Day Six: African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana)

Name: Loxodonta Africana (African Elephant)

Classification: Genus - Loxodonta
                         Family - Elephantidae
                         Order - Proboscidea
                         Class - Mammalia
                         Phylum - Chordata
                         Kingdom - Animalia

Location: The African Elephant can be found in areas of Eastern, Western, and Southern Africa.


IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable


General Information: The African Elephant can be divided into two subspecies. The African Bush Elephant (or Savannah)
and the African Forest Elephant. 
The African Bush Elephant is the largest land animal in the world with males reaching 24.5ft in length and 10.8ft tall.
The average life span is 70 years and can weigh anywhere between 5,000-14,000lbs.
The African Elephant loves to roll in dirt and mud and will often use its trunk to spray dirt around its coat to keep cool
.Additionally, they use their trunk for many tasks such as: trumpeting, drinking, smelling, and grabbing objects.
Their social structure consists of Herds composed of the Females and their calves. The eldest female, or the matriarch, 
is the head of the herd and will be the one who decides what path they take and leads them to water sources.

The Threat:
The African Elephant used to range in the numbers of millions until the 1980's. The population begun to drop drastically
due to poaching for their ivory tusks and meat to sell on the black market. Roughly 500,000 remain today in the wild
due to poaching, climate change, and human interference. in the 1990's the Ivory ban was introduced and poaching had 
dropped significantly as hoped. However, some countries in Africa that are under-funded still have a high poaching
account.

References:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/african-elephant/
http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/africanelephants/africanelephant.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_bush_elephant

Day Five: Japanese Crested Ibis (Nipponia Nippon)

Name: Nipponia Nippon (Japanese Crested Ibis). Also goes by the name Toki or Crested Ibis.

Classification: Genus - Nipponia
                         Family - Threskiornithidae
                         Order -  Ciconiiformes
                         Class -  Aves
                         Phylum - Chordata
                         Kingdom - Animalia

Location: Today the Toki is only know to be found in the Shaanxi province of China. It was once widespread 
throughout Japan, Korea, China, and Russia.

IUCN Red List Status: Endangered. In the 1960's, the Toki was thought to be exctinct. It wasn't until 1981 when 
a small popluation of 7 were found in China. Since then they have been under heavy protection and around 130 colonies
can be found in China.

General Information: The toki prefers wetlands over dry woodland areas where it can easily find fish frogs, and 
other small insects. The mating season typically runs between April and May and will lay anywhere between 2-4 eggs at a time.
Hatchlings will stay with both parents until about 40 days.
The biggest threat to the Toki is due to habitat loss and agricultural chemicals. This is the explanation for the drastic decline
when they were once thought extinct. In recent years, both China and Japan have been working to protect this species 

and help breeding through artificial and natural incubation.

 












References: 
http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?gr=B&view=c&ID=3&sp=205 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_Ibis 

Day Four: Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii)

Name: Lasiorhinus Krefftii (Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat)

Classification:  Genus - Lasiorhinus
                         Family - Vombatidae
                         Order - Diprotodontia
                         Class - Mamallia
                         Phylum - Chordata
                         Kingdom - Animalia   

Location: This sub species of wombat ranges across north-eastern parts of Australia including: 
Queensland, Victoria, and New South  Wales


IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered. There is an estimated 65 left in the wild. The Lasiohinus Krefftii 
is one of the worlds most endangered mammals. 

General Information: These marsupials have very poor eye sight, but with that an excellent sense of smell. These
little burrowers do have a pouch to carry their young it. However, the wombats pouch is located near their rear
which turns out to be a environmental advantage. Their young usually stay in the mothers pouch anywhere between 
6-9 months, and will leave their mother after a year. The reproduction rate it low and can only provide one offspring 
every 2-3 years.

The Threat: Before these creatures were legally protected, they were hunted for their fur due to its soft and silky
nature. Their diet is very specific in the type of grass they eat. With the introduction to certain livestock in Australia 
such as, sheep, cows, and rabbit; the source of food has become scarce. Convservation efforts have built predator 
proof fences for this marsupial to continue to protect it.

references:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hairy-nosed_Wombat
http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?gr=M&view=c&ID=4&sp=511
http://www.wombania.com/wombats/hairy-nosed-wombat.htm

Day Three: Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta)

Name: Caretta caretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle)

Classification:  Genus - Caretta
                          Family - Chelonioidae
                          Order - Testudines
                            - subclass- Anapsida
                          Class - Reptilla
                          Phylum - Chordata
                          Kingdom - Animalia

Location: This subspecies of Sea Turtle is found in most ocean waters across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (roughly 60,000 remain globally in the wild)

General Information: The loggerhead is one of many subspecies of sea turtles and is the worlds largest hard shelled turtle(not to be confused with the land tortoise). These creatures spend most of their lives at sea with the exception being females who will come to shore to lay their eggs. The life span can range anywhere from 50-67 years and are known to reach maturity between 17-33 years. Carnivorous by nature, the diet of the Loggerhead will usually consist of jellyfish, crabs, and some fish with the occasional seaweed.
Other smaller creatures and plants are dependent on this sea turtle by finding a home on top its shell. As much as 100 species of animals and plants have been known to live on one single Loggerhead shell.

The Recent Threat: Loggerheads are often a victim of fishing nets. Once caught in a net it is hard for them to escape, and will most likely be caught for the use of their shell to be placed in products likes purses, boots, or wallets.
Nearly 24,000 metric tons of wastes and plastic are dumped into our oceans each year. These creatures ingest our waste mistaking it for jellyfish.
Raccoons in the US and other land creatures in other countries are very fond of turtle eggs and are often the cause of offspring not being born. Female sea turtles usually lay an average of 4 egg clutches and cannot reproduce again for another 3-4 years.

What You Can Do: if you're interested in finding out ways to help, I recommend checking out the links I have posted. http://www.seaturtles.org/ is an excellent Sea Turtle Restoration project site to checkout if you're interested in being a part of an expedition. Also, don't just dump your trash where ever. Keep the ocean clean yo'





references:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loggerhead_sea_turtle#Threats

• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/loggerhead-sea-turtle/

• http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/loggerheadturtle/loggerheadturtle.html

Day Two: Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus)

Name: Ursus Maritimus (Polar Bear)

Classification: Genus - Ursus
                        Family - Ursidae
                        Order - Carnivora
                        Class - Mammalia
                        Phylum - Chordata

Location: The polar bear is found in the Arctic Circle adjacent to parts of Greenland, Alaska, Canda, and Russia

IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (only an estimated 20,000 left in the wild)

General Information:
Polar bears are the largest land carnivore sharing the title with the kodiak bear. Adult males can weigh up to 1500lbs (oofah!) and adult females roughly half the size at 550lbs. These beautiful creatures spend most of their lives on sea ice. It is required by them to hunt, rest, and breed. Polar bears have an immense amount of blubber, about 3.9 inches worth, which works as insulation for surviving in the harsh cold climates they live in. Additionally, they can over heat in temperatures of 50 Degrees F (10 Celsius) which is become a recent issue as a threat to their survival.
Despite their reputation, unlike most other species of bear, the polar bear is not territorial. Normally, they are more cautious than aggressive and will choose first to escape and run in a threatening situation. While they normally live solitary lives, the polar bear develops well-grounded frienships with others and can often be observed playing with a fellow polar bear for hours at a time. Cubs are especially playful and are known to be nursing for 2 and a half years.

In Recent News:
The biggest threat to the polar bear is change in climates. Sea ice seasons are becoming shorter and shorter, and with that their ability to hunt for food is diminishing with a large percent of polar bears are malnourished and can not carry a cub full term. With the shorter ice season, more oil rigs are being built near the Arctic Circle. With this bears(no pun intended) the threat of oil spills. This issue can destroy the food chain for them, come in contact with the oil which in turn can be fatal.

you are welcome to check out any of the links I have posted to the right of this blog and find out more how you can help save these beautiful creatures.

references:
http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/polarbear/threats.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear#Population_and_distribution

Day One: Sand Cat (Felis Margarita)

Name: Felis Margarita (Sand Cat)

Classification: Genus - Felis
                         Family- Felidae
                         Order - Carnivora
                         Class - Mammalia
                         Phylum - Coradata
                         Kingdom - Animalia

Location: The Sand Cat is found in desert areas of Northern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan.

IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (likely to become endangered in the near future)

The Sand Cat is often hunted or collected for pet trade. With it's habitat being in the desert, it can live for months without consuming water and often preys on lizards and insects for food. These creatures have been known to survive in extreme weather conditions up to 225 degrees F. For shelter, they will find burrows dug out by foxes or porcupine. Since they live in such harsh climates, they are difficult to study and not much is known about their behavior as of today. Their form of communication is done by scent, claw marks, and marking territory by urine spraying.


Glenn, C. R. 2006. "Earth's Endangered Creatures" (Online). Accessed 2/24/2012 at http://earthsendangered.com.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_cat#Habitat

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2010/May/theuae_May433.xml&section=theuae

Introduction: What I'm Doing

Hello to all,

This post is meant to be an introduction to what this personal blog is about. As some of you are surely aware, A lot of folks have personal blogs for a picture a day 365 day projects. This is incredibly similar, yet instead of posting a photo of MY day every day(my life is undoubtedly boring and uninteresting) I'm posting information on an Endangered Species a day.
The information and photos I post are designed to benefit myself mostly. It will contain personal research done on each species as well as ways one can help. I plan on trying to switch up as much as possible what I post each day. I would like a variety or locals, genus', orders, and family's of species to get a good range of idea and info on the creatures of our world.
So next topic, why? This is what I love, I love research and I love animals. I'm a zoology major student and simply like to research these kind of things. Like I said earlier, this is a personal blog mostly for my benefit. I will do my best to cite my references and photos I acquire for anyone who is interested in looking up a few things themselves. Also, a few of my favorite charities, conservation groups, and other websites will be linked on here if anyone reading this is curious in finding out ways they can help with wildlife conservation.
Lastly, I am fully aware that not everyone is big on wildlife conservation and quite a few people do not support the Endangered Species Act, peta, or the WWF. I respect your opinion and choices and ask that you do the same for my opinions.