Tag: animals

When I was reading last week about the attempt to save the nearly extinct vaquita porpoise, I was reminded of the huge conservation effort for the California condor. As a kid growing up in California, the effort was well publicized; many thought the birds would become extinct. There were so few left, all the wild birds were captured to start a captive breeding program. No one knew if it would succeed. When many chicks started to be born in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the program was determined successful; later chicks were released into the wild to continue a wild as well as a captive population. Today there are only about 400 condors in the wild, and there is still work to do to protect the species, but this program worked to save this beautiful and important bird.

The historic range for the condor used to be all over the southwest, from California to Texas. Condors were often shot or poisoned by early settlers, and their habitat was reduced due to human development. More recently, pesticides and lead in bullets (condors are carrion feeders and consume lead in animals that have been shot) have lead to their decline.

Click here for more info on the Condor and past conservation efforts.

Today’s daily sketch is highlighting the Vaquita, which is now in grave danger of going extinct. It’s the most endangered animal in the world today. The estimate is there are only 30 left in the wild and now a desparate attempt is being made to introduce them to captivity. Experts warn that the vaquita is not suitable for captivity, but this porpoise will vanish without some intervention.

This is an issue that has been going on for years: illegal net fishing of the totoaba fish has greatly affected the vaquita, as it is easily caught and killed in the nets. The population has been on a steady decline for many years and some (mostly ineffective) intervention has been attempted in the past. But now with so few in the wild, there’s not much else to be done. This, as with many extinction events like the baiji or Yangtze river dolphin (which became extinct around 2006), is like watching a slow motion train wreck. Often conservation is complicated, and most efforts reflect short term emergencies (because the species has declined to an unsustainable level) rather than long term proper management of natural resources.

Please donate to the following organizations on the front lines of saving the Vaquita:

Sea Shepard: this organization currently has 2 boats in the Gulf of Mexico, working to protect the vaquita.

Vaquita CPR: this is an organization consisting of governmental and animal conservation groups, who are working on implementing the plan to capture the vaquitas and introduce them to temporary sanctuaries.

July 8, 2017 is International Save the Vaquita Day, click here to find out what you can do!