Wolves: Oscar winning material and no longer endangered

by Jamie Rhein on

At the end of this year’s Oscar winner for Short Film–Animated, “Peter and the Wolf,” the wolf goes free even after he made Peter not too happy. (Sorry if that ruins it for anyone.) The tolerance for the wolf is one that has been hard won.

Tolerance hasn’t been totally won, although, through the Endangered Species Act, government regulations have helped the gray wolf population grow in the Northern Rocky States. The population has grown so much that Interior Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett said the gray wolf is a “conservation success story.” For this reason, the wolf is being dropped from the list of endangered species, perhaps never to return.

When we went to Yellowstone National Park a few years ago, we did catch site of a gray wolf, one of the animals we were looking for. Unfortunately, wolves like to eat livestock, so farmers and ranchers in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming aren’t thrilled with wolves who encroach on what they rely on for a living.

The wolf saga is an example of the push and pull between environmentalism and business. The tourist industry doesn’t have much pull in this battle, but maybe the wolves will get a hint that hanging around Old Faithful isn’t a bad idea.

A new brunt for eco-tourism: human viruses are killing apes

by Abha Malpani on

Humans and monkeys always seem to have had a love-hate relationship. On one side, eco-tourists spend fortunes to see and interact with great apes in their natural environment; on the other side, both monkeys and humans are responsible for giving each other deadly viruses. For example, monkeys gave the human race the fatal AIDS, and now scientists have found some of the most common human respiratory viruses are killing endangered apes. Is this nature’s demonstration of karma? Is there a solution?

Further to this discovery, eco-tourists visiting natural reserves to see apes will be obligated to show proof of vaccination, wear masks and disinfect all clothes and boots before setting foot in ape territory. It is also being recommended to keep a 7-10 meter distance from the apes, which kind of screws up any ape-tourist’s long held desire to take a photograph with the primates.

Eco-tourism has many advantages: the tourist dollar is essential and it helps maintain and protect animals and their environments in their natural surroundings. But, when the disadvantages include direct death of the animals, which may ultimately play a notable role in elimination of the entire species from planet earth, should it be permitted at all?

Native Alaskan Languages Not Endangered — Yet

by Catherine Bodry on

Last week Martha reported on the shocking number of dying languages around the world, with Australia topping the chart. What surprised me was how many were in the U.S. or near its borders — the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia, has 54 on the endangered-languages list. I grew up in Seattle and Portland and never even knew any native languages were still spoken in the area. Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico have got a total of 40 dying languages.

I’m happy to report that Alaska is not listed — near the top of the list, anyway. The majority of the students I teach here are Alaska Natives who are bilingual — some are even ESL, which is an anomaly among U.S.-born citizens — and it’s not uncommon to hear Yupik or Inupiaq spoken around campus. The relative isolation of villages has, thankfully, somewhat preserved what can arguably be called their main cultural identity. That doesn’t mean that their native tongues aren’t in any danger; both Yupik and Inupiaq are considered endangered by some, but with over thousands of speakers of both, the threat of extinction isn’t as immediate as many other languages.

Check out the very cool article from the Associated Press for a more detailed look at some of the most endangered languages. And thanks to Images of Life for the photo of Yupik Alaskans in the village of Chevak.

The Benefits of Global Warming: Killing off Bandit Marmots

by Neil Woodburn on

Global warming, as we all know, is a very, very bad thing.

There are, however, some unexpected benefits to be gained from our planet heating up. Last month, for example, Backpacker Magazine dedicated an entire issue to the problems of global warming. One of the articles featured in this issue (but, alas, not online) is titled Species We Can Kiss Goodbye. This certainly sounds ominous and my heart goes out to the American pika, wolverine, and Bicknell’s thrush which may all soon disappear. The article, however, also mentions that marmots might suffer a similar fate.

Excuse for a moment; Yeahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you’ve ever been backpacking in the Sierras you know what I’m talking about. Marmots are the cat burglars of the backcountry, pilfering and destroying anything shiny or salty left alone for even the briefest of moments. I’ve seen sweaty shirts ripped to pieces, bota bags torn asunder and even watches ripped off from the campsite (marmots love the salty leather bands). And don’t even think of leaving any food out.
In fact, marmot activities are so bad in Kings Canyon National Park that visitors bring chicken wire to wrap around the base of their cars in the parking lot. Otherwise backpackers return from their time in the mountains to a car whose underbelly of rubber tubes has been chewed open by hungry marmot vandals.

So why are these critters endangered? According to Backapcker Magazine, global warming is wrecking havoc with the marmot’s internal clock, causing the animal to emerge from hibernation more than a month earlier than normal when snow might still be on the ground. This means that there is little food to eat and no backpackers to steal from. This lack of food and a colder environment may ultimately force the critter to burn “muscle instead of fat to jump-start its metabolism–which makes it vulnerable to starvation and predation.”

And, of course, vigilante backpackers tired of getting jacked by these thugs.

Dead Whale Found on Bow of Alaska Cruise Ship

by Adrienne Wilson on

Sad news from the Seattle Times, a 25-30 ft. dead whale was discovered on the bow of a cruise ship as it pulled into an Alaska port. As of now it doesn’t look as though the ship’s operators did anything wrong and no one on the 2,000 passenger ship, Summit said they felt anything. While two humpback whales (an endangered species) have been struck and killed by tour boats in the Glacier Bay National Park in the past decade it doesn’t look as if this may been the case this time. The whale could have died from some genetic issue’ however a necrosy has been scheduled for the whale to see whether it was struck dead or alive.

Makes you wonder if it was just the creature’s time to go or whether man should keep his enormous cruise ships out of the water.

(Photo from: www.yoto98.noaa.gov)