Ocelot - Carmen Muller

felid-tag.org photo: Dan Bodenstein 

Description and Ecology

The ocelot (leopards pardalis) is a medium sized spotted cat. Colors range from pale gray to brown, with elongated dark spots. Ocelots weight 15 to 35 pounds and can be as long as 4' long including the tail. Males are generally larger than females.

Ocelots have a wide range of habitats, but are not considered habitat generalists. They tend to live in area with dense cover or vegetation, limiting the range of suitable habitats. Habitats vary from bushy forests, semi arid dessert to tropical forests and mountain slopes. Ocelots are nocturnal so they hunt mostly at night.  Their prey consists of rabbits, birds, fish, rodents, snakes and lizards.

Geographic and Population Changes

Ocelots are divided into 11 subspecies that range from the southern Texas and southern Arizona through Mexico to Central America, Ecuador and Argentina. In the mid 1800s ocelots occurred from red river in Arkansas through central and eastern Texas to the Rio Grande. Now their range in the US is limited to a few counties in Arizona and Texas. Two subspecies exist in the United States. The Texas/Tamaulipas ocelot and the Arizona/Sonora ocelot occur in Texas and Arizona respectively.

It’s difficult to estimate the population sizes of animals like ocelots, because they are nocturnal and occupy dense vegetative cover. It is roughly estimated that 80-120 ocelots live in Texas.

In southern Texas there are two fairly isolated ocelot populations. One occurs in Cameron County, primarily on the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, and the other in Willacy and Kenedy Counties, primarily on private ranches. The populations are isolated from each other and occupy habitat fragments. Although some individuals have occurred outside of these two populations, there is no evidence of a breeding population in other areas in Texas. Both Texas populations have lost genetic diversity because there has been little to no genetic exchange from populations in Mexico.

Listing Date and Type

The ocelot was first listed as endangered in 1982. The recovery plan was updated in 2010 and ocelots remain listed as endangered. 

Cause of listing and Threats to Continued Existence

Habitat loss and illegal hunting were initially the two major threats to ocelots. In recent years illegal harvest and export has declined but ocelots continue to be threatened by increased habitat loss. Habitat loss, conversion, and fragmentation are currently the primary threats to ocelots. As their habitat continues to be converted and fragmented the populations become smaller and more isolated. Roads and the U.S./Mexico border are major obstacles to ocelot movement. Vehicle collisions are a major cause of death among ocelots, and these barriers further isolate the U.S. populations from those in Mexico. The increased isolation leads to inbreeding which reduces genetic diversity and fitness of ocelot populations.

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Recovery plan

Where ocelot habitat is degraded and fragmented restoration is critical. It’s also important to connect the populations in Texas with those in Mexico, to provide a corridor for individuals to move through. This will allow populations to mix and increase the genetic diversity in the U.S. populations.

There are six recovery objectives outlined in the recovery plan. The first is to assess, protect and restore sufficient habitat to support viable populations in the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico. The second is to reduce the effects of human population growth and development on ocelot survival. Third is to maintain or improve genetic fitness, demographic conditions and health of the ocelot. Fourth is to assure the long-term viability of conservation through partnerships, the development and application of incentives fro landowners, application of existing regulations, and public education and outreach. The fifth objective is to Practice adaptive management in which recovery is monitored and recovery tasks are revised by the USFWS in coordination with the Recovery Team as new information becomes available. The last is to Support international efforts to ascertain the status of and conserve the ocelot south of Tamaulipas and in Sonora.

Recovery is estimated to cost a total of $60,870,500 and could be delisted by 2040.

Protect the King of the Jungle by Kat Mokry

Photo By Kat Mokry

Protect the King of the Jungle Before the Tiger is Lost Forever
Kathryn Mokry

Imagine the first time you went to the zoo and saw your first tiger. There are very few things so purely and shockingly amazing as this predator. Every step it takes is methodical, strategic and deathly silent. Such a beautiful strong animal moving so flawlessly and lightly is a wonder to observe, especially as a child. Now imagine telling your grandchildren of this beautiful creature that use to live on this earth. The striped beauty that you watched move and breathe, is now just a picture on a book, never to be seen again.

Photo by Kat Mokry

Description and Ecology
The tiger ( Panthera Tigris) is one of the top predators in jungles and the biggest cat in the world ( Alexander). At 4.6-9.2 feet long and 220-675 pounds(Defenders of Wildlife) this big cat is shockingly designed with bold stripes of black covering its thick fur. Tigers are most commonly a bold orange with black stripes but is being seen more frequently as white with black stripes in captivity by breeding for the lack of color. They have up to 4 inch long claws and bone crushing teeth for hunting and consuming their prey(Alexander). They are built to be ambush predators with the ability to run at 35 miles an hour for very short bursts of time(Alexander). The tiger is known for its beautiful fur, but is an apex predator due to its unmatched strength and cunning within its habitat.

Geographic and Population Change

Current range map by Defenders of Wildlife

This Apex predator, although rare to see now a days, can be found throughout different areas of Asia to this day. "Historic tiger range ran from Turkey through South and Southeast Asia to the far eastern shores of the continent. Today, they are only found in South and Southeast Asia, China and the Russian Far East"(Defenders of Wildlife). Tigers can live in habitats anywhere from forests to rocky ranges or savannas (Defenders of Wildlife). While Tigers use to occupy these numerous habitats by over 100, 000 individuals throughout Asia in the early 1900's, they now have dwindled to an upsetting less than 4,500 with 4 subspecies already extinct in the wild and lessening every day (Defenders of Wildlife). If things are not changed soon, we could lose these mesmerizing animals forever.

https://sites.google.com/site/aubreycun/home

Listing and Threats to Existence
The Tiger was added to the Endanger Species list on 06-02-1970(ECOS). Once the population had lowered enough that people began the take notice,
the tiger was quickly added to the list so that conservation efforts could begin. "The tiger's enemies are well-known: Loss of habitat exacerbated by exploding human populations, poverty—which induces poaching of prey animals—and looming over all, the dark threat of the brutal Chinese black market for tiger parts"(Alexander). The reasons for their initial deterioration remain as the threats that to this day dwindle the tiger population throughout the world with the addition of botched conservation attempts such as relocation and island reserves(Alexander). 

Photo by Kat Mokry

Recovery Plan
Although previous conservation efforts have had little to no success and may have even lowered the population by the thousands, there are still recovery plans in place to attempt to save this apex predator. One of the head efforts of the recovery plan is an increase in protected areas throughout china and other parts of the Southern portion of the continent(GTRP). Other efforts such as enhancing linkages between segmented habitats, Protection of individuals from poachers, trans-location, captive breeding and habitat management are also recovery plans that are being focused on throughout the continent to recover the King of the Jungle from its inevitable destruction(GTRP). As efforts increase we hope for the population numbers to follow suit, because a world without the tiger, the apex predator, the largest cat in the world, would not be a world worth living in. 
Works Cited
Alexander, Caroline. "Tigers." National Geographic Magazine. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 09 June 2015.

"Basic Facts About Tigers." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 09 June 2015.

GTRP. Global Tiger Recovery Program, 2010-2022. Washington, D.C.: Global Tiger Initiative Secretaria, World Bank, 2011. Global Tiger Initiative. Mar. 2011. Web. 8 June 2015.

 "Species Profile for Tiger (Panthera Tigris)." Species Profile for Tiger (Panthera Tigris). N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2015.

The Wanderer of the Worlds Oceans by Janelle Pena

All about that Blue Whale

Enchanted Learning

Did you know that blue whale is the largest known animal to exist? According to National Geographic, its tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant and its heart is nearly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. The Blue Whale maintains a Thanksgiving-like appetite, its daily feast consisting of 4 tons of krill! But is the blue whale actually blue? The answer is confusingly yes and no. The skin is actually a grayish-blue pattern but, when viewed from underwater, retains its blue nature. 

The Blue Whale has also gained the nickname “sulfur bottom” due to adherence of the cold water diatoms on the skin. These diatoms provide a yellowish tint to their bellies (World Wildlife Fund). 

Wikipedia

A unique feature of Blue whales is that they inhabit all of the worlds oceans. This is due to their seasonal migration. Blue Whales spend more of summers in the polar waters and undertake lengthy migrations toward the equator nearing winter. (Fun fact: They cruise at no more than 5 miles an hour but accelerate to more than 20 miles an hour when agitated!) It is assumed that Blue Whale distribution is governed largely by food requirements which is why their populations are seasonally migratory (World Wildlife Fund). Poleward movements in spring allow the whales to take advantage of high zooplankton production in summer. Movement toward the subtropics in the fall allows blue whales to reduce their energy expenditure while fasting, avoid ice entrapment in some areas, and engage in reproductive activities in warmer waters of lower latitudes. Although the lifespan of the Blue Whale estimates around 80 to 90 years, their population is estimated to only be about 15,000 whales. This is shocking considering they are among the Earths longest-lived animals. 

But how could this have happened?

Wikipedia

The decline in their population has mainly been due to whaling during the 1900’s, where around 360,000 blue whales were slaughtered. They were over hunted for many years since their meat, oil, and other body parts were very valuable. By 1996 their population was so scarce that the International Whaling Commission declared them protected from commercial whaling, which assisted in the slight recovery of their population. Although a valiant effort, the population was so reduced that further mortalities would impact the survival of the species. This led to Blue Whales listing of “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act on July 28, 1998. Thankfully their population is now on the rise! 

Does this mean that they are in the clear? 

NO!

Blue Whales surprisingly have few predators but fall victim mainly to human actions. They have had to deal with “vessel interactions, entrapment and entanglement in fishing gear, habitat degradation, military operations and hunting (Marine Mammal Center)."  

So what are we doing to help them? 

Fear not! A recovery plan is in its final stage of development to protect this amazing species. 

The primary purpose of the plan is to identify a set of actions that will minimize or eliminate effects from human activities that are detrimental to the recovery of blue whale populations. Current criteria for delisting or down-listing recovering blue whale populations do not exist and developing them is one of the recommended actions. Immediate objectives are to identify factors that may be limiting the populations and actions necessary to allow the populations to increase.

What does this plan entail?

Key Points:

Further research! Find out exactly how and what this species is being affected by to develop means of protection. 

International cooperation is needed, Blue Whales should have the world working toward recovery, not solely the U.S. 

Areas of critical habitat should be identified. Monitoring how they interact with environments will help better protect habitats they need. Protecting those areas will ultimately protect them and further ensure survival.

Focus on managing human activities (including fisheries, vessel traffic, whale watching, and activities that cause cetacean habitat degradation and loss) and implement the bans we have in place. 
Coordinate state, federal, and international efforts to implement recovery action for blue whales. 

Recovery Plan: 

1. Identify measures that must be taken to protect and monitor the recovery of blue whale population. 

2. Determine population structure.
          Need to determine abundance, vital rates, population structure, behavior. 

3. Estimate population size and monitor trends in abundance

Photo by: Dilum Alagiyawanna

          Need to monitor to gather info on patterns, ranges
          of their movement, and how they interact with
          environments so we can protect the habitats they need.
          (They are subject to changes and  are very dependent) 

4. Identify and protect essential habitats, 
          Improve knowledge of characteristics of important blue
          whale habitat. Needed for future assessments of the health
          of environments they need. Protecting those areas will
          ultimately protect them and further ensure survival.

5. Minimize or eliminate human-caused injury and mortality, 

6. Coordinate state, federal, and international recovery efforts.
          Promote international efforts to conserve. Promote action to
          protect areas of importance in our waters. 
7. Determine and minimize detrimental effects of vessel & aircraft
     interactions
          Reduce or Eliminate human-cashed injury and mortality.
          Implementation of appropriate
          measures designed to reduce or eliminate problems. Identify
          when and how they are affected by us. 

8. Maximize efforts to acquire scientific information from dead, stranded, and entangled animals.
          Make sure things don't go unrecorded. Obtain observations from fishery observer programs,
          whale watching vessels, researchers, or other sources that indicate entanglement. See if these
          are major threats, not just a threat.

                                          (http://ecos.fws.gov/recovery_plan/whale_blue.pdf)


                                                       What can YOU do to help?

• Support efforts to improve fishing gear by only buying seafood that is MSC certified. This can help to reduce the incidence of marine bycatch, which kills whales and other marine life like turtles, dolphins, and seabirds.
• Vote Earth by taking part in Earth Hour! As climate change is a growing threats for whales, we need to send a message to our leaders that warming must be limited to under 2 degrees Celsius.
• Make a symbolic whale adoption to help save some of the world's most engangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts 
• Spread the word! 

Sources:
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/blue_whale/
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/blue-whale/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Bluewhale.shtml
http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/marine-mammal-information/cetaceans/blue-whale.html
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/blue-whale
http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=88

The Adorable Mexican Spotted Owl - By Natalie Montoya

MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL Strix occidentalis lucida

Description and Ecology

This adorable and famous creature is the Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida). As visible in the picture, this owl is brown with white white spots. It is a medium sized owl which, like other Spotted Owls has dark eyes. It can be differentiated from other spotted owls by it’s light appearance due to the larger size and occurrence of the white spots. On average, females are larger than males and they have the similar plumage. As juveniles they have a downy appearance, and young adults have pointed tail feathers with a pure white terminal band and are otherwise similar to the adults.

You are more likely to hear them then see them, because they are territorial and nocturnal. They call mainly from March to November and most frequently during the two hours after sunset. You might hear the males make four unevenly spaced hoots or the females make a clear whistle with an upward inflection accompanied by sharp barks.

Geographic and Population Changes 

The Mexican Spotted Owl lives in forested mountains and canyonlands throughout the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. The Owl is not evenly distributed in its large range, rather the owl occurs in disjunct areas that correspond with isolated mountain ranges and canyon systems. Unfortunately, there is limited information about the Mexican Spotted Owls in Mexico. It is typically considered a “habitat specialist” because it roosts and nests in late seral forests or rocky canyon habitats. It forages in a wider variety of habitats including both managed and unmanaged forests, riparian zones, and cliffs faces and terraces. Some owls migrate down in elevation in the winter.

Population trends for the spotted owls are unclear, and because they are long lived the studies must be long term. We do know that environmental factors greatly affect the Mexican Spotted Owl and, therefore, understanding how the owl responds to environmental variation is critical to its recovery.

Listing Date and Type of Listing 

The original approval date was October 16, 1995. A revision was approved on September 5, 2012 with the final approval date on November of 2012. The Mexican Spotted Owl is listed as threatened under the endangered species act.

Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence 

Originally, the Owl was listed because of habitat alteration due to timber-management practices and the danger of stand-replacing wild land fire. Under the revision, increased risk of stand-replacing wild land fire is the largest factor. Due to climate variability like drought and current forest conditions there has been an increase of habitat destroyed by fire since the first listing. Significant portions of spotted owl habitat have been lost or modified, with over 70% of the 1,037,000 acres which have been changed from suitable to capable being converted directly due to human activities. An increase of transition habitats caused by human activities like development has increased the likelihood that the Owl will come in contact with its raptor predators. 

Description of Recovery Plan 

The new recovery strategy has six key elements which involve forest habitat management and vigilant monitoring that are designed to conserve the Owl throughout its range. These new goals are intended to be flexible because decisions can be made by local land managers site specifically. They are:

1. Protecting existing owl sites.

2. Managing for recovery nest/roost habitat to replace that lost to fire and other events and to provide additional sites for an expanding population.

3. Managing threats

4. Monitoring population trends and habitat. 

5. Monitoring plan implementation

6. Building partnerships to facilitate recovery.

The Owls range expands across political lines into the lands of the United States, sovereign Indian nations, and Mexico. In order to successfully accomplish the goals set forth in this recovery plan, these nations, as well as the private sector, must commit to work together.

This blog is a summary of the information presented in the Recovery Plan for the Mexican Spotted Owl. Pictures and additional information are from the website for the Center for Biological Diversity ( http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/Mexican_spotted_owl/ ), and Forrest Policy Pub ( http://forestpolicypub.com/2013/06/19/spotted-owls-the-spotty-sciences-that-spawned-them-5-questions-2/ ), and Sustainable Pulse ( http://sustainablepulse.com/2012/11/22/northern-spotted-owl-millions-acres-protection/#.VXWaU5NViko ).

What To Know About The Northern Copperbelly Water Snakes by Wayne Nemec

Description and Ecology:

The Copperbelly Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta) is a reptilian snake that is of a dark black color with a bright orange to red belly that can also be seen by viewing the sides of the snake. There average size is about 3-5 feet in length and are a non-venomous. There are a lot of similar species to the copperbelly water snake that it can easily be misidentified with. One of those species is the yellowbelly water snake, but the main difference between the two is the color of their undersides as the yellowbelly water snake has a yellow belly instead of the orange-red color of the copperbelly (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan). The copperbelly water snake is an animal that goes into a hibernation process during the winter season starting in October going through April. The copperbellies are most active during times of warm weather when they search for food or try to look for mates, with courtship occurring mostly in the springtime (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan). The copperbellies spend most of there time in wetland habitats, and when the temperature is exceptionally high in the mid summer periods the copperbellies can be more active at twilight and can go underground or shallow water to stay dormant. The diet of the copperbelly water snake primarily consists of amphibians, such as the green frog, and small fish, with the snake looking for its food both in the water and on land (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan). Some of the predators to the copperbelly water snake include egrets, herons, raccoons, skunks, opossums, snapping turtles, and large fish (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan).

Geographic and Population Changes:

            The copperbelly water snake can be found in western Kentucky and southern Illinois to northern Indiana, Ohio and southern Michigan. The Southern population of the snake seems to be doing fine but the northern population has been listed as a Threatened. Surveys taken place in the past 20 years have shown that populations in the northern region have been steadily declining (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan). There has only been a total count of five populations of the copperbelly water snake in the states of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana with an estimate of the adults being in the low hundreds. Only one population out of the five has a count of over 100 snakes (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan).

Listing Date and Type of Listing:

            The listing date for the Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake is December 23, 2008, and is currently listed as a Threatened species.

Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence:

           

            The populations of the northern copperbelly water snakes have been steadily declining mostly do to habitat loss and fragmentation. Most of the wetland areas where the snakes like to thrive in have been heavily modified or destroyed leaving the snakes with no place to eat or breed. Agricultural use is the largest blame for the changing of the snake’s natural habitat. Roads and highways are another blame for the fragmentation of the copperbellies as it can separate areas of different wetlands for the snakes to get to. Dogs and cats are another blame for the decline of the snake, and people who kill them out of fear (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan).

The Recovery Plan:

            The main recovery strategy for the copperbelly water snake is to conserve wetland/upland habitats that provide enough room for the species existence. The way this will be accomplished to is restore wetland habitats that no longer function and set them aside to not be destroyed by human alteration. The recovery plan also has a goal to raise public awareness for the snakes to try and stop and harmful killing and fear of them. The copperbelly water snakes are a key part of the natural habitat and people need to realize how important they are to the ecosystem. The goal is to get population sizes over 1000 individual snakes (Northern Population Segment of the Copperbelly Water Snake Recovery Plan).

Links to Find Out More About The Copperbellies go to:

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/081223.pdf

http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/copperbelly.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerodia_erythrogaster_neglecta

Bibliography:

Pictures

"A Copperbellied Water Snake." A Copperbellied Water Snake. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2015.

"Habitat Destruction, Alteration and Fragmentation." Habitat Destruction, Alteration and Fragmentation. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2015.

"My Favorites Gallery." My Favorites Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2015.

Information

"Disaster Recovery Plan." SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Web.