Western Lowland Gorilla

Western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) are a forest dwelling subspecies of Western gorilla (gorilla gorilla) which resides in equatorial Africa from the western lowlands near the Cameroon coast through the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Angola, and possibly the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are a terrestrial species of ape that are best suited for Africa’s tropical secondary forests where open canopies allow for ample sunlight on the forest floor. They, like humans, exhibit marked sexual dimorphism which results in interesting social hierarchy structures. They are impressively large and powerful primates and walk in a quadrupedal fashion.

Roti Snake Necks Versus International Wildlife Trade

One of my main concerns, as well as my major goal for this blog, is to focus on different effects that human behavior has on wildlife, resulting in its threat and endangerment. While I will focus primarily on broad-scale destructive behavior like pollution, agriculture, and habitat loss, this week I became interested in a lesser discussed and somewhat less obvious threat posed by humans on certain species.

First, meet the Roti Island Snake-necked turtle.

The Albatross

Nineteen of the twenty one species of Albatross recognized by the IUCN are red listed as threatened, the three most critically endangered species being the Amsterdam, Tristan, and Waved Albatross.

Albatrosses are sea birds that frequent remote islands in colonies during times of breeding and chick rearing. Most of their life, however, is spent at sea. Using wingspans measuring up to twelve feet for some species makes life at sea a breeze as specialized gliding techniques allows the birds flight for hours expending very little muscular effort. 

Slow rate of reproduction (1 chick per every 1-2 years) coupled  long lifespans (up to 50 years and beyond) as well as over fishing are the main culprits of the Albatrosses endangerment. As birds of prey, albatrosses are frequently killed while hunting due to being snagged to hooks from fishing boats, confusing the fisherman’s bates for food. “Bycatch” drowns many birds as a result.

New fishing methods involve new hooks to prevent birds from snatching bait off of hooks before they are submerged in the waves.

Introduced species also pose a threat to the Albatrosses on the remote islands where they mate and roost. Rats and rabbits make quite a destructive team, as they are known to do, the former preying on the birds eggs and the latter destroying nesting sites with burrows.

The most concerning of all, however, is an issue whose destruction is more far reaching and pervasive than its effect on individual wildlife species like the Albatross.

This is one of the most concerning issues of our era and promises to impact every species on Earth in given time.

Introductions

Hey there!

My name is Laura. I am a Psychology major here at UC. Ecology and environmental sciences are some of my greatest passions and I hope to unite a background of social science with continued education in a related field. Animals are another great passion of mine so the decision to enroll in this course was a no-brainer!

Another big influence in my decision came recently when, to my delight and surprise, my six year old sister confessed that her greatest dream is to become an animal rescuer. She is so vehemently serious about this cause that no sooner than I started tailoring my limited knowledge of species endangerment and bio diversity loss to her child's understanding of things she demanded to know what the two of us could do to stop it immediately. We resolved to begin with a simple petition/call to action to the "people in charge" but her vigor and innocent enthusiasm for something so important and beyond the scope of her current awareness has been very motivating to me. I think that she is also a big inspiration to me in my quest to find solutions to the issues we face in our world today. While it often times seems too out of control to see any hope, I remember her vigor and know that one must retain optimism and courage while facing the seriousness of our current situation.

Also, my best practical advice to her was to begin by learning as much about the subject as possible and as I have similar goals, that is what I am also here to do.