Dwindle Book Project

Copyright © 2019 by Alyssa Clayton
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition

DWINDLE
A COLLECTION OF VULNERABLE AND NEAR
THREATENED ANIMAL SPECIES
Illustrated by Alyssa Clayton

ONTENTS

................................................................ 1
........................................................... 4
American Bison................................................. 6
Cheetah........................................................ 8
........................................................... 10
Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle ................................. 12
Marine Iguana................................................ 14
.............................................................. 16
Spotted Owl .................................................. 18
Wandering Albatross ......................................... 20
.............................................................. 22
Yellowfin Tuna................................................ 24
Great White Shark ........................................... 26
...................................................... 28
Glass Frogs .................................................. 30
California Tiger Salamander .................................. 32
......................................................... 34
...................................................... 36
Intro
Mammals
Reptiles
Birds
Fish
Amphibians
End Notes
Bibliography

I

NTRO
What is happening to our species and their habitat?
There is no doubt that a vast number of animals and plants
have gone extinct in recent centuries due to human activity,
especially since the industrial revolution. The number of
individuals across species of plants and animals has declined
as well – in many cases severely – affecting genetic variation,
biodiversity, among other issues.
All around the world, areas where humans exploit natural
resources or undergo encroaching development all have the
same outcome: a deteriorating natural environment. As a
result of human action, ecosystems face threats such as
unhealthy production and consumption; in today’s interconnected
world, it doesn’t take much to see these unsustainable
forces to take hold.
This is a trend that cannot continue. If ecosystems are too
severely depleted, their ability to remain replenish, sustain
our species, and meet human needs is drastically threatened.
Many of us have seen images depicting open prairies covered
by massive herds of bison that no longer exist, enormous
flocks of birds congregated in marshes and lagoons that have
seen their numbers reduced dramatically, or beautiful and
impressive animals such as elephants, giraffes, and whales,
which — in many cases — are in danger of becoming extinct.
Other people have cherished memories of less imposing
animals that nonetheless bring deeply felt emotions, such
as the sound of thousands of frogs croaking in the middle
of the night, birds visiting a backyard feeder year after
year, or millions of bats flying to their resting place at
dusk. Others might remember that when traveling by car
through the countryside, their car’s windshield ended up
covered with hundreds of dead insects, which sadly was a
signal of abundance that now hardly ever happens.
If you lived close to the ocean or spent much time there, you
have probably heard that fish stocks have declined dramatically
or read stories about whales, dolphins, and other
marine mammals washing up dead on beaches, occasionally
in large numbers.
In the last decades, we have learned countless stories of
new species of plants or animals being discovered in tropical
forests across the globe, giving us a sense of wonder and
LET’S CHECK SOME NUMBERS:
The number of animals living on the land
has fallen by 40% since 1970.
Marine animal populations have also fallen
by 40% overall.
Overall, 40 percent of the world’s 11,000
bird species are in decline.
Animal populations in freshwater ecosystems
have plummeted by 75% since 1970.
Insect populations have declined by 75% in
some places of the world.
possibility. At the same time, millions of acres of natural
forests are being destroyed every year.
About a quarter of the world’s coral reefs have already been
damaged beyond repair, and 75 percent of the world’s coral
reefs are at risk from local and global stresses.
It is estimated that humans have impacted 83% of Earth’s
land surface, which has affected many ecosystems as well as

the range in which specific species of wildlife used to exist.
Developed nations have seen benefits in economic growth not
only from the exploitation of their ecosystems and species,
but from the exploitation of the ecosystems and species of
undeveloped nations as well. Currently, the biggest declines
in animal numbers are happening in low-income, developing
nations, mirroring declines in wildlife that occurred in
wealthier nations long before. The last wolf in the UK was
killed in 1680. For instance, between 1990 and 2008, around
a third of products that cause deforestation – timber, beef,
and soya – were imported to the EU.
Academics and others debate if we are already facing a new
process of mass extinction, such as the ones the world has
experienced over the millennia. But even if that is not the
case, we know that thousands of species are endangered,
and most land and sea flora and fauna have seen their
numbers severely reduced, with few exceptions.
Many species have disappeared already and many more are
following the same path. As reported by The World Conservation
Union (IUCN), there have been 849 species that have
disappeared in the wild since 1500 A.D.; most strikingly,
this number greatly underestimates the thousands of species
that disappeared before scientists were able to identify
them. Most troublingly, around 33% and 20% of amphibians
and mammals are in danger of becoming extinct in the
coming decades.
We also know that some people have argued that species
have disappeared before and how the current decline is just
part of a natural process. But this conclusion is way off
base. All other processes of global mass extinction in the
history of the planet happened because of a catastrophic
natural event. They were not the result of human intervention,
as is the case for the current mass extinction.
According to Peter Ward from the University of Washington,
what we are experiencing today is strikingly similar
to the dinosaur-killing event of 60 million years ago, when
a planet already stressed by sudden changes in its climate
was knocked into mass extinction by the impact of asteroids.
This mass extinction we are going through has been
unfolding because of the intervention of a single species, us.
Humans are having an outsized negative impact on all other
species. Human activity has caused a dramatic reduction
in the total number of species and the population sizes of
specific species; thousand have already disappeared, and
many more are threatened with extinction.
The marine extinction crisis is not as widely grasped as
the crises in tropical forests and other terrestrial biomes.
We do not know how many species are in the ocean as the
bulk of marine species are undiscovered. Therefore, we do
not know how many have disappeared or how many are in
danger of disappearing. Furthermore, we are also losing
species or unique types within a species (for example a type
of salmon), before we even know of them.
We know that overfishing is a major global concern. Current
assessments cover only 20% of the world’s fish stocks, so
the true state of most of the world’s fish populations is not
clear. Although, recent findings suggest that those unstudied
stocks are declining, and nearly three-quarters of the world’s
commercially fished stocks are overharvested and at risk.
Along with species extinction, the devastation of genetically
unique populations and the loss of their genetic variation
leads to an irreversible biodiversity loss. The evidence all
points to the unfolding of a global tragedy with permanent
consequences.
What is driving this process of extinction? Overexploitation
of species either for human consumption, use, elaboration
of byproducts, or for sport.
HABITAT DESTRUCTION:
A bulldozer pushing down trees is the iconic image of habitat
destruction. Other ways people directly destroy habitat
include filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields,
and cutting down trees.
HABITAT FRAGMENTATION:
Much of the remaining terrestrial wildlife habitat has been
cut up into fragments by roads and development. Aquatic
species’ habitats have been fragmented by dams and water
diversions. These fragments of habitat may not be large
or connected enough to support species that need a large
territory where they can find mates and food. Also, the
loss and fragmentation of habitats makes it difficult for
migratory species to find places to rest and feed along
their migration routes.
HABITAT DEGRADATION:
Pollution, invasive species, and disruption of ecosystem
processes (such as changing the intensity of fires in an
ecosystem) are some of the ways habitats can become so
degraded they can no longer support native wildlife.

CLIMATE CHANGE:
As climate change alters temperature and weather patterns,
it also impacts plant and animal life. Scientists expect that
the number and range of species, which define biodiversity,
will decline greatly as temperatures continue to rise.
The burning of fossil fuels for energy and animal agriculture
are two of the biggest contributors to global warming,
along with deforestation. Livestock accounts for between
14.5 percent and 18 percent of human-induced greenhouse
gas emissions. Those emissions come from cattle belches,
intestinal gasses, and waste; the fertilizer production for
feed crops; general farm associated emissions; and the
process of growing feed crops. According to research
conducted by the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the
Planet project, animal waste releases methane and nitrous
oxide, greenhouse gases that are much more potent than
carbon dioxide. As people increase their level of income, they
consume more meat and dairy products. The populations of
industrial countries consume twice as much meat as those
in developing countries. Worldwide meat production has
tripled over the last four decades and increased 20 percent
in just the last ten years. This information suggests that
we should cut back on our consumption of meat and dairy.
“The privilege we have over these animals, it would appear,
now comes at a hefty price [to the planet].”
The spread of non-native species around the world; a single
species (us) taking over a significant percentage of the
world’s physical space and production; and, human actions
increasingly directing evolution.
The first factor is also known as the global homogenization
of flora and fauna. Biotic homogenization is an emerging,
yet pervasive, threat in the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Originally,
ecologists defined biotic homogenization as the replacement
of native species by exotics or introduced species,
but this phenomenon is now more broadly recognized
as the process by which ecosystems lose their biological
uniqueness and uniformity grows. As global transportation
becomes faster and more frequent, it is inevitable that
species intermixing will increase. When unique local flora
or fauna become extinct, they are often replaced by already
widespread flora or fauna that is more adapted to tolerate
human activities. This process is affecting all aspects of
our natural world. For example, we grow the same crops
anywhere in the world at the expense of the local varieties
that in many cases disappear; introduce animals into places
where they did not exist, and often do not have natural
enemies, becoming a plague, such as rats introduced to
the Galapagos Islands; or destroy other species that cannot
defend themselves from the new predator, such as in Guam
where over the years ten of Guam’s twelve original forest
bird species have been lost due to the introduction of the
brown tree snake. Biological homogenization qualifies as
a global environmental catastrophe. The Earth has never
witnessed such a broad and complete reorganization of
species distribution, in which animals and plants (and other
organisms for that matter) have been translocated on a
global scale around the planet.
Over the last few centuries, humans have essentially become
the top predator not only on land, but also across the sea. In
doing so, humanity has begun using 25-40% of the planet’s
net primary production for its own. As we keep expanding
our use of land and resources, the capacity of species to
survive is constantly reduced.
Humanity has become a massive force in directing evolution.
This is most apparent in the domestication of animals
and the cultivation of crops over thousands of years. But
humans are directing evolution in numerous other ways
as well, manipulating genomes by artificial selection and
molecular techniques, and indirectly by managing ecosystems
and populations to conserve them, said co-author Erle
Ellis, an expert on the Anthropocene with the University
of Maryland. He added that even conservation is impacting
evolution.
In countries around the world, policies have been enacted
that have led to extinction or near extinction of specific
species, such large predators in the US and Europe. Also,
chemical products associated with agriculture or other
productive processes have affected many species such as
honeybees and other pollinators.

HE GREAT
MERICAN
ISON
BY JED PORTMAN
MAY 3, 2011
They show up on old nickels, on the backs of quarters and
on flags. They surface in burgers and jerky, in the logos of
sports teams and universities and in the names of towns
and cities.
A 2008 survey conducted by the Wilderness Conservation
Society revealed that, while 74 percent of Americans polled
agreed that bison are “extremely important living symbols
of the American West,” and more than half agreed that
bison are important symbols of our country as a whole,
fewer than 10 percent had any idea how many bison are
left in the country. Eighty-three percent of survey subjects
believed that bison meat “was good or better than beef,”
but only 40 percent had actually tried it. It’s hard to live
in this part of the world without being a little bit familiar
with the American bison, but how far beyond familiar does
our knowledge extend?
The average American bison – commonly referred to as the
American buffalo — stands 5 to 6.5 feet tall and can weigh
more than a ton. Despite that heft, bison can run at speeds
of more than 30 miles per hour and execute standing jumps
of up to 6 feet in the air. Yellowstone National Park warns
its visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from all wild
bison, and for good reason. These lumbering vegetarians
have injured more Yellowstone tourists than any other
animal in the park.
The bison’s wild temperament and legendary stubbornness
have frustrated more than a few wannabe wranglers. “You
can herd a buffalo anywhere he wants to go” goes the
saying among farmers and ranchers familiar with these
imposing animals.
The American bison, the largest land animal native to
North America, prospered in the open grasslands of this
country for centuries. Scientists estimate that there were
more than 30 million bison in North America when the
first European settlers arrived on the continent, grazing a
vast range which ran from northern Canada to northern
Mexico and from western New York to eastern Washington.
“The amazing herds of buffaloes which resort thither, by
their size and number, fill the traveller with amazement
and terror,” wrote John Filson in 1784 of herds in northern
Kentucky. The journals of Lewis and Clark described
western herds “so numerous” that they “darkened the whole
plains.”
As late as 1871, a young soldier named George Anderson
AMERICAN
BISON
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Bison bison
SIZE: 5’- 6.5’ tall
DIET: Herbivore
FUN FACT: Bison are the largest mammals in North America,
and bison calves typically weigh 30 - 70 pounds at birth.
Until the 1700’s, Bison numbers
used to be estimated around 30
million in the US.

described an “enormous” herd of bison in Kansas which
took he and his men six days to pass through. “I am safe
in calling this a single herd,” he wrote, “and it is impossible
to approximate the millions that composed it.”
Hornaday and former president Theodore Roosevelt, were
able to rescue the bison from its impending extinction.
Today’s bison population is higher than 500,000 and steadily
growing.
A fatal combination of events came together against the
bison in the second half of the 19th century. American
Indian tribes acquired horses and guns and were able to
kill bison in larger numbers than ever before. A drought
dried out the animals’ grassland habitat, which was already
overburdened by new populations of horses and cattle.
Farmers and ranchers began killing bison to make room
for their animals. Some soldiers killed bison to spite their
American Indian enemies, who depended on the animals
for food and clothing.
Railroads were laid through the bison’s territory, dividing
herds and accelerating the arrival of hunters, whose kills
fed the high demand for bison hides back East and in
Europe. Sport shooters traveled west to shoot the animals
by the dozens, sometimes from the open windows of moving
trains, and often left their bodies out on the plains to rot
once the hunt was over.
By the beginning of the 20th century, there were only
several hundred bison left in North America.
The efforts of early 20th century organizations like the
American Bison Society, headed by zoologist William
According to Texas A&M professor of veterinary pathobiology
Dr. James Derr, though, most bison alive today are
genetically different from their wild ancestors. At the low
point of the bison population – what geneticists call the
“bottleneck” – in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the
ranchers who owned a lot of the remaining bison population
bred their bison with cattle in an attempt to create better
meat animals. “When people went looking for bison later,”
said Derr, “they had to go to the private guys who owned
them, and in many cases those private guys had been
producing hybrids.”
Derr has spent the past several decades analyzing bison
DNA to determine which herds contain cattle genes, and
believes that only about 1.6 percent of today’s bison population
(8,000 animals) is not hybridized.
And today’s bison don’t roam the plains like they used
to, either. Only about 20,000 bison – 4 percent of the
overall population – make up the wild herds that graze our
national parks and private reserves. The other 96 percent
are livestock animals, raised commercially for meat and
hides.
NEAR THREATENED
AMERICAN BISON
By 1884 there were 325
wild bison left.
Due to conservation efforts,
as of 2017, there are around
500,000 bison in the US.

The world’s fastest land mammal is racing toward extinction,
with the latest cheetah census suggesting that the big
cats, which are already few in number, may decline by an
additional 53 percent over the next 15 years.
“That’s really perilous,” says Luke Hunter, president and
CCO for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization.
“That’s a very active decline, and you have to really
step in and act to address that.”
Today there are just 7,100 cheetahs left in the wild, according
to the new study, which appears this week in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That’s
down from an estimated 14,000 cheetahs in 1975, when
researchers made the last comprehensive count of the
animals across the African continent, Hunter says.
In addition, the cheetah has been driven out of 91 percent
of its historic range—the big cats once roamed nearly all
of Africa and much of Asia, but their population is now
confined predominantly to six African countries: Angola,
Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, and Mozambique.
The species is already almost extinct in Asia, with
fewer than 50 individuals remaining in one isolated pocket
of Iran.
Based on these results, the study authors are calling for
the cheetah’s status to be changed from “vulnerable” to
“endangered” on the IUCN Red List.
“These large carnivores, when they are declining at that
sort of rate, then extinction becomes a real possibility,”
Hunter says.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, humans are the main reason that
cheetahs are in peril. Like other large carnivores, cheetahs
face habitat loss driven by conversion of wilderness areas
into managed land dedicated to agriculture or livestock.
People will then sometimes kill cheetahs if they perceive the
animals as a threat to their livestock, even though cheetahs
rarely take domesticated animals, Hunter says.
Cheetahs are also subject to vehicle collisions, poaching
for their skin and other body parts, and even being killed
for bushmeat, though that threat is mostly targeted at
cheetah’s prey species, such as antelopes, gazelles, impalas,
and warthogs. All are ideal cheetah prey, and all are heavily
hunted by people in many areas, Hunter says.
“Cheetahs are facing a double whammy: They are getting
killed directly, and then also their prey species are getting
killed in these savannah areas, so the cheetahs having
nothing to subsist on,” Hunter says.
Other threats include high demand for cheetah cubs as pets,
mainly in the Middle East, which results in the illegal trade
of cubs from North Africa.
Some cheetahs already live in protected areas like national
parks, where it is safer, more accessible, and the animals
are expected to be subjected to fewer threats, says study
leader Sarah Durant of the Zoological Society of London.
But during the new assessment, Durant and her colleagues
found that two-thirds of the cheetah population lives outside
of these protected zones, in part because the animals need
room to roam.
“We can’t have any more cheetahs in protected areas ...
the density is already the maximum it can be,” Durant
says. “The key to the survival of the cheetah is its survival
outside of protected areas.”
The study team, led by Panthera, the Zoological Society of
London, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, hope that
their results will spur the IUCN to re-classify the cheetah
as endangered.
It is likely too late to grow and protect the species in
areas like West or Central Africa, where these big cats
have long been on the decline, Hunter adds. But there is
enormous potential for the population to rebound quickly
in other areas.
HEETAHS ARE
ANGEROUSLY
LOSE TO
BY ALEXANDRA E. PETRI
DEC 27, 2016

The new conservation status would provide a platform
for these groups to try and reverse the trends affecting
cheetahs. For instance, such a change can create openings
for funding streams that are available only to endangered
species, and they might allow for conversations with African
governments about cheetah conservation programs.
and make sure we have the policy and financial
policy framework in place so that they will
benefit from conservation.”
“What we are really hoping,” Durant says, “is this will
catalyze action to start thinking outside the box for cheetah
and landscape conservation, to start looking beyond the
protected-area system and looking at how we
can get communities engaged
in and supportive of
conservation,
VULNERABLE
CHEETAH
CHEETAH
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acinonyx jubatus
SIZE: 2’-3’ tall
DIET: Carnivore
FUN FACT: Cheetah’s are the only cat
in the cat family whose claws don’t retract,
specifically to help them have a better grip
when running.

ACIFIC LEATHERBACK
URTLES’ ALARMING
ECLINE
BY BECKY OSKIN
FEB 27, 2013
ONTINUES
The Pacific leatherback turtle’s last population stronghold
could disappear within 20 years if conservation efforts
aren’t expanded, a new study finds.
Most of the Pacific Ocean’s leatherback turtles, at least 75
percent, lay their eggs at Bird’s Head Peninsula in Papua
Barat, Indonesia. The number of leatherback turtle nests at
the peninsula’s beaches dropped 78 percent between 1984
and 2011, the study discovered.
“If the decline continues, within 20 years it will be difficult
if not impossible for the leatherback to avoid extinction,”
Thane Wibbels, a biologist at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham (UAB), said in a statement. “That means the
number of turtles would be so low that the species could
not make a comeback.”
At Jamursba Medi Beach, on Bird’s Head Peninsula, nests
fell from 14,455 in 1984 to a low of 1,532 in 2011, the study
found. Because female turtles nest multiple times each year,
the researchers estimate that 489 breeding females remain
in the western Pacific leatherback population. Overall, the
total turtle population dropped 5.9 percent each year since
1984, the researchers estimate.The findings were published
Feb. 27, 2013 in the journal Ecospheres.
Leatherback sea turtles are the largest of all living turtles
and are found throughout the world’s oceans. Their unique
“leathery” shells can reach 6.5 feet (2 meters) in length and
they weigh up to 1,190 pounds (540 kilograms).
Although Atlantic populations have increased in recent
years, the Pacific leatherback population has dropped more
than 95 percent since the 1980s. The leatherback turtle was
listed as endangered in the United States in 1970.
Tapilatu, lead study author and a doctoral student at UAB,
said in a statement.
In the ocean, turtles are often victims of bycatch, unintentional
netting and killing while fishing for other prey, as they
travel through multiple fishing zones on their long migrations.
Pacific leatherback turtles migrate from their nesting
site in Indonesia to feeding grounds near the Americas.
Environmental changes caused by the El Niño/La Niña
climate oscillation may also have affected turtles by reducing
their food sources, particularly jellyfish.
Conservation efforts at Indonesia’s beaches include patrols
by local residents to protect nests from predators and
relocating eggs to areas with cooler sand. (The sand
temperature influences the sex of hatchlings — cool sand
means more male turtles.)
But Tapilatu, a native of western Papua, Indonesia, who
has worked on turtle conservation since 2004, said beach
conservation alone is unlikely to tip the scales in favor of
the recovery.
“They can migrate more than 7,000 miles [11,000 kilometers]
and travel through the territory of at least 20 countries,
so this is a complex international problem,” Tapilatu said.
In February 2012, the United States protected about 42,000
square miles (108,800 square kilometers) of the Pacific
Ocean off California, Oregon and Washington as critical
habitat for leatherbacks.
Much of the decline is due to humans. Before the practice
was outlawed in 1993, villagers and fisherman collected
turtle eggs by the thousands in Indonesia. Dogs and pigs
still dig up turtle eggs along Bird’s Head’s beaches, Ricardo

If the decline continues, within 20 years
it will be difficult if not impossible for
the leatherback to avoid extinction.
PACIFIC LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dermochelys coriacea
SIZE: 6’-7’ long
DIET: Omnivore
FUN FACT: Unlike all other marine turtles, the
leatherback turtle does not have a hard, bony shell.
PACIFIC LEATHER-
BACK SEA TURTLE
VULNERABLE

ALAPAGOS MARINE
GUANAS STRUGGLING
GAINST TOURISTS,
LACK RATS AND
HE WEATHER
BY BRIAN GROSS
JUNE 15, 2015
The marine iguana, a coal-black, prehistoric-looking creature
found nowhere on earth but the Galapagos Islands, is coping
with some difficult times.
Its population has declined by several hundred thousand
over the last 15 years, scientists estimate.
“The town was flooded with iguanas when I was growing
up,” said Lucas Tario, a 46-year-old baker who grew up in
the Galapagos. “Now they’re not as easy to find.”
In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of
Nature, with headquarters in Switzerland, listed the marine
iguana as vulnerable, one level below endangered. It said
the iguanas reproduce slowly and confront many threats.
Jenifer Suarez, a specialist on wildlife surveys at the Charles
Darwin Research Center, said a study from 2004 to 2014
at Punta Nunez, about 10 miles east of Puerto Ayora, the
main town on the island of Santa Cruz, showed an 18.5
percent decline from 3,200 marine iguanas to 2,609. As
to what is causing the decline, the scientists are stumped.
“We are not really sure,” said Suarez. Many theories are
being bandied about, including changes in the weather,
attacks by other animals and the growth of tourism.
The weather phenomenon known as El Niño has always
been tough on marine iguanas. El Niño causes warmerthan-usual
ocean currents that kill algae, the main food
of marine iguanas.
as 20 percent by digesting parts of its own bones, scientists
say. It is the only animal in the world with that capability.
But that’s not enough.
In the last two decades, the frequency of El Niño has
doubled and that makes it harder for marine iguanas to
recover from each episode.
El Niño is also blamed for negatively affecting the marine
iguanas breeding. In the 1982-83 El Niño cycle, as many
as 70 percent of some varieties of marine iguanas died,
scientists say.
It’s not just the marine iguana whose numbers are down in
the Galapagos. Population surveys indicate the blue-footed
booby, the Galapagos sea lion and the Galapagos penguins
have also been decreasing because of the El Niño phenomenon.
Another explanation for the decline in marine iguanas
might be the non-native animals that have been brought
to the islands, either intentionally or unintentionally. As
far back as the 17th Century, pirates and explorers used
the Galapagos as a stop for fresh food and water. The
descendants of the animals they had on the ships with
them, such as goats, pigs and black rats, roam the islands
today. These animals, plus the domesticated dogs and cats
that have come along in recent decades, often snatch up
the marine iguana eggs and newborns.
The marine iguana has a one-of-a-kind survival technique.
When food is short, it is able to shrink itself by as much

FUN FACT: Marine iguanas are coal black when they are
young, but as they mature they change to more vibrant colors,
especially the males during breeding seasons.
Just how much damage the rats and other predatory animals
have done is not clear. But the government has killed
hundreds of thousands of goats and millions of black rats
at a cost of millions of dollars.
But a more recent intruder on the islands is affecting the
iguanas: the tourist.
MARINE
IGUANA
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Amblyrhynchus cristatus
SIZE: 4’-5’ long
DIET: Herbivore
“The most common problem that we have, not only with
the marine iguana, but with most animals, are that tourists
want to touch them,” said Eduardo Espinoza, an iguana
specialist at the Charles Darwin Research Station. The
iguana’s stress levels spike when people touch them,
Espinoza said.
As recently as the 1960s, only a trickle of back-packers and
a few yachtsmen and women were coming to the Galapagos
Islands. In 1979, the government says, 12,000 tourists
visited the Galapagos. In 2012, immigration officials counted
180,000 tourists. And people who live in the Galapagos say
they think well over 200,000 tourists are arriving annually
now.
But a more recent intruder
on the islands is affecting
the iguanas: the tourist.
Much of the 51,000 square miles of volcanic islands and
ocean in the Galapagos is still pristine. But stretches of
Galapagos land that were once occupied only by marine
iguanas, giant Galapagos tortoises and other animals have
been taken over by restaurants, hotels, souvenir and snack
shops, and scuba diving businesses.
People from mainland Ecuador and elsewhere around the
world are moving to the archipelago hoping to make money
catering to the tourists.
The community of people living in the Galapagos has grown
from a handful half a century ago to an estimated 35,000,
which includes government officials, soldiers, sailors, police
and squads of national park guides in khaki shirts and
pants. Most of the people live on the islands of Isabela,
San Cristobal and Santa Cruz, the main base for many
tourists in the Galapagos.
All the commotion, Espinoza said, has been pushing the
iguanas away from familiar territory. “If you have a hundred
tourists passing and touching the same animal,” he said,
“the animal is going to go away from that place.”
Some conservations worry about the harm to the Galapagos
animals from sound and light. Several inter-continental size
passenger jetliners roar into the Galapagos every day and
a few companies operate shuttle flights around the islands
with small twin-engine propeller planes. Most of the boats
that take tourists diving and on explorations on land are
powered by big outboard motors. Beaches that once were
dark after sunset are now often dotted with lights. The
iguanas, scientists say, find the lights disorienting.
“They don’t know where the beach is,” Espinoza said, so
they cannot swim into the water and find food.
Espinoza has requested extra staff to monitor the iguanas
and says that a comprehensive, island-wide population
survey is needed.
Espinoza is keeping his eye on the negative trends, but he
says he doesn’t think there is cause to be overly worried.
“We do not have enough data to show that it is a major
issue,” he said.
MARINE IGUANA
NEAR THREATENED

The Northern Spotted Owl is in decline across its entire
range, and its rate of decline is increasing—that is the
conclusion of a major demographic study produced by
federal scientists, published Wednesday, December 9, 2015,
in the journal “The Condor.” The study examined survey
results from monitoring areas across the range of the
imperiled owl.
This research indicates that since monitoring began in
1985, Spotted Owl populations declined 55-77 percent in
Washington, 31-68 percent in Oregon, and 32-55 percent
in California. In addition, population declines are now
occurring in study areas in southern Oregon and northern
California that were previously experiencing little to no
detectable decline through 2009.
“This study confirms that immediate action is needed to
reduce the impact of Barred Owls and to protect all remaining
Spotted Owl habitat. It also points to the need to
restore additional habitat by maintaining and expanding the
successful reserve network of the Northwest Forest Plan,”
said Steve Holmer, senior policy advisor with American
Bird Conservancy.
While habitat loss continues to threaten the Spotted Owl,
new threats have emerged. Barred Owls, whose range has
increased in recent years to coincide with the Northern
Spotted Owl, can outcompete the Spotted Owl for food and
territory. The study says:
We observed strong evidence that Barred Owls negatively
affected Spotted Owl populations, primarily by decreasing
apparent survival and increasing local territory extinction
rates. … In the study areas where habitat was an important
source of variation for Spotted Owl demographics, vital rates
were generally positively associated with a greater amount
of suitable owl habitat.
However, Barred Owl densities may now be high enough
across the range of the Northern Spotted Owl that, despite
the continued management and conservation of suitable owl
habitat on federal lands, the long-term prognosis for the
persistence of Northern Spotted Owls may be in question
without additional management intervention.
Dr. Katie Dugger, a research biologist at the USGS Oregon
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit of Oregon
State University and lead author on the report, said: “The
amount of suitable habitat required by Spotted Owls for
nesting and roosting is important because Spotted Owl
survival, colonization of empty territories, and number of
young produced tends to be higher in areas with larger
amounts of suitable habitat, at least in some study areas.”
Much attention has turned to the increased threat posed
by Barred Owls since the Northern Spotted Owl was listed
as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act
in 1990. However, Holmer stressed that adequate habitat
is the only long-term solution to the Barred Owl threat.
“Science shows that Northern Spotted Owls and Barred
Owls can coexist where there is enough high-quality habitat,”
he said. “A large amount of owl habitat will become available
as the Northwest Forest Plan continues to restore the
old-growth ecosystem.”
ORTHERN SPOTTED
WL POPULATIONS
IN RAPID DECLINE
DEC 10,
2015
BY STEVE
HOLMER

The Northern Spotted Owl is a rare raptor often associated
with the complex features and closed canopy of mature
or old-growth forests. Since it is associated with older
forests, the owl serves as an “indicator species”—its presence
indicates that the forest is healthy and functioning properly.
Historically, Spotted Owl decline has been traced to habitat
loss caused primarily by logging. Because the owl is dependent
on older forest types, logging of old-growth forests is
particularly harmful. Once these forests are logged, it can
take many decades before suitable habitat regrows.
The Northern Spotted Owl’s 1990 listing intensified issues
concerning federal forest management. As a consequence of
prior overcutting of owl habitat and a lack of compliance
by the land-management agencies with wildlife protection
requirements, logging of federal forests was largely halted
across the owl’s range.
In reaction to the stalemate over federal forest management,
in 1994, the Clinton Administration established the Northwest
Forest Plan, a landscape-level resource management
plan that established a series of forest reserves across the
range of the Northern Spotted Owl. The plan was intended
to both protect remaining owl habitat and to encourage
development of future habitat.
After 20 years, USDA Forest Service monitoring reports
indicate the plan is meeting its objectives to restore wildlife
habitat as well as to improve water quality; forests of the
Northwest are also now storing carbon instead of acting
as a source of emissions.
“The monitoring reports confirm that the system of reserves
has slowed the decline of the owl,” Holmer said. “But the
Spotted Owl’s continued decline makes clear that this
reserve system is not enough due to competition from
Barred Owls. Urgent action is needed to address the Barred
Owl threat and to protect all Spotted Owl habitat on federal
land.”
Since monitoring began in 1985,
the spotted owl populations declined
55% - 77%
in Washington
31% - 68%
in Oregon
32% - 55%
in California
SPOTTED
OWL
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Strix occidentalis
SIZE: 45” wingspan
DIET: Carnivore
SPOTTED OWL
NEAR THREATENED
FUN FACT: Spotted owls do not build their own nests, instead
making use of cavities found in trees, and abandoned nests.

LBATROSS POPU-
ATIONS IN DECLINE
ROM FISHING AND
NVIRONMENTAL
HANGE
BY BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY
NOV 20, 2017
The populations of wandering, black-browed and grey-headed
albatrosses have halved over the last 35 years on sub-antarctic
Bird Island according to a new study published today
(20 November) in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
The research, led by scientists at British Antarctic Study
(BAS), attributes this decline to environmental change, and
to deaths in longline and trawl fisheries (known as bycatch).
Albatrosses are the world’s most threatened family of birds.
There are 22 species; according to the IUCN Red List, 17
of these are ‘Threatened with extinction’ and the remaining
five are considered to be ‘Near-threatened’. BAS scientists
at Bird Island have been monitoring the populations since
1972.
By analysing the breeding histories of more than 36,000
individually ringed albatrosses, researchers have found
decreases in the survival rates of both adults and juveniles,
causing serious declines in population growth rates with
long-lasting effects.
Lead author Dr Deborah Pardo of the British Antarctic
Survey, says:
“Our study shows that bycatch in fisheries and environmental
change both contribute to reducing the survival rates of
the birds. While we know population sizes were affected by
bycatch from the mid 1990s, more recent climatic changes
including stronger and more poleward winds, increased sea
surface temperature and reduced sea ice have worsened
the impacts.
We also found the grey-headed albatross population was
particularly affected by the climatic event of El Niño, which
coincided with increased fishing activity in their foraging
areas. El Niño reduced the amount of food available so
the birds probably switched to feeding on discards behind
fishing vessels, increasing the number being hooked on
longlines.”
Co-author Professor Richard Phillips of the British Antarctic
Survey, says:
“This is the first comprehensive study at South Georgia
and one of the few globally to examine the impacts of both
climate change and fisheries on populations of long-lived
seabirds. Identifying that bycatch is having a major impact
on grey-headed albatrosses was unexpected, as mortalities of
this species during setting of longlines are rarely recorded
Albatrosses are the
world’s most threatened
family of birds.
by observers on board fishing vessels. The results underline
how important it is to improve fisheries management.
Whilst BAS has worked with Commision for the Conservation
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to
introduce measures that have effectively eliminated bycatch
around South Georgia, evidence from our long-term monitoring
shows that more is needed elsewhere in the Southern
Ocean to avoid the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands
of birds each year.”

WANDERING ALBATROSS
WANDERING
ALBATROSS
VULNERABLE
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Diomedea exulans
SIZE: 10’2” Wingspan
DIET: Carnivore
FUN FACT: Sometimes these birds eat so much
they can’t fly and just have to float on the water.

Fish

VERFISHED:
BY PAIGE ROBERTS
JUNE 09, 2016
ELLOWFIN TUNA
N THE BRINK
From sandwiches to sushi, tuna is a global staple. World
tuna catch is worth more than $42 billion annually, making
the tuna industry a giant in the fishing world. It supports
millions of jobs and provides food security for people in
developed and developing countries alike. So when the
conservation status of one species suddenly changes from
sustainably fished to overfished, alarm bells ring across
the world and, in this case, especially in the Indian Ocean.
In November 2015, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
(IOTC) listed one of the Indian Ocean’s highest value fish,
yellowfin tuna, as “overfished.” This was a blow to fishing
economies throughout the Indian Ocean that depend on
tuna as an export. Over the entire Indian Ocean, yellowfin
tuna accounts for 45% of tuna landings and is worth US
$1.2 billion when sold off the boat (before processing). After
moving through a value chain that often lands it on dinner
plates thousands of miles from where it was caught, the
total value of Indian Ocean tuna triples.
In countries with small-scale tuna fisheries, the rapid decline
of yellowfin populations could trigger a significant downturn
in their fishing economies. For example, in Somalia, yellowfin
tuna makes up 15% of artisanal catch. This one species
contributed US $6.5 million to the Somali economy in 2010.
If this fish were to disappear, the lost revenue would be
detrimental to the livelihoods of Somali artisanal fishers.
Tuna fishing has a long history dating back thousands of
years. However, the Indian Ocean’s proliferation as a global
seafood source began in the 1980s with the introduction
of highly efficient fishing gear. Between the mid-1950s to
around 1980, annual catch of yellowfin tuna in the Indian
Ocean was a fairly constant 20,000 to 60,000 tons, caught
mostly by Asian longlining vessels. But beginning in 1982,
annual tuna catch in the Indian Ocean ballooned, reaching
900,000 tons by 1999.
Global expansion and technological developments had a
major impact on tuna fishing. In the early 1980s, European
purse seine vessels entered the scene. This highly efficient
fishing method uses a large net to surround an entire
school of tuna, rather than catching one fish per hook
as on a longline. Purse seiners grew even more efficient
with the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs). These
are floating structures that attract fish, making it easier
to surround them with the large net. The rapid increase
in purse seine vessels, coupled with an increase in fishing
effort by longliners, resulted in a dramatic increase in tuna
catch to 350,000 tons per year.
These fishing fleets are fulfilling a ravenous global appetite
for tuna. As the demand for tuna has grown, so has the
range of these vessels. After decades of overfishing in
their own waters, fishers are expanding beyond their home
countries’ depleted ocean resources to fish in the waters of
other countries that lack the ability to manage or prevent
foreign fishing. For countries that are still developing their
fishing industries, foreign fishing vessels are competing with
local fishers for decreasing resources. In Somali waters,
foreign fishers extract three times more fish than domestic
fishers do.
The wakeup call by the IOTC may be forcing a change.
The declaration of yellowfin as overfished has forced the
tuna fishing industry to take pause. Even companies whose

FUN FACT: Yellowfin tuna are one of the few partially
warm-blooded fish species.
incentives are profits rather than conservation are coming
to recognize that continuing to overfish yellowfin will mean
losing their industry forever. In response, fishing companies
and supermarkets are partnering with NGOs in a call for
a 20% reduction in catch.
YELLOW-
FIN TUNA
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Thunnus albacares
SIZE: 6’- 7’ long
DIET: Carnivore
Their cooperation is pressuring the IOTC to create better
harvest control rules for yellowfin and other heavily exploited
species such as skipjack. Last month’s session of the IOTC
resulted in agreement on a 20% reduction in skipjack and
10% reduction in yellowfin catch across the Indian Ocean.
This is an excellent first step. However, reporting catch to
the IOTC is voluntary and it is estimated that one third of
catch goes unreported. Without full regional compliance
for reporting, the IOTC cannot accurately measure how
many fish are being removed. Therefore, a decrease in the
allowed catch has little meaning until every country fishing
for yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean fully reports its catch.
For developing countries that are trying to grow their
fisheries sectors, stopping the overfishing of an important
species like yellowfin is crucial. Their ability to grow and
compete on the global market depends on the industrial
fleet leaving some fish in the ocean for them to catch and
sell. Regional cooperation and compliance is the only way
to ensure everyone can get a piece of the tuna steak.
~ 350,000 tons
YELLOWFIN TUNA
~ 50,000 tons
~ 25,000 tons
NEAR THREATENED
1960
1980 2000
ANNUAL CATCHES OF YELLOWFIN TUNA IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

GREAT
WHITE
SHARK
FUN FACT: The lifespan
of great white sharks is
estimated to be as long as 70
years or more.
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Carcharodon carcharias
SIZE: 11’- 21’ long
DIET: Carnivore
for weeks and months at a time,” he said according to
ScienceDaily.
A new study has found a drastic decline in great white shark
sightings around Seal Island in False Bay, south of Cape
Town, South Africa.
Researchers from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School
of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the Apex Shark
Expeditions have been monitoring the waters for sharks
around Seal Island for 18 years. They published their
research in the journal Scientific Reports on Feb. 13. Seal
Island is known for its large population of Cape fur seals,
which are a common prey of great white sharks. Because of
this, the site is famous for sightings of great white sharks
diving out of the ocean to catch their seal prey.
Great white sharks are one of the largest and longest living
sharks species. Adults can weigh more than 2.5 tons, grow
up to 20 feet long and have a lifespan of 70 years.
The study lasted for 18 years and involved over 8000 hours
of observation, with researchers sighting a total number of
6,333 individual white sharks and 8,076 attacks on seals in
this time. While the numbers for great white shark sightings
were relatively stable from the start of the study in 2000 to
2015, they have significantly dropped since then. The study’s
lead author is University of Miami Research Associate Professor
Neil Hammerschlag. Hammerschlag is also the director
of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the
University of Miami. He noted why the sudden change in
great white shark populations may be occurring.
“In 2017 and 2018, their numbers reached an all-time low,
with great whites completely disappearing from our surveys
Currently, great white sharks are classified as vulnerable
by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The
reason for the great white’s disappearance from this area is
still unknown. One theory is the arrival of killer whales in
False Bay with a particular feeding technique. Killer whales
are the only known species that hunt great whites. Another
study published earlier this year documented instances of
killer whales preying on sharks in False Bay and selectively
feeding on their liver. Other theories include over-fishing
in the region or habitat loss that drove the great white
sharks away.
Whatever the reason may be, the loss of the great white
sharks has provided a valuable opportunity for researchers
to observe the changes in the ecosystem following the loss
of an important apex predator.
While great white sharks have been disappearing from Seal
Island, an unexpected species has taken the reigns as the
region’s new apex predator. Normally seen in the kelp beds
inshore near Miller’s Point 18 kilometers away, sevengill
sharks were spotted for the first time at Seal island in
2017. Sevengill sightings in the study have been increasing
ever since, coinciding with the periods of great white
sharks disappearance. Sevengill sharks are known as living
fossils, due to their relatedness to similar sharks from the
Jurassic period. As their name implies, sevengill sharks are
unique for having seven slits for their gills instead of five.
These sharks are preyed on by great whites, but like great
whites, they also prey on seals. The loss of their predator
and competitor gives rise to a new spot for the sevengill
sharks at the top of the food chain at Seal Island.
REAT WHITE SHARK
OPULATIONS ARE IN
DECLINE
BY SAMI SANIEI
FEB 28, 2019

The reason for
the great white’s
disappearance
from this area is
still unknown.
VULNERABLE
GREAT WHITE SHARK

LASS FROGS UNDER
HREAT IN LATIN
MERICA
BY ADRIAN REUTER
AUG 21, 2019
Latin America covers only 16 percent of the globe, yet it
is home to 40 percent of the world’s biodiversity. In the
most bio-diverse region in the world, existing species face
several threats including illegal harvest, use, and trade to
meet existing national and international demand, making
it a prime target for illegal wildlife trafficking.
Glass frogs, or “ranas de cristal,” fall among the taxa
whose international trade could significantly threaten their
survival in the wild.
These species must already contend with challenges such
as habitat degradation and destruction (in particular as a
result of the expansion of commercial agriculture across
Central and South America), and the risk of chytridiomycosis
— an infectious disease caused by the chytrid fungi
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans,
that has been linked to dramatic population declines of
amphibian species.
In addition, the wild populations of several species have
naturally restricted ranges, with the highest levels of locally
occurring species found in Colombia (21 species), followed
by Venezuela (16 species), and Peru (11 species).
Relying exclusively on permanent bodies of running water
such as streams and waterfalls — and with natural distribution
restricted to the American continent ranging from
Southern Mexico to Northern Argentina and across the
Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia — glass frogs are categorized
from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable (depending
on the species) on the most recent IUCN Red List
assessments.
countries, suggesting that demand is high. Even though
not all of the glass frog species have been recorded in
international trade, similarity in color and size makes it
difficult to differentiate among the various species, which
poses a challenge to those responsible for the regulation
and control of its trade.
During this CITES CoP18, a proposal by Costa Rica, El
Salvador, and Honduras aims to include these frogs in
Appendix II. Specifically they propose that 17 species across
the four genera be included due to their Red List conservation
status.
Eleven more species are proposed for Appendix II due to
the real possibility that they may soon become threatened
with extinction due to their documented presence in international
trade. And still 77 more species are proposed for
Appendix II due to their resemblance to threatened species
— making it difficult for customs and enforcement officials
to tell them apart.
With field programs in many glass frog range state countries
in Latin America, WCS works to conserve many of the
habitats and ecosystems where these unique amphibians
live. We share the concern of international trade becoming
an additional and significant threat to many species.
For this reason, WCS will continue to invest in efforts to
ensure the survival and sustainability of glass frogs in the
wild, and calls on all governments to support the proposal
— so as to catalyze international trade regulatory actions
now and avoid coming back to CoP19 three years from now
to learn how much more endangered these frog species are.
With the particularity of having a transparent abdominal
skin through which their internal organs are visible,
glass frogs have become popular in the international pet
trade. These species sell for significant prices in consumer
GLASS
FROGS
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Centrolenidae
SIZE: .75” - 3” long
DIET: Carnivore
FUN FACT: Glass frogs are nocturnal and spend their
days hidden under leaves and among branches.

WHAT’S HURTING
GLASS FROGS?
Illegal Wildlife
Trafficking & Trading
Commercial
Agriculture
Infectious Disease
GLASS FROGS
MULTIPLE GROUPS

ALIFORNIA TIGER
ALAMANDER
BY SACRAMENTO FISH & WILDLIFE
OFFICE DEC 6, 2017
PECIES INFORMATION
California tiger salamanders in the Central Valley are threatened.
The species is likely to become endangered in the
foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of
its range, but they are not in danger of extinction right now.
The California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense)
is an amphibian in the family Ambystomatidae. This is a
large, stocky salamander, with a broad, rounded snout.
Its small eyes, with black irises, protrude from its head.
Adult males are about 20 cm (about 8 in) long. Females are
about 17 cm (about 7 in). “Tiger” comes from the white or
yellow bars on California tiger salamanders. The background
color is black. The belly varies from almost uniform white
or pale yellow to a variegated pattern of white or pale
yellow and black.
Males can be distinguished from females, especially during
the breeding season, by their swollen cloacae, a common
chamber into which the intestinal, urinary, and reproductive
canals discharge. They also have more developed tail fins.
Adults mostly eat insects. Larvae eat things like algae,
mosquito larvae, tadpoles and insects.
The species is restricted to grasslands and low foothills
with pools or ponds that are necessary for breeding. Natural
breeding areas, mostly vernal pools (a seasonal body of
standing water), are being destroyed. Ranch stock ponds
that are allowed to go dry help take the place of vernal
pools for breeding. A California tiger salamander spends
most of its life on land. Actually, “in the land” - it lives
underground, using burrows made by squirrels and other
burrowing mammals. Catching a California tiger salamander
requires a permit, but you may be able to see larvae
swimming around.
and Sonoma. This species is restricted to California and
does not overlap with any other species of tiger salamander.
They are restricted to vernal pools and seasonal ponds.
Birds such as herons and egrets, fish, and bullfrogs prey
on California tiger salamanders.
The primary cause of the decline of California tiger salamander
populations is the loss and fragmentation of habitat
from urban development and farming. This includes the
encroachment of nonnative predators such as bullfrogs,
which kill larvae and nonnative salamanders that have
been imported for use as fish bait and may out-compete
the California tiger salamanders.
Reduction of ground squirrel populations to low levels
through widespread rodent control programs may reduce
availability of burrows and adversely affect the California
tiger salamander. In addition, poison typically used on
ground squirrels is likely to have an adverse effect on
California tiger salamanders, which are smaller than the
target species and have permeable skins.
A deformity-causing infection, possibly caused by a parasite
in the presence of other factors, has affected pond-breeding
amphibians at known California tiger salamander breeding
sites. Use of pesticides, such as methoprene, in mosquito
abatement may have an indirect adverse effect on the
California tiger salamander by reducing the availability
of prey.
Automobiles and off-road vehicles kill a significant number
of migrating California tiger salamanders, and contaminated
runoff from roads, highways and agriculture may adversely
affect them.
The California tiger salamander is found mostly the Central
Valley of California. Small populations around Santa Barbara

CALIFORNIA TIGER
SALMANDER
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Ambystoma californiense
SIZE: 7”- 8” long
DIET: Carnivore
FUN FACT: Tiger salamanders
are one of the largest terrestrial
salamanders in the U.S.
The primary cause of the decline
of California tiger salamander
populations is the loss and fragmentation
of habitat from urban
development and farming.
CALIFORNIA TIGER SALAMANDER
VULNERABLE

E

ND NOTES
We live in an age of rapid and unprecedented planetary
change. Indeed, many scientists believe our ever-increasing
consumption, and the resulting increased demand for
energy, land and water, is driving a new geological epoch:
the Anthropocene. It’s the first time in the Earth’s history
that a single species – Homo sapiens – has had such a
powerful impact on the planet.
This rapid planetary change, referred to as the ‘Great
Acceleration’, has brought many benefits to human society.
Yet we now also understand that there are multiple connections
between the overall rise in our health, wealth, food
and security, the unequal distribution of these benefits and
the declining state of the Earth’s natural systems. Nature,
underpinned by biodiversity, provides a wealth of services,
which form the building blocks of modern society; but both
nature and biodiversity are disappearing at an alarming
rate. Despite well-meaning attempts to stop this loss through
global agreements such as the Convention on Biological
Diversity, we are failing; current targets and consequent
actions amount, at best, to a managed decline. To achieve
climate and sustainable development commitments, reversing
the loss of nature and biodiversity is critical.

B

IBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/five-things/the-great-american-bison/8950/
https://www.livescience.com/27519-pacific-leatherback-turtle-decline.html
https://phys.org/news/2017-11-albatross-populations-decline-fishing-environmental.html
https://securefisheries.org/blog/overfished
https://medium.com/@WCS/glass-frogs-under-threat-in-latin-america-bc50896d4af2
https://www.earthday.org/2018/05/18/populations-of-living-things-across-all-speciesare-declining-and-this-is-very-worrisome/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/12/cheetahs-extinction-endangered-africa-iucn-animals-science/
http://www.themiamiplanet.org/2015/06/15/galapagos-marine-iguanas-strugglingagainst-tourists-black-rats-and-the-weather/
https://abcbirds.org/article/northern-spotted-owl-populations-in-rapid-decline-new-studyreports/
https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2019/02/great-white-shark-populations-are-indecline
https://www.fws.gov/sacramento/es_species/Accounts/Amphibians-Reptiles/ca_tiger_salamander/
https://s3.amazonaws.com/wwfassets/downloads/lpr2018_summary_report_spreads.
pdf

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