Endangered Species Update articles from July - September 2007

Endangered Species Update archives from July - September 2007

Reptilian pathogens of the Florida everglades: the associated costs of Burmese pythons.(environmental risk assessment of invasive species)(Report)
July 1, 2007... Abstract The predation activity of the invasive Burmese python (Python molurus bivitattus) was evaluated using probability and the economic costs associated with current federal and state values for endangered species. The objective was to...

An opinion: successes and setbacks in black-footed ferret recovery: do we really have the capabilities, resources, and socio/ political will to recover critically endangered species?(Report)
July 1, 2007... Dramatic habitat losses and human persecution over decades preceding passage of Endangered Species Act legislation caused the near extirpation and/or dramatic decline of many North American wildlife species. The black-footed ferret (Mustela...

Timber Rattlesnakes in Vermont and New York: Biology, History and the Fate of and Endangered Species.(Book review)
July 1, 2007... Timber Rattlesnakes in Vermont and New York: Biology, History and the Fate of and Endangered Species Furman, Jon The University Press of New England, Hanover and London 228 pages This book is a fascinating account of the...

Focus On Nature[TM].(drosophila life development and behavior)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The eggs hatched. Hundreds of little babies. As these energetic larval babies feed on decaying native trees such as koa, alani, 'olapa and 'oha they outgrow their confining skins. Several molts and several days later...

Smithsonian National Zoo scientists raise elkhorn coral larvae for reintroduction.(News From Zoos)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... This fall, staff from the AZA-accredited Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC acquired 12,000 endangered elkhorn coral larvae on a harvest mission in Puerto Rico. They are raising the microscopic larvae in a controlled environment and...

Saint Louis Zoo sponsors Grevy's Zebra conservation programs in Africa and the U.S.(News From Zoos)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The AZA-accredited Saint Louis Zoo is spearheading conservation efforts in the U.S. and in Kenya for the critically endangered Grevy's zebra, Equus grevyi. Working in partnership with several Kenyan non-profits and AZA-accredited zoo partners,...

Point Defiance Zoo wins AZA conservation award for Red Wolf breeding program.(American Zoo and Aquarium Association )(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... At the 2007 AZA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA this September, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's Red Wolf Recovery Program received the North America Conservation Award. This award was presented to Will Waddell, the program manager and...

Two zoos to create new state-of-the-art facilities for captive rearing of rescued amphibians.(Toledo Zoo in Ohio and Fort Worth Zoo in Texas)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... In response to significant declines in the populations of amphibians worldwide, Toledo Zoo in Ohio and Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, both accredited by AZA, have begun construction on innovative biosecure buildings to house and breed a variety of...

Detroit Zoo breeds 40 Wyoming toadlets for recovery program.(News From Zoos)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... At the National Amphibian Conservation Center at the AZA-accredited Detroit Zoo, forty juvenile Wyoming toads, Bufo hemiophrys baxteri, one of the most endangered amphibians in the U.S., are being raised by zoo staff. Due to disease and loss of...

AZA-accredited Calgary Zoo breeding program produces five litters of endangered marmots.(Vancouver Island marmot)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The Vancouver Island marmot, Marmota vancouverensis, is the most endangered animal in Canada. Endemic to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, habitat destruction and adverse effects from agricultural chemicals have driven these alpine rodents...

Fisheries and Habitat Conservation.(Fish and Wildlife Service programs)
July 1, 2007... Helping to Avoid Listing and Promote Recovery [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our mission is to provide leadership in sustaining and enhancing fish, wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of the American people and to engage citizens in...

Species recovery through Habitat and Resource Conservation.(Fish and Wildlife Service program )
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Division of Habitat and Resource Conservation (HRC) is often the first Fish and Wildlife Service program engaged to prevent the decline of species so that they will not need Endangered Species Act protection. But...

Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance.(environmental protection program)
July 1, 2007... The Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance (FWMA) Program plays a vital role in restoring and maintaining the Nation's fish and wildlife resources. It functions like a general practitioner in the medical field; its biologists monitor the...

Partnerships for shared stewardship.(Fish and Wildlife Service's social programs for environmental protection)
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Two of the Fish and Wildlife Service's most popular and effective programs for voluntary, citizen and community-based conservation initiatives are the Partners for Fish and Wildlife and...

Clearing the water for mussels.(wildlife conservation)(Report)
July 1, 2007... In cooperation with our partners, the Fish and Wildlife Service's Environmental Contaminants Program provides the science needed to improve water quality for restoring freshwater mussels--our Nation's largest group of threatened and endangered...

The Lake Apopka agreement.(watershed management and conservation)
July 1, 2007... From November 1998 through early April 1999, a bird die-off occurred on the north shore of Lake Apopka, Florida. The deaths occurred on former farmlands that had been purchased to reduce nutrient run-off into the lake by the St. Johns River...

Developing barriers to biological invasions.
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The pathways used by non-native species are not always obvious. Many problematic species, diseases, and parasites have been transferred to new locations as undetected (and unplanned) hitchhikers. As many as 80...

Alaskans are "pulling together".(wildlife control of invasive plant purple loosestrife)
July 1, 2007... When we hear about "invaders," we often imagine the danger these interlopers pose is obvious and immediate. However, newly introduced species may not become invasive for decades after they arrive. In 1993, biologist W.R. Courtenay warned that...

NFHS responds to an emerging conservation challenge.(National Fish Hatchery System fishery management and conservation from Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia)
July 1, 2007... A fish disease known as Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) is an emerging issue with important implications for people, commerce, recreation, and conservation. As is frequently the case, the National Fish Hatchery System's (NFHS) aquatic animal...