Animals, Forests, Kindness, Leadership

Orangutans – Shocking!

Photograph by Mattias Klum, National Geographic Creative
Photograph by Mattias Klum, National Geographic Creative

I just read something I did not wish to see.  “The Guardian” headline said Bornean orangutans are now critically endangered because of shrinking forests.  Trust me, as an animal lover and environmentalist, I did not want to see that headline.  I would have preferred to read something like forests are growing and orangutan populations are increasing.

Because of habitat loss, illegal hunting and forest degradation we are going to see an 86% decline in the orangutan population between 1973 and 2025.  You are all intelligent readers, but let me put it starkly, that means if you have 100 orangutans only 14 would be left!  The other reality worth noting is that orangutans only reproduce every six to eight years.  So that means it is inherently much harder for orangutan populations to rebound.

So what can I say to make any of this sound more uplifting and less depressing?  Point one, Bornean orangutans are very adaptable and can survive in a degraded forest.  Point two, we can take actions to ensure that the current number of Bornean orangutans, which stands at 41,000, increases.  Please check the label and read ingredients for the foods you eat.  If palm oil is listed Don’t Buy It.  I repeat, don’t buy it.  Palm oil is one of the top reasons forests are being destroyed and depleted.  Point three, your actions make a difference.  Thank you.

Birds

Baby Bird Rescue

EinsteinI had the fortune of meeting Einstein, a baby bird last week.  She or he, we don’t know which yet, fell about eight stories out of its nest and landed on the ground.  Luckily, my colleague found the bird and rescued it.  It is no bigger than my index finger and is living on a mix of egg and some high protein cat food.  Einstein is so tiny that it has to be fed small pieces of food held with tweezers.  Remember, the parents would normally drop food into the hungry bird’s mouth.  If you look at the photo you can see the outline of its yellow mouth.  Right now it looks like Einstein is a catbird but time will tell if that is the case.

 

I just received some great news, Einstein is a bluebird.  Here is a photo below of what he or she is starting to look like.Bluebird

Animals, Sea Otters

Sea Otters – Check it Out

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) cradling sleeping pup Inian Islands
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) cradling sleeping pup Inian Islands

“Animals…are like us in so many ways.  They want to grow up free and raise their families in a world that is safe.  And if we let them disappear from this Earth then a part of us will disappear too….whether they’ll live happily ever after depends on us.”

Morgan Freeman

Sea Turtles

World Environment Day

Sea Turtle

 

On June 5th we observed World Environment Day, a day started by the United Nations Environment Program to raise awareness and have people take action to protect the planet and nature.  The day is celebrated in over 100 countries and was started in 1974.  Each year has a theme and this year focuses on preventing the illegal trade in wildlife.

Illegal trade in wildlife endangers the Earth’s biodiversity and drives animal species to extinction.  Some of the animals at risk include rhinos, elephants, tigers and sea turtles.  I once had the chance to swim with wild sea turtles and was amazed and awed by their size, beauty, intelligence and grace.  They helped me better appreciate the beauty of the natural world and have inspired me to protect it.

Work to counter illegal trade has been successful but there is still more work to be done.  Each one of our choices concerning travel, diet and consumption makes a difference.  Please make sure you stand with endangered species and help safeguard them for your children and your children’s children.  You matter and your actions make a difference.  Thank you.

Leadership

Life and its Lessons

Beach

Sometimes life does not go as planned and we have something terrible happen to us, or we see animals who are harmed or dead on the roadside.  Pema Chodron gives some wonderful advice below.

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know…nothing ever really attacks us except our own confusion.   Perhaps there is no solid obstacle except our own need to protect ourselves from being touched.   Maybe the only enemy is that we don’t like the way reality is now and therefore wish it would go away fast.   But what we find as practitioners is that nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.   If we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we find the very same problem waiting for us when we arrive.   It just keeps returning with new names, forms, manifestations until we learn whatever it has to teach us about where we are separating ourselves from reality, how we are pulling back instead of opening up, closing down instead of allowing ourselves to experience fully whatever we encounter, without hesitating or retreating into ourselves.”

Animals, Leadership

Exciting work – Animal Bridges!

Animal Bridge
Animal Bridge

I just learned about some exciting work which is happening in the western United States and Canada and in African countries such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola and Namibia.  Wildlife corridors, or animal bridges, are being created which allow animals such as elephants, lions, bears, and antelopes to safely travel from one land area to another.  This is very important because these animals need to be able to roam freely and travel on their ancient migration routes.  It is also necessary for genetic diversity and more importantly, for survival.  When animals are enclosed in small areas genetic diversity is compromised and often results in the dying out of a species.

With these new corridors, which often connect national parks, we can spare animals from being killed by cars on highway routes or shot by fearful humans.  The corridors look like tunnels or bridges and can be below or above highways.  How many times have you seen a dead animal lying on the ground because it was hit while it was trying to cross a heavily traveled road?

Animals need room to roam.  Author David Quammen stated it well, “we need to find ways in which people can live with wildlife and wildlife can live with people”.  And biologist Craig Packer said if we want to take these species in the future with us we need to take responsibility and assure their survival.  Please be an advocate for these wildlife corridors.  Animals need us as much as we need them.

For more information you can watch “Wild Ways” which was featured on the television series “Nova”.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/wild-ways.html

ANIMAL WELFARE, ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY Copyright_2023