opinion of Jorjani would have meant that BP, the company responsible for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, would not be responsible for the death of roughly 1 million birds that died due to that accident. The law would also mean that if an oil company forgot to cover a tar pit and birds landed it and died, the company would not be responsible, upending decades of existing regulations.</p><p>The opinion was hailed by environmentalists and by advocacy groups. "We're elated to see this terrible opinion overturned at a time when scientists are warning that we've lost as many as 3 billion birds [in North America] in the last 50 years," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued over the opinion, as The Hill reported. "To relax rules, to have the unhampered killing or birds didn't make any sense [and] was terrible and cruel really."</p><p>"Today's commonsense ruling is a much-needed win for migratory birds and the millions of Americans who cherish them," said Mike Parr, president of American Bird Conservancy, in a <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2020/200811-0" target="_blank">statement</a>. "The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is one of our nation's most important environmental laws, and has spurred industry innovation to protect birds, such as screening off toxic waste pits and marking power lines to reduce collisions. This decision represents the next vital step on the path to restoring our nation's declining bird populations and is a major victory for birds and the environment."</p>
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A sand tiger shark swims over the USS Tarpon in Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. Tane Casserley / NOAA
By John R. Platt
Here at The Revelator, we love a good shark story.
The problem is, there aren't all that many good shark stories. According to recent research, sharks and their relatives represent one of the world's most imperiled groups of species. Of the more than 1,250 known species of sharks, skates, rays and chimeras — collectively known as chondrichthyan fishes — at least a quarter are threatened with extinction.
<p>That's just what we know so far. About half of all shark species have a conservation status of "data deficient," meaning we have no idea how well they're doing or whether they're at risk.</p><p>But that's why it's so important to tell stories about sharks. They're our lens into issues like conservation, ocean protection, overfishing, coastal development, wildlife trafficking and so much more. And as frequently maligned species — <em>Jaws</em>, anyone? — sharks also help us to understand our relationship with predators that may seem scary but don't really pose much of a threat.</p><p>Sharks also give us an opportunity to talk about <em>people</em> — the people living near them, the people harming them, the people who rely on them, and most importantly the experts working to understand and conserve them.</p><p>And honestly, sharks are just fascinating. They come in all manner of shapes and sizes; often boast amazing behaviors; serve important roles in their ecosystems; and have wide and varied reproductive strategies — some of which make them more vulnerable to exploitation. Oh, and most of them look pretty cool (although there are a few oddities in the bunch — we're talking about you, <a href="https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/goblin-shark" target="_blank">goblin sharks</a>).</p>
<p>So let's keep talking about sharks — whether it's during Shark Week or the other 51 weeks of the year.</p><p>With that in mind, we've collected our best essays and articles about sharks and related conservation issues (and we'll add to this list as we go along). Check them out below:</p>
Speaking of Shark Week:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/film-fakery-shark-week-conservation/" target="_blank">Film Fakery: Does Shark Week Harm Conservation Efforts?</a></p>Big Questions:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/shark-conservation-success/" target="_blank">Are We Ready for Shark Conservation to Succeed?</a></p>Sharks and Fisheries:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/protect-sharks-overfishing/" target="_blank">How to Protect Sharks From Overfishing</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/florida-anglers-endangered-sharks/" target="_blank">Florida Anglers Are Targeting Endangered Sharks</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/recreational-fishing-environmental-impact/" target="_blank">Fishing for Fun? It Has a Bigger Environmental Impact Than We Thought</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/fins-protected-sharks-traded/" target="_blank">Fins from Protected Shark Species Still Heavily Traded</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/essential-unprotected-fish-habitats/" target="_blank">'Essential' But Unprotected: How the United States Fails Its Most Important Fish Habitats</a></p>Sharks and the Extinction Crisis:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/lost-shark/" target="_blank">Found But Lost: Newly Discovered Shark May Be Extinct</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/rhino-rays-cites/" target="_blank">A Chance to Save the 'Rhinos of the Sea'</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/one-million-extinctions/" target="_blank">What Losing 1 Million Species Means for the Planet — and Humanity</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/extinction-crisis-keep-feeling-overwhelmed/" target="_blank">The Extinction Crisis is Here. How do We Keep from Feeling Overwhelmed?</a></p>Broader Ocean and Conservation Issues:
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/ocean-biodiversity-mpa/" target="_blank">The Top 10 Ocean Biodiversity Hotspots to Protect</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/protect-species-environmental-dna/" target="_blank">How Do You Protect a Species You Can't See?</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/global-ocean-treaty/" target="_blank">Here's Our Best Opportunity to Save the Oceans — and Ourselves</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/coral-reef-replanting/" target="_blank">Coral in Crisis: Can Replanting Efforts Halt Reefs' Death Spiral?</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/oceans-challenges/" target="_blank">What Are the Biggest Challenges for Saving the Oceans?</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/empowering-communities-save-ocean/" target="_blank">Empowering Communities to Save the Ocean</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/toxic-plastic-pollution-food-chain/" target="_blank">Something Fishy: Toxic Plastic Pollution Is Traveling Up the Food Chain</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/trump-offshore-oil-wildlife/" target="_blank">Trump's Offshore Oil Plan: Like Nothing the Country Has Ever Seen</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/john/" target="_blank">John R. Platt</a> <em>is the editor of <em>The Revelator</em>. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in <em>Scientific American</em>, <em>Audubon</em>, <em>Motherboard</em>, and numerous other magazines and publications. His "Extinction Countdown" column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Ore., where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/sharks-imperiled/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Bystanders watch the MV Wakashio bulk carrier from which oil is leaking near Blue Bay Marine Park in southeast Mauritius, on August 6, 2020. Photo by Dev Ramkhelawon / L'Express Maurice / AFP / Getty Images
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, renowned for its coral reefs, is facing an unprecedented ecological catastrophe after a tanker ran aground offshore and began leaking oil.
<p>The 984-foot MV Wakashio ran aground on July 25 and began to break up due to rough waters, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/07/mauritius-facing-environmental-disaster-after-striken-bulk-carrier-leaks-oil?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR39uaSW-9_KYfuYZMv1Sqh66zFJLGtQqgCEv42JH6rs73MIOttQcD0iEds" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. It contained about 220.5 tons of diesel fuel and 4,189 tons of bunker fuel.</p><p>"We are in an environmental crisis situation," Mauritius' environment minister Kavy Ramano said according to The Guardian.</p>
<div id="3bdfb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6c8ea0ce2a9151f222fbc67584beda1e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291356236219387906" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🇲🇺 The authorities in Mauritius have warned of a major oil spill after a Panama-flagged ship reported a "leakage".… https://t.co/C7irK1e9g8</div> — BBC News Africa (@BBC News Africa)<a href="https://twitter.com/BBCAfrica/statuses/1291356236219387906">1596718293.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The environment ministry announced the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-spill" target="_self">oil spill</a> on Thursday, according to an AFP story published <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/tourist-hotspot-mauritius-hit-oil-spill-ship-grounds-200807054651300.html" target="_blank">by Al Jazeera</a>. The ship ran aground at Pointe d'Esny off the southeast of Mauritius, which is considered a "wetland of international importance" by the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/water/wetlands/ramsar" target="_blank">Ramsar Convention</a>. Mauritius depends on its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a> for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fish" target="_self">fish</a> and tourism. It is also a major exporter of tuna, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-47639452?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5f2bf24953c3fb067a7286fd%26Mauritius%20coast%20hit%20by%20oil%20spill%262020-08-06T12:13:14.186Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:b0a37ecf-3c2b-4848-a562-cb28e0403c11&pinned_post_asset_id=5f2bf24953c3fb067a7286fd&pinned_post_type=share" target="_blank">BBC News</a> reported.</p><p>"This is the first time that we are faced with a catastrophe of this kind, and we are insufficiently equipped to handle this problem," Fishing Minister Sudheer Maudhoo said, AFP reported.</p><p>Mauritius is currently receiving help from the French island of Reunion and has asked other international and regional organizations to assist, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-06/mauritius-bars-access-to-beach-as-oil-leaks-from-stranded-vessel" target="_blank">Bloomberg reported</a>.</p>
<p>The MV Wakashio sails under a Panamanian flag but is owned by the Japanese company Nagashiki Shipping, The Guardian reported. All crew members were evacuated safely.</p><p>Nagashiki Shipping said that rough weather had caused the spill and made cleanup more difficult.</p><p>"Due to bad weather and constant pounding over the past few days, the starboard side bunker tanker has been breached and an amount of fuel oil has escaped into the sea," the company told Bloomberg by email. "In view of poor sea conditions salvage efforts are currently on hold."</p>
<p>A floating barrier has been placed around the ship to contain the oil.</p><p>Oceanographer Vassen Kauppaymuthoo said this was the first time Mauritius had seen such a devastating oil spill.</p><p>"It may have caused irreversible environmental damage to the southeastern coast of Mauritius," Kauppaymuthoo told Bloomberg. </p><p><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/" target="_blank">Greenpeace Africa</a>, meanwhile, said the incident demonstrated another example of the dangers of using and transporting <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>.</p>
<div id="7eb49" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="83819841e380a7072ec66d3186c160e8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291705003984510977" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨RESPONSE to #Mauritius #OILSpill 🚨 “Once again we see the risks in oil: aggravating the #ClimateCrisis, as well as… https://t.co/PBLioZat6X</div> — Greenpeace Africa (@Greenpeace Africa)<a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeaceafric/statuses/1291705003984510977">1596801446.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"There is no guaranteed safe way to extract, transport and store fossil fuel products. This oil leak is not a twist of fate, but the choice of our twisted addiction to fossil fuels. We must react by accelerating our withdrawal from fossil fuels," Greenpeace Africa Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager Happy Khambule said in a <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/press/11864/greenpeace-africa-response-to-mauritius-oil-spill/?utm_campaign=oil&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=post&utm_content=single-image&utm_term=mauritius-oil-spill-reactive" target="_blank">statement Friday</a>. "Once again we see the risks in oil: aggravating the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, as well as devastating oceans and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> and threatening local livelihoods around some of Africa's most precious lagoons."</p>
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The Wildlife from Space project uses satellite technology to identify, count and monitor species such as emperor penguins in Antarctica. British Antarctic Survey / YouTube
New satellite images have revealed 11 new throngs of emperor penguin colonies, lifting the number of known emperor penguin colonies by 20 percent and their total population by 5 to 10 percent, according to The Guardian.
<p>"The [new colonies] are an exciting discovery," said Peter Fretwell, at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), who led the research, according to The Guardian. "Whilst this is good news, the colonies are small and so only take the overall population count up to just over half a million penguins."</p><p>While that may sound like great news for penguins, the truth is these penguins are just as threatened as the rest of their flightless feathered friends, according to <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/satellite-images-reveal-new-penguin-colonies-in-melting-1844609508" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a>.</p><p>The 11 new colonies bring the total number up to 61 colonies spread across the continent. Now, the newly discovered birds will act as "canaries in the coalmine" when it comes to studying the impact of global warming, experts have said, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/world/penguins-antarctica-satellite-scn-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p>
<p>The study, which used satellite mapping technology, will "provide an important benchmark for monitoring the impact of environmental change on the population of this iconic bird," researchers said, according to CNN.</p><p>The study was published in <em><a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/20563485/0/0" target="_blank">Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation</a></em> on Wednesday. The findings help shed light on just how threatened the emperor penguins really are. While the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> is rapidly altering the surface of Earth, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica">Antarctica</a> is running ahead of most of the world. It is warming three times faster than the most of the planet. With all that warmth comes the loss of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice">sea ice</a>, which is devastating to emperor penguins since they breed on the ice and need it to be stable, as Gizmodo reported.</p><p>"Emperor penguins are vulnerable to climate change, particularly the breakup of the sea ice on which they breed," said study author Peter Fretwell, a researcher with the British Antarctic Survey, in an email to Gizmodo. "Finding more penguins and studying their movements and distribution will be important if we are to understand their struggle to survive in the warming Antarctic environment."</p>
<p>As the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53549299" target="_blank">BBC</a> noted, the emperors' whole life cycle is centered on the availability of sea ice, and if this is diminished in the decades ahead, as climate models project, then the animals' numbers will suffer. Some models predict that penguin colonies will drop by 90 percent, according to The Guardian.</p><p>The discoveries were made by spotting the distinctive red-brown guano patches the birds leave on the ice, according to The Guardian. The findings were made possible by higher-resolution images from a new satellite, as previous scans were unable to pick up smaller colonies.</p><p>The European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellite was launched in June 2015 and has a resolution of 10 meters. This enabled a search for the smaller penguin colonies. Emperor penguins were expected to be present at fairly regular intervals around the coast of Antarctica, so the search was targeted in areas where none were known. "In every gap where we thought there might be a colony, we found one," said Fretwell, as The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>The European Space Agency makes these images available online, so the team was able to analyze images from 2016, 2018 and 2019. By searching the images for "small areas of brown pixels," or clumps of penguin guano, and targeting their searches by looking at areas near known colonies and breeding habitat, the researchers were able to find these new communities, according to Gizmodo.</p><p>The next step is to direct satellites with very high, 30cm-resolution cameras over the colonies to enable the penguins to be counted. "It is dark at the moment in Antarctica, so we can't count them yet," said Fretwell, as The Guardian reported. "The sun will come up either later this month or next month in most of these locations, and then we will start."</p>
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The fact is, cats play different predatory roles in different natural and humanized landscapes. PIXNIO / CCO
By William S. Lynn, Arian Wallach and Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila
A number of conservationists claim cats are a zombie apocalypse for biodiversity that need to be removed from the outdoors by "any means necessary" – coded language for shooting, trapping and poisoning. Various media outlets have portrayed cats as murderous superpredators. Australia has even declared an official "war" against cats.
<p>Moral panics emerge when people perceive an existential threat to themselves, society or the environment. When in the grip of a <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/moral-panic-3026420" target="_blank">moral panic</a>, the ability to think clearly and act responsibly is compromised. While the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13346" target="_blank">moral panic over cats</a> arises from valid concerns over threats to native species, it obscures the real driver: humanity's exploitative treatment of the natural world. Crucially, errors of scientific reasoning also underwrite this false crisis.</p><h2>The (Shaky) Case Against Cats</h2><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1633" target="_blank">Conservationists</a> and the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/09/essay-to-save-birds-should-we-kill-off-cats/" target="_blank">media</a> often claim that cats are a main contributor to a <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250062185" target="_blank">mass extinction</a>, a catastrophic loss of species due to human activities, like habitat degradation and the killing of wildlife.</p><p>As an interdisciplinary team of scientists and ethicists studying animals in conservation, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13346" target="_blank">we examined this claim</a> and found it wanting. It is true that like any other predator, cats can suppress the populations of their prey. Yet the extent of this effect is ecologically complex.</p><p>The potential impact of cats differs between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.11.032" target="_blank">urban environments, small islands and remote deserts</a>. When <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025970" target="_blank">humans denude regions of vegetation</a>, small animals are particularly at risk from cats because they have no shelter in which to hide.</p>
<p>Small animals are similarly vulnerable when humans kill apex predators that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyv100" target="_blank">normally would suppress cat densities and activity</a>. For instance, in the U.S., cats are a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/urban-coyotes-eat-lot-garbageand-cats-180974461/" target="_blank">favorite meal for urban coyotes</a>, who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075718" target="_blank">moderate feline impact</a>; and in Australia, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02207.x" target="_blank">dingoes hunt wild cats</a>, which relieves pressure on native small animals.</p><p>Add in contrary evidence and the case against cats gets even shakier. For instance, in some ecological contexts, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/2102-birds-glad-cats-eat-rats.html" target="_blank">cats contribute to the conservation of endangered birds</a>, by preying on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2656.1999.00285.x" target="_blank">rats and mice</a>. There are also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/WR19181" target="_blank">documented cases of coexistence</a> between cats and native prey species.</p><p>The fact is, cats play <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12103" target="_blank">different predatory roles</a> in <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/08/australian-cats-and-foxes-may-not-deserve-their-bad-rep" target="_blank">different natural and humanized landscapes</a>. Scientists cannot assume that because cats are a problem for some wildlife in some places, they are a problem in every place.</p>
Faulty Scientific Reasoning
<p>In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13527" target="_blank">most recent publication</a> in the journal Conservation Biology, we examine an error of reasoning that props up the moral panic over cats.</p><p>Scientists do not simply collect data and analyze the results. They also establish a logical argument to explain what they observe. Thus, the reasoning behind a factual claim is equally important to the observations used to make that claim. And it is this reasoning about cats where claims about their threat to global biodiversity founder. In our analysis, we found it happens because many scientists take specific, local studies and overgeneralize those findings to the world at large.</p><p>Even when specific studies are good overall, projecting the combined "results" onto the world at large can cause unscientific overgeneralizations, particularly when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.01.003" target="_blank">ecological context is ignored</a>. It is akin to pulling a quote out of context and then assuming you understand its meaning.</p>Ways Forward
<p>So how might citizens and scientists chart a way forward to a more nuanced understanding of cat ecology and conservation?</p><p>First, those examining this issue on all sides can acknowledge that both the well-being of cats and the survival of threatened species are legitimate concerns.</p><p>Second, cats, like any other predator, affect their ecological communities. Whether that impact is good or bad is a complex value judgment, not a scientific fact.</p><p>Third, there is a need for a more rigorous approach to the study of cats. Such an approach must be mindful of the importance of ecological context and avoid the pitfalls of faulty reasoning. It also means resisting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13126" target="_blank">the siren call of a silver (lethal) bullet</a>.</p><p>There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Yet there are many options to consider. Protecting apex predators and their habitat is fundamental to enabling <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-give-feral-cats-their-citizenship-45165" target="_blank">threatened species to coexist with cats</a>. In some cases, people may choose to segregate domestic cats from vulnerable wildlife: for instance, with <a href="http://www.feralcats.com/catio/" target="_blank">catios</a> where cats can enjoy the outdoors while being kept apart from wildlife. In other cases, unhomed cats may be managed with <a href="https://www.animallaw.info/article/community-cats-changing-legal-paradigm-management-so-called-%22pests%22" target="_blank">trap-neuter-return programs</a> and <a href="https://www.lanaicatsanctuary.org/" target="_blank">sanctuaries</a>.</p><p>Finally, contrary to the framing of some scientists and journalists, the dispute over cats is not primarily about the science. Rather, it evokes an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13494" target="_blank">ongoing debate</a> over the ethics that ought to guide humanity's relationship with other animals and nature.</p><p>This is the root of the moral panic over cats: the struggle to move beyond treating other beings with domination and control, toward fostering a relationship rooted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108648" target="_blank">compassion and justice</a>.</p>
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<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-s-lynn-182185" target="_blank">William S. Lynn</a> is a Research Scientist at Clark University.</em>
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<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/arian-wallach-120709" target="_blank">Arian Wallach</a> is a Lecturer at Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology Sydney.</em>
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<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/francisco-j-santiago-avila-598733" target="_blank">Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila </a>is a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Wisconsin-Madison.<br/>
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Disclosure statement: Arian Wallach receives funding from the Australian Research Council for research on cats, and from Alley Cat Allies for a workshop on cats in 2017. Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila and William S. Lynn do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-blame-cats-for-destroying-wildlife-shaky-logic-is-leading-to-moral-panic-138710" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Whooping cranes fly in Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Decatur, Alabama. There were only 48 whooping cranes in the country when the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, and thanks to the law's protections there are now over 600. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
By Eoin Higgins
Environmental groups on Friday condemned the announcement of a new rule proposed by President Donald Trump that would further weaken the Endangered Species Act by making it easier to destroy habitats vulnerable species rely on for survival.
<p>"President Trump is back for another whack at another key environmental law," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/07/31/president-trump-again-takes-aim-endangered-species-act" target="_blank">said</a> Oceana senior federal policy director Lara Levison.</p><p>At issue is a planned rule change to the Endangered Species Act, or ESA, from the Department of Fish and Wildlife that would redefine "habitat" as "areas with existing attributes that have the capacity to support individuals of the species," precluding the restoration and repair of historical habitats that could, with time, support endangered species. </p>
<p>"The Trump administration won't be satisfied until it removes all protections for the natural world, including clean air and water, land, and now even habitat for our most vulnerable wildlife," Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/07/31/trump-administration-proposes-new-limits-protecting-endangered-species-habitat" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>As the Center for Biological Diversity explained:</p><blockquote>The definition stems from a 2018 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that said the Service needed to define the term habitat in relation to the highly endangered dusky gopher frog. The frog survives in one ephemeral pond in Mississippi. Recognizing that to secure the frog would require recovering it in additional areas, the Service designated an area in Louisiana that had the ephemeral ponds the frog requires. However, this area would need forest restoration to provide high-quality habitat.<br> <br>Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, the landowner, and Pacific Legal Foundation, a private-property advocacy group, challenged the designation, resulting in today's definition and the frog losing habitat protection in Louisiana.<br></blockquote><p>"This will have real life-and-death consequences for some of our nation's most vulnerable species," said Greenwald.</p><p>Oceana's Levison concurred with Greenwald's bleak assessment.</p><p>"The president's newly proposed rules will make it even harder to save species from extinction," she said. "The ESA protects threatened and endangered species like sea turtles and the North Atlantic right whale, as well as the habitats they depend on, but the draft rule released today reduces these protections."</p><p>Cathy Liss, president of the Animal Welfare Institute, called on the president and the administration to do the right thing for the planet by saving "an effective and popular law that serves as the last line of defense for rare species facing extinction." </p><p>"At a time of unprecedented wildlife extinction and habitat destruction, we should be working to strengthen — not weaken — the Endangered Species Act," said Liss.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/01/back-another-whack-trump-administration-rule-proposal-would-further-undermine" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em><em></em></p>
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Porcupines Face a Poaching Crisis — and It’s All Because of What’s in Their Stomachs
01 August
Animals
A Malayan porcupine photographed at Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi, Thailand. Jason Thompson / CC BY 2.0
By John R. Platt
A porcupine's diet is wide, varied, and a little hard to digest. A lifetime of grasses, herbs, bark and other vegetation can leave little bits of indigestible matter behind in a porcupine's digestive tract, where they occasionally congeal into a hard ball called a bezoar.
<p>That sounds uncomfortable, but a porcupine's health probably doesn't suffer due to the presence of this undigested mass in its stomach or intestines — that is, not until humans come along.</p><p>For centuries people have valued these rare "stones" or "dates," as they're sometimes called, for their purported healing abilities. Bezoars have been used to "treat" everything from fevers to diabetes and even cancer.</p>
<p>Bezoar use even creeps into popular fiction: the stones are an ingredient for protective spells in the <em>Harry Potter</em> universe.</p><p>The medicinal claims are equally fiction: there doesn't appear to be any veracity to bezoar use to treat illnesses. Yet despite the lack of evidence, the trade in bezoars has persisted. Not only that, it appears to be increasing.</p><p>A study published recently in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989420307459?dgcid=raven_sd_aip_email" target="_blank"><em>Global Ecology and Conservation</em></a> tracked, for the first time, the online trade in old-world porcupines (those from the family <em>Hystricidae</em> in Asia and Africa). The researchers examined e-commerce sites in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for four months in 2019, where they found active for-sale listings for 443 individual bezoars and a large variety of powdered products. Based on the weight of the powders, and the assumption that they might have contained other ingredients, the researchers estimate this translated to at least 680 and as many as 1,300 bezoars. (The researcher ignored "out of stock" listings and more dubious sites, such as one that claimed to have 2,000 tons of product on hand.)</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyNzM0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDE2MjE1N30.IEpEpforer7WNqqOdzQzJevwCQfg3yVaPLxoL00Rom4/img.jpg?width=980" id="4ead9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2a6f39c01025f8a63700f9917460dacc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/porcupines-bezoars/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>. </em><em></em></p>A bezoar and typical medical claims, posted to Instagram. Screen grab July 24, 2020.
<p>Previous research has suggested that bezoars only grow in an incidentally small portion of the porcupine population, so the total number of animals killed to accumulate that quantity for sale could conceivably have been in the tens of thousands.</p><p>And since the study didn't look at the e-commerce sites every day, it probably uncovered only a portion of the total trade.</p><p>This paper calls for more study about this issue and additional conservation actions to protect porcupines. Currently the various species enjoy some national-level protection but precious little on the international level, because they're still perceived as relatively common. In fact, most old-world porcupine species currently appear on the IUCN Red List as <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=porpupine&searchType=species" target="_blank">either "least concern" or "data deficient."</a> Only the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/10753/22231557" target="_blank">Philippine porcupine</a> (<em>Hystrix pumila</em>) is listed as "vulnerable to extinction." None are currently protected by the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species.</p><p>Should that change? While the authors acknowledge the limitations caused by their study's short time frame and their inability to examine and verify the nature of the bezoars (some of which could have come from other animals or been counterfeits), they still uncovered an alarming level of trade. The authors warn that "current trade levels are likely unsustainable, and we predict that porcupine species may become threatened in the future should current trade levels continue."</p><p>And while some porcupines are farmed, this study indicates pressure on wild porcupines, which also face threats from habitat destruction and the bushmeat trade, as well as persecution as agricultural pests. It suggests a need to protect certain populations which fetch higher prices due to their purported purity. The study quotes one popular website: <em>"The most valuable for the porcupine bezoars are procured from … the rainforest of Indonesia or Borneo. The porcupines here eat unpolluted herbs that have high medicinal value causing the bezoars … to be of the rarest and highest value. The price is very high and has collection, medicinal and stockpiling value."</em></p><p>In many ways this isn't surprising. The bezoar trade has been around for centuries, and it isn't restricted to southern Asia. The paper notes that Europeans in the 16th to 19th centuries, who sometimes wore the stones as jewelry, valued porcupine bezoars so much they priced each one "as high as forty times its own weight in gold."</p><p>Bezoars today don't fetch quite that amount, but the study still found them selling for around $151 a gram — two and a half times the current price of gold — all for a useless clump of congealed, inedible food.</p><p>Too bad we don't value a living porcupine half that much.</p><p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/john/" target="_blank">John R. Platt</a> is the editor of The Revelator. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in Scientific American, Audubon, Motherboard</em><em style="">, and numerous other magazines and publications. His "Extinction Countdown" column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Ore., where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists.</em></p>
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Bees are responsible for pollinating key crops like apples, and their decline now threatens crop yields. Pikist
Without bees, future generations may not be able to identify with adages like, 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away.'
Crop yields for key crops like apples, cherries and blueberries are down across the U.S. because of a lack of bees in agricultural areas, a Rutgers University-led study published Wednesday in The Royal Society found. This could have "serious ramifications" for global food security, reported The Guardian.
<p>The scientists wanted to understand the degree to which insect pollination, or lack thereof, actually limits current crop production. Surveying 131 locations across major crop-producing areas of the U.S., they found that five out of seven crops showed evidence of "pollinator limitation" and that yields could be boosted with full pollination, the study said. </p>
<p>"The crops that got more bees got significantly more crop production," said Rachael Winfree, an ecologist and pollination expert and the senior author of the paper, reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/29/bees-food-crops-shortage-study" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "I was surprised, I didn't expect they would be limited to this extent."</p><p>The <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.0922" target="_blank">research</a> further noted that pollinator declines could "translate directly" to decreased production of most of the crops studied and that wild bees "contribute substantially" to the pollination of most studied crops.</p><p>Declines in both managed honeybees and wild bees raise serious concerns about global food security, the study said, because most of the world's crops rely on pollinators.</p><p>Bees and other pollinators like bats and birds underpin the global food system, but their <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-lockdowns-bees-2646042322.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" target="_self">populations are dwindling due to human activity including settlement building, pesticide use, monoculture farming and climate change</a>. This is part of what many are calling the "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/insect-apocalypse-2634239696.html" target="_self">insect apocalypse,</a>" a precipitous decline in insects across the globe.</p><p>Wild bees, in particular, suffer from loss of flowering habitat, toxic pesticide use, and climate change, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/29/bees-food-crops-shortage-study" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported, and managed honeybees have fallen to disease. Overall, three-quarters of the world's food crops are dependent up pollinators and could falter due to lack of bees, the news report added.</p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/384726/icode/" target="_blank">United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization</a>, crop production has increasingly become dependent upon insects and other pollinators over the past 50 years by 300%, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/29/bees-food-crops-shortage-study" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. At the same time, farming has become more intensive to produce enough volume to feed a growing global population, the news report said, by flattening wildflower meadows, spraying insecticides and using monoculture crops ‒ all tactics which damage bee populations.</p><p>"Pollination shortfalls" could cause certain fruits and vegetables to become rarer and more expensive, The Guardian reported. This could trigger nutritional deficits in diets as fresh foods are replaced by rice, wheat and corn, which are pollinated by wind rather than insects.</p>
<p><br></p><p>The <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.0922" target="_blank">study</a> estimated that the five limited crops are valued at over $1.5 billion annually, and decreased yields or production seriously undercut that. They also noted that the value of all pollinator-dependent crops is much higher. A 2019 <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-biodiversity-loss-hurts-humans-as-much-as-climate-change/a-48579014" target="_blank">UN-backed assessment</a> estimated that pollinator loss could threaten $235-577 billion in annual crop output globally.</p><p>The study suggested adopting better conservation or augmentation methods for wild bees, such as enhancing wildflowers, using managed pollinators other than honey bees to boost crop yields and investing in honey bee colonies, reported <a href="https://www.futurity.org/bees-crop-yields-pollinators-2412322-2/" target="_blank">Futurity</a>. The paper also recommended farmers review how much pollination might be needed to boost crop yields and assess whether pesticide and fertilizer levels used remains appropriate, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/29/bees-food-crops-shortage-study" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"The trends we are seeing now are setting us up for food security problems," Winfree told The Guardian. "We aren't yet in a complete crisis now but the trends aren't going in the right direction. Our study shows this isn't a problem for 10 or 20 years from now – it's happening right now."</p>
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Brazilian Amazon Has Lost Millions of Wild Animals to Criminal Networks, Report Finds
30 July
Animals
Freeland Brasil works to conserve biodiversity by combating wildlife trafficking. Freeland Brasil
By Sharon Guynup
The Brazilian Amazon is hemorrhaging illegally traded wildlife according to a new report released Monday. Each year, thousands of silver-voiced saffron finches and other songbirds, along with rare macaws and parrots, are captured, trafficked and sold as pets. Some are auctioned as future contestants in songbird contests. Others are exported around the globe.
<p>Fish bound for ornamental home aquariums also pour out of the Amazon, including the tiny, iridescent blue and red cardinal tetra. Arapaima fish — also known as <em>pirarucù</em>, one of the world's largest freshwater fish — are caught illegally, "laundered" amidst captive-bred specimens and shipped to the U.S. in large numbers.</p><p>Other fish are headed for the dinner table, as are freshwater turtles and their eggs, while tapir, peccary and other mammals are sold in Brazil as bushmeat. Jaguar teeth, heads and skins are shipped to China.</p><p>Millions of animals are being illegally captured and traded live and in parts in a thriving Brazilian black market, according to the report, produced by TRAFFIC, a UK-based nonprofit that studies the trade. "The pervasive and uncontrolled capture of wild animals and plants for the illegal trade is having grave consequences for Brazilian <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a>, the national economy, the rule of law and good governance," it says.</p>
<h3>Lack of Data Hides Trafficking</h3><p>Deep-dive research by biodiversity consultant Sandra Charity — who wrote the 140-page study with Juliana Ferreira, executive director of the nonprofit <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> group <a href="https://en.freeland.org.br/sobre-nos" target="_blank">Freeland Brasil</a> —focused on Amazon rainforest species and closely investigated the domestic bird trade.</p><p>Importantly, the researchers found that an ever-increasing segment of the illegal trade launders poached animals via a sprawling, legal captive breeding industry — a network that specializes in birds, which have a huge domestic market in Brazil.</p><p>The authors also discovered that few government agencies have kept records or reported solid data that quantify the true scope of the problem. In many cases, records did not even identify the species or number of animals seized by authorities, while data coming from the Amazon was "notoriously scarce."</p><p>"Significant seizures are made on a daily basis by Amazon state law enforcement, and we did not have access to their data," Ferreria said, adding, "from what we saw, [the illegal trade] is even bigger than we imagined."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMzgyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDA3NzM1OH0.VUPTr8JGnro51eIVKkTzeNylJGlbLlTE43JRM3g4Pjw/img.jpg?width=980" id="611e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2be4dcc7509e3f05df53742af3cec824" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Trends remain difficult to track, however, since seizure data alone represents a mere fraction of animals illegally pulled from the wild. But it is clear from existing data that there is an uptick in smuggling of some species, including jaguars: seizures increased by 200% from 2012 to 2018.</p><p>The lack of comprehensive data, the report notes, tends to play down the importance, as well as concealing the severity, of Brazilian trafficking — undermining enforcement efforts, legal attention and the funding needed to fight it.</p><p>But the study warns that the illegal trade is having serious consequences not only for the animals seized, but for entire species, ecosystems and people, not just in the Amazon but around the globe. The current COVID-19 epidemic, for example, caused by a coronavirus that jumped from wildlife to humans, has reminded the world that trafficking in wild animals is not merely a conservation issue, says Ferreira. It's both a public health issue and a biosafety issue.</p><p>An overarching national strategy is needed now to deal effectively with the problem, said the research team.</p>
<h3>Impact on the Amazon</h3><p>Today's vigorous, deadly commerce has helped speed the demise of 1,173 species that are either facing extinction or have already vanished in Brazil. Often the largest, strongest, most beautiful animals are lost, impacting the entire population. For example, the trade targets male birds with their showy plumage, while the few survivors of a species remaining in the wild can become inbred, weakening the gene pool and genetic resilience.</p><p>The scope of the plunder has also sparked concern over broader, cascading ecosystem impacts, says Ferreira, who explained that regularly taking animals from wild populations creates a domino effect, dismantling the biological and physical systems that sustain all life on Earth.</p><p>For example, without birds that act as pollinators and seed-dispersers, trees and plants that many creatures rely on for food disappear. Tropical forests also act as huge carbon vaults, mitigating climate change and extreme weather; they offer buffers from flooding and provide drinking water for millions of people. Losing millions of animals every year to trafficking could lead not only to empty forests, but eventually cause whole ecosystems to crash.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMzgyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMzYxNTQ1NH0.UmXQbzCzJXdxIN_vMeotnVIJgF3MWlYKDnQLndFtct0/img.jpg?width=980" id="b7598" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ba860e575989538043788aea786470e4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<h3>Trafficking as Global Organized Crime</h3><p>The wildlife trade is also gaining increasing attention because of its lawless perpetrators: transnational criminal trafficking networks span the globe, make huge profits and cultivating massive corruption. Their illicit supply chain extends from the Amazon to almost every continent.</p><p><a href="https://www.thegef.org/" target="_blank">The Global Environment Facility (GEF)</a> describes the illegal wildlife trade as "one of the most lucrative illegal businesses in the world." It's ranked as the world's fourth largest source of criminal earnings, generating up to <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/three-ways-united-nations-environment-programme-works-address-illegal-trade" target="_blank">U.S. $23 billion</a> annually. With so much money changing hands under the table, the trade has even become a global national security issue.</p><p>But even though environmental authorities may seize illegally traded animals and apprehend some smugglers, the study notes that law enforcement is not targeting the kingpins who mastermind the trade or its supply chains. As a result, this shadowy underworld industry thrives as it breeds widespread corruption, bribery, fraud, forgery, money laundering and smuggling.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, "Existing legislation does not consider wildlife trafficking a 'serious crime,'" and there are numerous loopholes and inconsistencies in laws, the report says. Since the illicit trade is such a lucrative business, mild penalties offer little deterrent. A six- to 12-month "detention" is common, which is just restriction of freedom — not jail time — or is negotiated down to a stint at community service.</p><p>In addition, the report documented extensive evidence of widespread fraud by both private and commercial breeders in Brazil who forged permits, mislabeled species declarations, and tampered with government-issued identification rings to sell illegally-acquired songbirds alongside those they legally breed. This particular market is largely domestic, feeding an entrenched Brazilian culture that keeps songbirds as pets. IBAMA, Brazil's environmental agency, estimated that in 2015 alone, some three million passerine birds were fraudulently listed with the government — 75% of all that were registered.</p>
<h3>Curbing Amazon Trafficking</h3><p>While the goal of the new report was not to make a comprehensive assessment of the international trade, the authors found that foreign buyers are driving much of it. "It seems that some Asian countries are sourcing more species in Brazil, such as sea cucumber, sea horses, ornamental fish, jaguars and shark fin," Ferreira said, adding that the U.S. is a top consumer of ornamental fish and leather made from pirarucu skin. Birds, amphibians and reptiles typically sell to European collectors, and the Middle East is a market for Amazon raptors.</p><p>Digital commerce — the internet, social media and messaging groups — have become key "sales offices" for wild animals and the products made from them. The "merchandise" itself is moved in every way imaginable: via cars, buses, boats, planes and overnight courier services. Human "mules" have been arrested with birds or eggs taped to their bodies or concealed in clothing. A porous, 8,000-mile border between Brazil and eight Amazon neighbors creates an easy flow. The Peruvian and Colombian borders in the Northwestern Amazon form a "particularly relevant hub" for trafficking, the report noted.</p>
<p>Combatting the trade requires that it be recognized and treated as a serious crime. More complete data is also needed that will allow for strategic planning and strengthened law enforcement, says lead author Sandra Charity. Stronger national laws that target professional traffickers would also allow for the implementation of the UN Convention on Organized Crime, she said.</p><p>Without a market, there is no commerce, so educating consumers is key, concludes Ferreira.</p><p>"Ultimately, it is a matter of choosing why we are buying that animal, or wildlife product, and if it is worth it …. Cultures are dynamic and need to evolve. We need to start to change the way we view wildlife as commodities," she said, and "we also need to understand that loving an animal does equal imprisoning them."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/brazilian-amazon-drained-of-millions-of-wild-animals-by-criminal-networks-report/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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A tiger in Kanha National Park, India. Ola Jennersten / WWF-Sweden
By Stuart Chapman
The goal set 10 years ago to double the number of wild tigers by 2022 remains one of the most ambitious conservation goals ever for a single species. Currently home to the vast majority of the world's remaining tigers, well-resourced protected areas are a cornerstone of this goal. Tigers are a conservation-dependent species and the persistence of tigers relies on well-funded and well-protected conservation areas.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Investing in 'tiger protected areas' helps protect globally-important ecosystems including some of Asia's last wilderness. These areas contain a wealth of critically important goods and ecosystem services that tens of millions of people rely on, from mitigating climate change and regulating freshwater to reducing the impact of natural disasters and improving the health of local people.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/list/covid-19/" target="_blank">COVID-19 has severely impacted so many people, communities and countries</a> around the world, it also threatens to undermine the ability of protected areas to conserve tigers, due to budget cuts and a changing role for the rangers who are at the forefront of managing protected areas.</p><p>Led by WWF Tigers Alive Initiative, a recent survey of 77 staff across more than 40 protected areas in tiger range countries highlights the problems currently facing tiger protected areas.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMTE4OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODk1OTgxNn0.xw9eA71uZCaBZCCwLTm-gxUTIM1I1Y55eIa0X2QG5YI/img.jpg?width=980" id="c89ae" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="197cb2faf86a715e90f8160dd7f9cd69" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A Bengal tiger in the Khata Forest, which 10 years ago was a degraded patch of land. This image was captured by a camera trap between November 2019 and March 2020 by WWF-Nepal.
<h3>Tiger Conservation Budgets Are Being Cut</h3><p>Almost half of respondents in the survey indicated that their budget for managing protected areas had already been reduced, compared to pre-COVID levels. Most concerning is that three-quarters of respondents were pessimistic about future budget allocation. It comes as no surprise then that 62% were pessimistic about their ability to manage the protected area due to the impacts of the pandemic.</p><p>These findings are compounded by the fact that budgets for protected areas are already greatly uneven across tiger range countries. India commits a combined $111 million from national and state budgets for the management of the nation's 50 tiger reserves, which support roughly three-quarters of the world's population and provide billions of dollars of annual ecosystem services. In other tiger range countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, the government budgets for protected area management and tiger conservation are orders of magnitude less. These are the countries which are struggling, even prior to COVID, to conserve and recover their tigers.</p><p>Rangers in most tiger range countries are considered to provide essential services and are thus exempt from lockdown rules. However, as countries grapple to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on infrastructure and economies, the ability of rangers to effectively work is being compromised by additional responsibilities, salary cuts and disruption of essential supplies and equipment.</p>
<p>More than half of respondents from protected areas outside Nepal indicated they have been asked to take on wider duties since the outbreak of COVID-19, including border control and staffing community health checkpoints. Rangers in 23% of protected areas also reported taking salary cuts.</p><p>Key supplies, equipment, and maintenance has been disrupted in almost 60% of protected areas, while increased constraints in filing legal cases against offenders were reported by 40% of respondents. Where they had been occurring previously, community engagement activities have essentially stopped around the surveyed protected areas.</p><p>All of these factors mean that the work of rangers, critical guardians of protected areas, is becoming more difficult.</p>
<p>Investing in tiger protected areas is an investment in ecosystems that millions of people depend on. But this is not the only case for investing in protected areas and the people who manage them.</p><p>The COVID-19 crisis demonstrates that systemic changes must be made to address the environmental drivers of pandemics. We must curb the high-risk trade and consumption of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a>, and halt deforestation and land conversion — and to do that, we need protected areas; they are an essential buffer between zoonotic disease pools and human populations.</p><p>That's why we urge governments to ensure funding levels remain or are increased in protected areas across Asia.</p>
<p><em>Stuart Chapman leads WWF's <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/get_involved/volunteer/volunteer_stories/tigers_alive_initiative/" target="_blank">Tigers Alive Initiative</a>.</em><br/></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/on-world-tiger-day-lets-recommit-to-the-goal-of-doubling-wild-tiger-populations-by-2022-commentary/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A kangaroo rushes past a burning house in Lake Conjola, Australia on Dec. 31 2019. Bruce Detorres / Flickr
Unprecedented bushfires that ravaged Australia in 2019 and 2020 killed or displaced almost 3 billion animals, according to an interim report released Tuesday.
<p>Compiled by scientists from several Australian universities, the survey said the blazes impacted an estimated 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs.</p><p>The report, commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), did not specify how many animals may have died. But the prospects for those that escaped the fires "were probably not great" because they lost food sources, native habitat and shelter from predators, report co-author Chris Dickman said. </p><p>The bushfires that swept across Australia between late 2019 and early 2020 scorched 115,000 square kilometers (44,000 square miles) of bush and forest, killing 30 people and destroying thousands of homes. It was one of the worst bushfire seasons on record.</p><p>Experts say prolonged drought and climate change will likely make such events longer lasting and more frequent. </p>
'Shocking' Findings
<p>A previous study released in January had estimated that around 1 billion animals perished in the hardest-hit states of Victoria and New South Wales in eastern Australia. But the survey published Tuesday was the first to assess fire zones across the entire country, lead scientist Lily van Eeden of the University of Sydney said.</p><p>The survey's results are preliminary, with a full report to be released next month, but scientists said the estimate of 3 billion animals affected was unlikely to change.</p><p>"The interim findings are shocking," WWF Australia CEO Dermot O'Gorman said. "It's hard to think of another event anywhere in the world in living memory that has killed or displaced that many animals."</p><p>"This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history," he added.</p><p>Arnulf Köhncke, species protection expert at WWF Germany, warned that horrific bushfires could become a common occurrence: "The record fires in Australia could become the new normal, just a taste of what's to come, if we don't manage to limit the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit)," he said.</p><p>Limiting temperature increases to 1.5 C above pre-industrial averages, as stipulated in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, is seen as crucial to preventing catastrophic global warming and worsening weather events.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/study-says-australias-bushfires-harmed-3-billion-animals/a-54344204?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646814591#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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