Izilwane Zasendle~

This Zulu phrase means wild animals. There are about 12,000 white, and 627 black rhinos in Kruger National Park. This one is looking at you for protection!

Leopards in Kruger are rare and rarely seen.

We were very lucky to see this one! The Kruger population is estimated at approximately 1000, although they are hard to count, because they are hard to find.

1,700 lions are thought to live in Kruger.

There are about 37,000 cape buffalo, and yes this one is sleeping. They do that a lot in water holes!

There are only around 300 nyala. This is a male and two females. Quite a sighting of beautiful, shy, creatures! (Late addition: My blogging friend Quiall, see comments, found a baby nyala’s legs in this photo that I didn’t see. Count the legs and you’ll find the baby!)

2000 warthogs,

5000 waterbuck,

over 127,000 impala,

and more than 8,000…

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Ocean Life Faces Mass Extinction

Courtesy of Wikimedia.org

“A team of scientists, in a groundbreaking analysis of data from hundreds of sources, has concluded that humans are on the verge of causing unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in them.”

Climate Change Could Starve the World’s Giant Pandas

“Poaching and habitat destruction over the past 3,000 years have brought the total population down below 2,000. Today, giant pandas exist in an area that is less than 1 percent of their historical range.”

If Rhinos Go Extinct

Fight for Rhinos

To every thing there is a yin and yang, a balance. The web of all species is intricately connected, each relies on the others.

When we let a species go extinct, we upset the balance. So if we fail the rhino, what will happen to the rest of the savanna?

Rhinos are mega-herbivores, the lawn maintenance crew of the savanna. Their job to the ecosystem is to carve out paths for other creatures (eating), make water holes (digging), and to help germinate plants (defecating).

It may seem simplistic, but they are the only sizable creatures in this habitat to do it. The other mega-herbivores, elephants affect different parts of the savanna, as they eat from a different menu, browsing on taller bushes and trees.

Rhinos eat an average of 23.6 kg during the course of each day. The dung piles they share can be 5 metres wide and 1 metre deep. That’s a sizable…

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iNaturalist.org

Photo courtesy of http://www.fabulousnature.com/img2451.htm

 

I recently posted a conservation article on my group blog, League of Bloggers, that mentioned a website called iNaturalist.org. The site has proved to be an ingenious way of gathering scientific data through the help of non-scientists who love nature. I’d like to give some more information about it here. If you’re a nature lover who takes photos of wildlife, this is a great opportunity to help with the conservation efforts of your favorite plants and animals!

Tiger Breath!

We got close enough to see the tiger’s breath! Click to enlarge and see for yourself. If I had to come home from vacation, I must admit this was a very good way to do it!!

The Sumatran Tigers are in a brand new, outdoor, 5.2 acre, multi-level exhibit at The San Diego Safari (Wild Animal) Park. The exhibit houses breeding tigers and is filled with trees, plants, waterfalls, streams and ponds.
There are currently approximately 400 Sumatran Tigers left in the wild.

There were originally nine sub-species of tigers in our world, but three of these are now extinct due to habitat destruction and poaching. All tiger sub-species are critically endangered.

Poachers kill Sumatran Tigers for their bones which are used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine.

The San Diego Zoo and Park supports tiger conservation by breeding tigers to insure genetic diversity through cooperative exchange. It also actively supports…

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Humans Increased Species Extinction Rate by 1,000 Times, New Study Says

EPA May Approve Use of More Bee-toxic Pesticides

Photo by http://scienceforthekids.files.wordpress.com

 

Just received this in an email from the Center for Food Safety:

Dolphin Defense

Walking with the Alligators

A Dolphin group in Xcaret, Mexico
Picture credit:  Truncatus

Today is feel good Sunday, so in Honor of this day of positive  thinking, here is a  feel good story.

Do you need or want,  yet another reason to fight for and defend wild animals?

Is it just me, or do Dolphins always look happy and like they are smiling?

I give you this story,  in the hopes that you too will become a wildlife or any animal defender from this point on~

Recently in the waters off of New Zealand, near Cook Strait,  British swimmer Adam Walker, was saved from the jaws, (truly sorry for that) of a Great White Shark.

Walker  was about to become lunch while swimming for Whale and Dolphin Conservation,  in support of the very animals that saved him.

This was his seventh swim for the group to raise money and awareness for Whales and Dolphins around the world.

The pod of…

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European Commission Takes Powerful Action On Illegal Wildlife Trade By Calling For A Moratoria On All Ivory Sales

Ann Novek( Luure)--With the Sky as the Ceiling and the Heart Outdoors

WCS applauds the Parliament’s wide-ranging wildlife crime resolution condemning illegal elephant killing and other illegal trafficking activities Resolution calls on E.U. Member States to introduce moratoria on all trade in ivory products until wild elephant populations are no longer threatened by illegal killing Brussels – 15 January, 2014 – The European Parliament took powerful action against illegal elephant killing through the passage of a groundbreaking resolution on wildlife trafficking that calls for moratoria on ivory trade and other measures against wildlife crime. The resolution expresses the Parliament’s view that wildlife trafficking is a serious economic, national security, and environmental threat. It calls for renewed action by the E.U. Member States to stop the crisis through restrictions on trade and trafficking of illegal wildlife goods. Among these measures is a call for the European Commission to establish an E.U. plan of action against the illegal wildlife trade and recommends enhanced measures…

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