If you truly love the outdoors and all things that belong to nature then Seattle Washington is really a great place for you to visit. With the climate, the terrain, and the beautiful surroundings, this city truly has the best of most worlds. Mountains, volcanoes, trees, sand, and sea can all be found in and around this truly unique city.

In addition to the great scenery that abounds, there are many places you can go to get a better view of the local wildlife. This is, after all, an integral part of nature and the little ones that you’ve brought along (if you’ve brought little ones along) will thoroughly enjoy seeing all of the animals.

Seattle has the distinct benefit of having and/or being within easy driving distance of several zoos and aquariums as well as other unique opportunities to see wildlife in more natural habitats and surroundings. Below I will give a brief overview of some of them that will hopefully whet your appetite and encourage you to at the very least give these outings serious consideration.

The first wildlife exhibit I would like to point out is a bit of a drive from Seattle but well worth every mile. Northwest Trek is a 715-acre park, which offers a tram tour through 435 acres of land where animals are free roaming in their natural habitats. There are 30 species represented along the trek and more than 200 animals within those species. This is a great way to see American animals without cages and bars surrounding them.

The next one I’d like to mention is Wolf Haven International. This organization provides rescue and sanctuary for captive born wolves. Wolf Haven also offers education to the public at large about these great animals. 45 minute to one hour walking tours are offered daily and walking tours are the only way you can actually see the wolves. If you have even the most remote interest in these beautiful creatures, I highly recommend a visit to Wolf Haven as a potential highlight of your trip to Seattle.

Next on my list of unique opportunities to view wildlife is the Cougar Mountain Zoo. This zoo is unique because of its focus on endangered species. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things about this particular zoo is its focus on educating visitors about the animals it hold. The zoo hosts several lectures throughout the day on the various animals it holds. Not only is there the magic of rare and beautiful creatures but a profound lesson that can be learned about conservationism and the importance of each and every creature in the circle of life. I think this is truly a unique opportunity that would be a shame to miss.

One of the activities people think of most when visiting Seattle is of course, whale watching. I would certainly be remiss if I didn’t include information about that here as well. There are several charter companies that offer whale-watching excursions leaving daily from Seattle. The most popular time of year to do so is from April through September and the San Juan Islands are a great general area in which to see these magnificent creatures. My recommendation is to make reservations early, especially during the peak whale-watching season. Not only do you get to see the great whales, but you also get to take a boat ride in the process. For me, being on the water is just as wonderful an experience was watching the whales.

These are some of the more uncommon and unique places to view animals in and around Seattle, Washington. If you are planning a visit to this area and you love animals, nature, and wildlife, each of these places has something special and extraordinary to offer its guests. Not only are these places to view wonderful and magnificent creatures but also receive an education about them as well. My fondest hope is that you will visit each of these places and find the experience as incredible as I do.

In every major urban center the ongoing battle between sensitive ecosystems and urban development is de rigeur, but in quirky Austin, when an SOS was sent out on behalf of the rare Barton Springs Salamander, the city rushed to the rescue. Fortunately for Austin homeowners, the decision to funnel their tax dollars into saving this urban amphibian seems to be paying off in more ways than one.

The only place in the world to find the four-inch Barton Springs Salamander is in the natural springs located in Austin’s downtown Zilker Park. And since it was listed as an endangered species in 1997, the city of Austin has really gotten behind their little buddy. Perhaps spurred by regulations set out by the endangered species act, or maybe just living up to it’s reputation as one of the greenest cities in America, Austin has managed to raise the local Salamander population in just a few years and is making plans to keep it rising.

Green City USA

Austin’s committment to the environment is undoubtably part of it’s charm and the push to save the Barton Springs Salamander is in keeping with the city’s green approach to urban planning. Named the Greenest City in America by MSN and the Greenest City in the American South by National Geographic, Austin residents are proud of their committment to the environment. In a 2007 survey citizens gave Austin top marks for its water and energy conservation programs, the preservation of green space, and its clean good-tasting drinking water.

The Price of Austin’s Green Real Estate

So what does this all mean for Austin homeowners? On a very basic level, improving the critter’s habitat also improves the habitat for other living creatures - most notably humans. For instance, saving the salamander will mean even cleaner water for Austinites. It also represents a significant investment in a public green space at the heart of a city of 660,000 people, which is certainly nice. But could Austin’s tenancy to do things like save their salamander actually be boosting the value of their real estate?

Almost everywhere else in the country the housing market has taken a swift downturn and over the past year sales have dropped in most urban centers - except Austin. Austin continues to see fewer houses on the market for fewer days while prices continue to rise.

It’s not rocket science. For homeowners around the perimeter of Zilker Park, the preservation and recovery efforts are having a favorable impact on quaility of life - it’s simply a nice place to live - and when a lot of people want to live in a place, the property values go up. In Barton Hills and Zilker where the average home is already listed at $450 to $550K, this is outstanding news. Properties in the Rollingwood, Town Lake and other nearby neighborhoods are also seeing steady appreciation that’s not likely to slow down.

Rescuing Austin’s Amphibian

The three acre Barton Springs is a natural spring fed pool with a year round average temperature of 68 degrees. One of three main pools, the springs are located in Zilker Park, voted the “Best Outdoor Public Space” by Austin Chronicle readers in 2006. A popular gathering spot and event site, the park also hosts the annual Austin City Limits Festival, the Kite Festival and the Trail of lights.

To date, the smaller Eliza Springs which is also in Zilker Park, has been the test location for improvements to the salamander’s habitat. Here workers have restored the springs, increasing necessary water flow, improving water quality and clearing rock formations. As a result of their efforts, monthly counts have seen the area’s salamander population increase from a scant 12 in 2002 to a stable 400 in 2007, an increase of 3,333%.

Last year, a master plan for improving the ecosystem for the entire aquifer was commissioned by city council. The first phase of the plan, which outlines a series of short term projects, will be presented to council this month (August 2007) for inclusion in the 2008 city budget. Longer term projects will be presented to council in the fall. The last phase in the project will measure the results of these efforts - a process that may take up to two years.

One aquatic horror film proclaimed it “Part fish. Part snake. Pure Evil.” National Geographic dubbed it “Fishzilla.” Fishermen call it “A Pike on Steroids.” The US Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged the name “Frankenfish” and noted that Giant Snakeheads (Channa micropeltes) had “reportedly attacked, and in some instances killed, humans who approached the mass of young” being guarded by their parents.

The discovery of a breeding population of Northern Snakeheads (Channa argus) in Crofton, Maryland in 2002 spawned three bio-horror films: ”Snakehead Terror” (2004), ”Frankenfish” (2005), and the ”Swarm of the Snakeheads” (2006).

Although all greatly stretched the biological truth about these toothy predators, aquarists who have kept a snakehead have no shortage of anecdotes about their ability to eat every last tankmate in an aquarium, even killing other fishes with slashing attacks and not bothering to eat the victims.

Ambush Predators

The Channidae are a family of 29 species of bottom dwelling ambush predators native to Asia that prey on other fish, crustaceans, frogs, snakes, and even turtles, rodents, and water fowl. They are highly regarded as a food fish in Asia, and respected by fishermen for biting human hands when caught. Harmless looking juveniles, although now banned, are sometimes available to aquarium keepers.

Sadly, some dismayed hobbyists are accused of turning troublesome adult snakeheads loose into local ponds, streams, rivers, and lakes. A spreading pattern of invasive snakehead populations has fish and wildlife authorities in many states on high alert for the appearance of these adaptable, voracious fishes. Biologists fear that their introduction to waters outside their native ranges may lead to declining populations of aquatic life not accustomed to the pressures brought by a large, gluttonous predator.

Slithering Invaders

Because they are well able to move overland from one body of water to another (living up to several days breathing air with a primitive labyrinth organ), snakeheads pose special challenges in keeping them contained. Escaped snakeheads tend to be hard to kill, although a number of infestations have been eradicated in several states.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that Northern Snakeheads continue to spread in American waters, with 2008 sightings in Little Piney Creek near Monroe, Arkansas, in a pond on a Mount Vernon golf course in Fairfax, Virginia, and in Catlin Creek in Wawayanda, New York. One Northern Snakehead was caught in the in Potomac River in front of the Pentagon Building in 2007.

Amy J. Benson of the US Geological Survey in Gainesville, Florida says Northern Snakeheads have established themselves in Arkansas, New York, and Pennsylvania. “The snakeheads are not established everywhere they have been found,” she says. “Unfortunately the small established populations are starting to spread a bit. The largest population by far is in the Potomac River in Virginia and Maryland.”

In all, four different species of snakehead have been caught in the wild in the United States, in California, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. Hawaii has an entrenched population of Chevron Snakeheads on Oahu, introduced as a food fish in the late 1800s. The Bullseye or Cobra Snakehead (”Channa marulius”), growing to a maximum of 180 cm in length and weighing up to 30 kg, is established as an invasive species in lakes and canals in Broward Country, Florida.

According to the USGS’s Amy Benson, “Several Giant Snakeheads (Channa micropeltes) have been collected in Maryland since 2000, in addition to the Northern Snakeheads.”

Sources of Released Fish

Aquarists “liberating” a snakehead that has grown too big and too predatory, or that has bitten the hand of its keeper, are blamed for some releases into the wild. However, this is a genus with a keen following in Asian food markets in the U.S., where it has been sold live by the tens of thousands, especially by Oriental fishmongers in larger urban centers such as Boston, New York, and Los Angeles.

Indeed, the suspected guilty party in the first release of snakeheads in Maryland was a man who had bought a number of live fish from a seafood market intending to use them for medicinal purposes for his ill sister. When her health improved, he dumped them in local pond.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, snakeheads could conceivably gain a toehold in many parts of North America. “Based on water temperature alone, all US fresh or brackish waters would allow some member of the snakehead family to establish itself,” says an online report called, “Frankenfish: The Facts.”

“Because snakeheads are so predatory, they pose a high risk to endangered species. Of all endangered species in US aquatic habitats, 16 amphibians, 115 fishes, and five of the 21 federally protected crustaceans would most likely be affected by snakehead introductions.”

The U.S. is not alone in worrying about the spread of snakeheads. In February 2008, an angler in Lincolnshire, England, caught a 24-inch (60 cm) Giant Snakehead (Channa micropeltes) in the River Witham. The fisherman, Andy Alder, told the British press: “It had a gob full of razor-sharp teeth. To be honest it looked terrifying.” Authorities believe it was a single fish released into the river by an aquarium keeper and not part of a breeding population. The British have a fine of 2,500 pounds for releasing aquarium fish and have restricted the import of the Northern Snakehead (Channa argus).

Although their sale and possession without a permit are banned in the US, snakeheads are still obtainable via the Internet and occasionally turn up in the live fish trade. Aquarium keepers with snakeheads are strongly urged to ensure they do not end up in local waters, either by intentional release or escape. The US Fish and Wildlife Service can be called to remove a large snakehead that cannot be safely handled by its owner.

Get to know this ferocious creature that spans the world’s waters. Learn its secrets and find out why the hammerhead shark is an effective hunter.

Hammerhead sharks are aggressive and effective hunters. These creatures are carnivores, feeding on squids, octopuses, smaller fishes, and crustaceans. There are nine known species of hammerhead sharks today and all have hammer-like projections on each side of the head, hence the name. Its eyes and nostrils are on the tips of these extensions.

The hammer provides the shark with the needed lift, as these species are negatively buoyant. It also allows for correct turns. Hammerhead sharks range from 3 to 20 feet long and can weigh up to 1,000 pounds. Of the nine species identified, the scalloped, smooth and the great hammerheads are most dangerous to humans. The hammerhead sharks are not known to actively seek out human prey but will attack when provoked.

The hammerhead sharks appear to be closely related to a mid-Tertiary period evolution, the carcharhinid shark. The hammerhead’s teeth resemble that of some carcharhinids but determining the hammerhead’s first appearance is difficult. Geneticist Andrew Martin studied all hammerhead species and concluded the winghead shark was where the hammerhead species began.

As in most sharks, hammerheads have sensory receptors that it uses to hunt for preys. The hammerhead’s receptors are distributed in a wide area. With eyes set at the tips of its hammer-like extension, have wider visual fields and longer ranges than most sharks. This greatly improves its prey-sweeping ability.

The projection on its head also provides the hammerhead shark wider nasal tracts that allow hammerheads to spot preys or particles in the water about ten times as effective as other sharks. Hearing is highly developed in hammerhead sharks. Hammerheads are able hear sounds in the entire range humans can. A hammerhead’s ear controls its balance and enables it to detect motion. It picks up low frequency vibrations much like sounds from wounded fish. Despite these abilities, hammerhead sharks have small mouths. Drawn to schools of over a hundred in daylight, these ferocious-looking creatures are lone hunters at night.

Hammerhead sharks reproduce once a year. On average, each reproductive cycle results to anywhere from 20 to 40 pups. Male sharks violently force females into coupling. Embryo develops in a placenta and is fed through an umbilical cord and stays there from 10 months to a year. Once born, young hammerheads are left to fend for themselves.
In May 2007, scientists astounded the world with the discovery that hammerhead sharks are capable of asexual reproduction.

Hammerheads can be found in temperate and tropical waters around the world. Summers means mass migrations for hammerheads as they head for cooler waters. They appear olive-green or gray-brown on top and have off-white undersides.

Today, both the great and the scalloped hammerhead sharks are listed as endangered species. Over-fishing to fill the continued demand for its fins, an expensive delicacy, has vastly decreased the scalloped hammerhead’s population. Scientists have voiced their concerns about these great creatures and the Conservation Union has classified them as endangered species.

Sharks are great ocean creatures that are of advanced evolutionary stage. Scientists continue to study these ferocious giants and recent reports indicate a probably tenth species of the hammerhead sharks. This probable additional species springs from the discovery that the scalloped hammerheads may actually be two species - the result of more genetic testing rather than a discovery of new physical characteristic.

?????????????????????????????????? BIODIVERSITY AND ITS CONSERVATION? ???????????????????????

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? By Dr. Ashok Kumar Panigrahi.

Introduction

The word ?biodiversity? is a contraction of the term, ?natural biological diversity?. Biodiversity refers to the range of variations or differentiations among same set of living entities. The term biodiversity is commonly used to describe the numbers, variety and variability of living organisms at the species level. Actually it is synonym of ?Life on Earth?. It is estimated that there are about 50 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms with 35 thousand plants having medicinal properties, great bulk of it forming food of one another, species differing in physical & chemical characteristics. Plant diversity: is important to animals, herbivores and man, because, it meets the metabolic necessity of the trophic levels with the nutritional values of its fruits and seeds through dietary phytochemicals, primary and secondary.

Primary phyto chemicals such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats are necessary for energy production in the predators/ grazers/browsers

Secondary phyto chemicals have 2 pronged actions- either as deterrents or as stimulants.

Deterrents- toxic at high dose, prevent over predation/grazing/browsing, a sort of defense chemicals for their very survival;- may be either allomones or keiromones; some seeds may have 3 or more such chemicals in them acting as protease inhibitors as Lecithin, alkaloids, uncommon amino acids, glycosides and polyphenols.

Stimulants- are volatiles, as terpenoids, fatty acid derivatives-those induce pollination.

Microbial diversity is just a subset of biodiversity involving bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, micro algae, protozoans and other monerans.

A total of 16, 04,000 species of Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia have been described globally (Whittfield, 2002) though it is likely to be 17,980,000 species i.e. about 11 times more than the presently known species.? (Khoshoo, 1995).

India is rich in microbial biodiversity and there are about 850 (0.67%) Moneran species, 2577 (2.04%) Protistan species, 23,000 (18.23%) fungal species, 2500 (2%) species of algae in India, (Khoshoo, 1995). Watve et al (1999) observed a plausible estimate of several fold higher myxobacterial diversity in India than the species recorded worldwide so far. They reported 8 novel myxobacterial types out of 32 species described in Bergey?s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology

Microorganisms occur every where on the planet and more so in the tropics where humidity and temperature are better suited for them to grow and multiply.

Among these organisms, bacteria and fungi are of more importance to man because they are often employed to human advantage, such as Lactobacillus for curd making, yeast for fermenting and Bacillus thuringiensis for pest control and so on. Nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria help regulate nitrogen cycle, who convert aerial nitrogen to ammonia and nitrate and also back convert them to Nitrogen, thus preventing their harmful concentrations through accumulations.

In nature, the microbial populations are never allowed to gain in number naturally, as there are protozoa who feed on them and keep their number under check.

Aesthetic and ethical- man has grown with diversity and love it immensely. People go to the forests or the country sides to watch the nature which give them pleasure.

Through such a nature watch, Hugo de Vries, the father of genetics had discovered mutation in a population of Evening prime rose, Oenothera lamackiana.

In Mexico, there occurred several species of wild perennial corn. Subsequent hybridization produced the perennial cultivated corn. Peru possesses the widest potato diversity even today, the result of Darwin?s Artificial selection

Man needs the diversity, especially plant diversity for various reasons such as deriving medicine from them, as for example, quinine and aspirin. He needs the animal diversity as well, deriving Angiostenin from American pit viper, and Oysters in Chesapeake Bay filter the water

Loss of plant biodiversity will reduce rain fall (1/4rth.), increase global temperature (2-40C) and air pollution alarmingly.

Genetic Diversity

Heritable variation within and between populations of organisms, ultimately depends on the sequence of four base pairs, as component of nucleic acids, constitute the genetic code.

New genetic variation arises by gene and chromosome mutations or by recombinations. Other variations are related to - the amount of DNA per cell, chromosome structure, number and set. Genetic variations influence both natural evolutionary changes and artificial selective breeding.

Patterns in Diversity

Usually 2 following patterns are observed -

(A)?? Alpha Diversity: It is the number of species in a given area and the patterns of their geographical distribution. It is relatively well documented for a wide variety of organisms and has led tro such generalization as ? ?diversity increases as latitude decreases?.

The Species

The species is the smallest and basic unit of life.

Individual name is the stamp of identity and symbol of communication to which most information is attached. Biodiversity is generally viewed as synonym of diversity of species and even the varieties within the species. Species has a direct effect on the community structure. Red data list and species information provide diversity status

Sustainable utilization of species is demarcation of hot & cold spots.

Defining the species

Taxonomic: Smallest group or population that are distinct and distinguishable from one another.

Biological: Group of inter breeding population composed of reproductively isolated populations having local and geographical bases.

Biosystematics: Based on fertility relationship determined? by? artificial? hybridization;? this includes ecotypes, eco species, cenospecies etc.

Biosystematics: Based on fertility relationship determined by artificial hybridization;? this includes ecotypes, eco species, cenospecies etc.

Evolutionary: Lineage, ancestor to descendent sequence of population existing in space and time.

?

?

Species (Systematic) Diversity

Species? diversity? deals? with? the? variety? of? living species? in? different? geographical? areas,? often expressed in terms of species richness or species abundance. Species level is generally considered as the most natural one. Number of species only provides a partial indication of biological diversity. The ecological importance of a species can have a direct effect on community structure and thus overall biodiversity.? Species in a true sense represents the unit of living beings.

Numbers of described species of living organisms.

?

Kingdom and major subdivision

Common name

Number of
described species

Totals

1. Viruses

Viruses

1,000

1000

2. Monera
??? (i)?? Bacteria
??? (ii)? Myxoplasma
??? (iii) Cyanophycota

Bacteria
Bacteria
Blue-green algae

3000
??? 60
1,700

4,760

3. Fungi
?? (i)??? Zygomycota
?? (ii)?? Ascomycota
???????? (including 18,000
????????? lichen fungi
?? (iii) Basidomycota
?? (iv.) Oomycota
?? (v)?? Chytriodomycota
?? (vi)? Acrasiomycota
?? (vii) Myxomycota?????????

Zygomycete fungi
Cup fungi

Basidomycete fungi
Water molds
Chytrids
Cellular slime mold
Plasmodial slime mold

???? 665
28,650

16,000
???? 580
???? 575
?????? 13
???? 500

?

?

?

?

?

46,983

4. Algae
??? (i)?? Chlorophyta
??? (ii)? Phaeophyta
??? (iii) Rhodophyta
??? (iv)? Chrysophyta
???? (v) ?Pyrrophyta
???? (vi) Euglenophyta

Green algae
Brown algae
Red algae
Chrysophytealgae
Dinoflagellates
Euglenoids

? 7,000
? 1,500
? 4,000
12,500
? 1,100
???? 800

26,900

5. Plantae
??? (i) Bryophyta
??? (ii) Psilophyto
??? (iii) Lycopodiophyto
?? (iv) Equisetophyta}
?? (v) Filicophyta
?? (vi) Gymnosperma
? (vii) Dicotyledonae
? (viii) Monocotyledonae

Mosses, liverworts, hornworts
Psilopsids
Lycophytes
Horsetails
Ferns
Gymnosperms
Dicots
Monocots

16,600
???????? 9
?? 1,275
????? ???15
?? 10,000
??? ????529
1,70,000
?? 50,000

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

2,48,428

6. Protozoa

Protozoans

?? 30,800

?? 30,800

7. Animalia
? (i) Porifera
? (ii) Cnidaria, Ctenophora
? (iii) Platyhelminthes
? (iv) Nematoda
?? (v) Annelida

?? (vi) Mollusca
?? (vii) Echinoermata

?? (viii) Arthropoda
? (1) Insecta
(2) Other arthropods
(ix) Minor invertebrate phyla

Sponges
Jelly fish, Corals, Comb jellies
Flatworms
Nematodes (Round worms)
Annelids ( Earthworms and relatives
Mollucs
Echinoderms (star fish and relatives
Arthropods
Insects

? 5,000
? 9,000
12,200
12,000

12,000
50,000

? 6,100
7,51,000
1,23,161
???? 9,300

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

989,761

8. Chordata

(i) Tunicata
?(ii) Cephalochordata
?(iii) Vertebrata

1. Agnatha
2. Chondrichthyes

3. Osteichthyes
4. Amphibia
5. Reptilia
6. Aves
7. Mammalia

Tunicates
Acorn worms
Vertebrates
lampreys and Hagfishes
Sharks and other cartilaginous fishes
Bony fishes
Amphibians
Reptiles
Birds
Mammals

1,250
???? 23

???? 63
?? 843

18,150
? 4,184
?? 6,300
?? 9,040
?? 4,000

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

43,853

TOTAL: All organisms

?

?

1,392,485

?

Importance of Biodiversity

Direct economic benefits

Tropical rain forest products like Oils, Gums, Rubber, Fiber, Tannin, Dyes, Resins, Turpentine, wide varieties of roots, fruits and ornamental plants.

Indirect ecological benefits

a. Evolutionary change, b. Crop improvement and c. Transgenic Organisms

Geographic varieties have provided the materials for agricultural manipulations of more productive and disease resistant strains

Medicinal Values and Food Security

Biodiversity has value in and of itself and it is inherently wrong to destroy it. [Kormondy, 1996]

Causes of Biodiversity Loss

1. Introduction of unwanted exotic species; for example- Stephen island Wrens were eliminated by the Light House keeper?s cat

2. Habitat destruction; Man ? Animal conflict especially in India and loss of tigers and elephants to poachers in almost all National parks in India;

Economical gains- The state of Rondonia in western Amazonia lost 20% of rain forest, the richest source of biodiversity, in 5 years to foreign interests, like soy cultivation and cattle ranching; Surinam and Guyana are on the brink of losing much of their forests for the same reasons.

3. Introduction of GE/GM crops in agriculture; the male sterility factors in these crops render natives go sterile through pollination; Bt. Cotton has caused loss of all native cotton varieties in the cotton belt.

4. Excess human interference owing to population explosion.

Biodiversity Conservation

The problem of biodiversity is essentially one of conflict resolution between the human kind on one side and living organisms inhabiting different habitats on other side. The UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) process has helped place the loss of biodiversity and it?s conservation on global agenda. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that emerged from the UNCED or Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 is now a treaty. According to the World Conservation Monitoring Center, 1,604,000 species have been described at the global level. India accounts for 8% of global biodiversity existing in only 2.4% land area of the world (Khoshoo 1996; Varley and Scot 1999). Biodiversity conservation requires certain specialized techniques for applications in reclaiming? degraded habitats and employing both ex situ and in situ techniques.

Survey and Maintenance of Biodiversity

Two techniques are followed; 1. Satellite Remote Sensing (S RS) and??????????????

?2. Geographic Information System (GIS)

According to Burley, the following 4 steps are to be followed:

1. Identification and classification of biodiversity, 2. Location of areas managed primarily for biodiversity, 3. Identification of biodiversity that is un or under represented in those managed areas and 4. Setting principles for conservation actions

5 Steps to be followed for effective conservation

1. The area is to be identified, 2. Population viability analysis is to be made 3. Habitat quality analysis is to be made 4. Introduction of identified/ selected (in situ/ ex situ) species if they are not there and 5. Area maintenance through boundary demarcation with necessary protection is to be made.

Conservation Strategies Followed

(A) In-situ conservation:? (B) Ex-situ conservation: (C)? Reduction of Anthropogenic pressure: (D) Restoration or rehabilitation of threatened species:

Noss & Cooperider have identified 2 filters for conservation-?

1. Coarse filter strategies - deal with conservation of common species and misses species with restricted distribution and???????? 2. Fine filter strategies -? deal with the rare natural communities.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is a fine filter approach that protects one species at a time, is a powerful tool that can rescue a species from the brink of extinction.

Biodiversity Management Network

Ecosystems and species are represented in areas managed for biodiversity. The species persists because populations else where escape catastrophic events. Hence, it is necessary that in a given geographic range, the species must have multiple representations.

Pressy et al postulate 3 principles ?

1. Complementarity ? refers to adding species to a given set of areas which are maximally different;

2. Flexibility ? refers to the alternative areas to which a particular species can be added

3. Irrepressibility ? refers to those elements of biodiversity which will occur only in a certain area and not every where.

Vision or Mission for New Millennium

Conservation of the integrity and diversity of nature, Inheritance of knowledge and biodiversity for future generations, Hot spot areas calling for urgent attention, Biodiversity loss, Fresh water shortage, Climate Change, Sustainability of agriculture

Biotechnology in food productions, Demographics and Consumption , Diminishing resources, Marine and coastal environment

Wild Land Biodiversity

Wild lands are removable, conservable or conserved but in a sense un productive land, like cash in a shoe box, neither earning interest nor circulating, although some concerned people across the nations argue that tropical wild lands are highly productive and are being systematically plundered for mining, agriculture and human settlements.

Environmental necessities demand that these wild lands must be preserved at any cost in order to prolong life in this planet at this juncture because they act as the carbon sinks. Hence, it must escape the tragedy of the commons.

?Dos? and ?Don?ts? of Wild Land Biodiversity:

1. The more we know about it the more we can use it without damaging.?

?3. The use of wild land biodiversity must be scheduled and well monitored

4. The use of wild land biodiversity should not be for free and all users must pay for it in some currency.?

Use of tropical wild land biodiversity

1. Identification, taxonomy and data base ? is necessary to know and record ?data? ? a. Knowledge of part(s) in use, b. exchange knowledge of use and experience, and c. transfer of knowledge to data center.

2. Micro geography of habitat ? knowledge on the location of the species.

3. Collector?s knowledge of sustainable use ? directly from those who frequent the wild and from those who keep track of these hunter-gatherers ? about location, existence and appropriate collection method(s) of the part(s) of the species.

4. Basic Natural History of the species ? to study the life cycle to find out the troubled stages of the species, that will help its conservation.

All information so gathered must be fed to the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) and UNESCO?s DIVERSITAS to attract global attention and possible help towards conservation of the species in view.

Managing wild land biodiversity

Presently the tropical wild land biodiversity is highly threatened due to several factors such as growing un employment. Much of Amazonia has been lost in recent years for illegal timber, cattle ranch and soy cultivation Owing to climate change and habitat loss 15-20% of endangered species are gone and the rest will follow soon if corrective measures are not taken soon. Such large scale destructions did take place during Cretaceous but then the land was returned back to the biodiversity which can not happen now.

Terrestrial conserved wild lands are habitat islands joined by a few aerially mobile organisms. With increasing intensities of impacts of on-site users, the species may soon be forgotten out side the conserved wild land.

A conserved wild land should not go bankrupt till production starts up again? though a conserved wild land can not provide all the necessities of the community until a certain time.

A conserved wild land should not be like a monoculture agroscape of just one species , rather biodiverse in nature.

Role of biodiversity in courtships and breeding;?????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????a sample case study, The Bower birds and their Bower building -

The Bower building birds of Australo-Papuan region belong to the family, Ptylorhynchidae, comprising of 6 genera divisible in to 2 groups - 1. The cat birds, monogamous, do not build bower exhibit no courtship.? 2. Other 5 genera are all polygynous, males building either typical bowers or nuptial courts with materials derived from biodiversity and displaying courtship to attract females for mating. Of them, ???????????2 genera, Amblyornis and Prionodura known as Mc Gregor?s bower birds are Maypole builders, build maypoles of single or double spires decorating the saplings with sticks and moss in to a cone shaped dome with a base diameter of 25cm. The floor has a moss mat also. The decorative used are from the biodiversity often numbering around 2 thousand. The Avenue building Satin bower birds of Australia, build bowers composed of 2 walls of sticks aligned North–>South having a central avenue. The decorated display court is at the north end. During courtship the male holds a decoration in its beak and release diverse vocalizations. The 2 others, Tooth billed and Archibald bower birds build nuptial courts using large biodiverse objects as decorations placed around several trees.?

Microbial Biodiversity

Nature is the embodiment of biodiversity. Evolutionary processes over the millennia have produced diversity in abundance in all life forms. Thus, microbial biodiversity is quite but natural. Advancements in the field of biotechnology in recent years have empowered scientists to manipulate biodiversity to human advantage and more so in the field of the microbes, though however, it also threatens the very existence of natural biodiversity. Modern genetical tools like recombinant DNA technology, protoplast fusion and hybridoma have exploited the microbes the most, especially since industries started funding such research projects the world over. It began with Anand Mohan Chakravorty developing an altered microbe who could ingest oil spills in the sea and neutralize the same. But the alarming fact is that such inventions are not always for the benefit of the mankind and end up in benefiting the funding ? industries at the cost of mankind and the natural biodiversity. For example ? Bt. Cotton that failed and the loss of wide natural cotton diversity owing to its introduction. Such transgenic crops invariably carry with them a terminator gene, a male sterility factor that neutralize the diversity.

The factors which govern microbial diversity include - 1. their genetic constitutions with their ability to perform; 2. their micro and macro environment and 3. their ecological interactions with other organisms, both micro and macro.

Micro organisms occur every where in the planet and more diversely in the tropics where temperature and humidity are favourable for them. Their smallness enables them to escape detection unless there is a bloom.

A wide diversity of bacteria are beneficial to man; for example ? Lactobacillus in curd making; yeast in fermenting and Bacillus thuringiensis in agricultural pest control etc. There is one, the magneto tactic bacteria which possess intra cellular magnetic particles that allow them to orient to the Earth?s magnetic poles. Many bacteria can be cultured in artificial media yet many others can not be, hence, neither fully known nor studied. Till date about 3 ? 4 thousand of them have been studied and about 3 lakh not studied.

Virus do not survive free in nature and barring a few no virus was known to be beneficial to man until biotechnologists found them ideal vectors in synthetic gene transfers from test tubes to the cells of organisms. In the process if any virulent portion of viral gene remains active, there is great danger ahead. Of the 5 thousand or so viruses available only about 5 hundred have been studied.

Ecological consequence:

Under very favourable conditions bacteria attain population blooms. In such conditions methanogenic bacteria produce methane in abundance; carbogenic fungi and bacteria produce CO2 in excess. Both of these are GhGs. Blue-green bacteria produce dimethyl sulphide, a substance that promotes cloud formation and precipitation. In marine environment, cyanobacteria also produce dimethyl sulphide in large quantities. The DMS being volatile is readily oxidized in the atmosphere to-methyl sulphoxide and then to methyl sulphate that acts as the nucleating agent in water droplet formation and cause rain.

The nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria produce nitrates and nitrous oxide respectively. Some nitrate is used up by the green plants but excess of it is leached in to the under ground water tables resulting in nitrate toxicity in those who drink that water. Nitrous oxide destroys the ozone layer increasing U-V penetration and causing skin cancer in human beings.

The soil is enriched by a set of soil bacteria/fungi such as Rhizobium, Azospirillum, Azotobacter, PSB/PSM and Nitrosobacter who build up the soil and provide nutrition to the plants. A well drained soil rich in leaf litter and low in rainfall receipt (like grass land) is the best for these aerobic organisms. If by chance, anaerobic bacteria gain in number in soil, the soil becomes degraded. The gum and cement producing bacterial products often block the soil pores. Such soils, if devoid of earthworms, become degraded soon.

In aquatic environs, bacteria also play a significant role. The toxic substance found in the fatty tissues and reproductive organs of Puffer fish, ?tetradotoxin?, is the product of a microorganism and not the fish. Tetradotoxin is a powerful analgesic and is used in ?pain relief?. Similarly, the anti leukemic compound found in the Tunicates (sea squirts) and even the anti microbial compound in the Caribbean coral reef sponges are also the products of microorganisms that are symbiotic to these hosts.

DNA cutting and splicing is carried out by an enzyme which remain active even at very high temperatures. This enzyme is obtained from a micro organism, Thermus aquaticus, isolated from hot water springs.

The natural process of decomposition is carried out by decomposers, who are, microbes, bacteria and fungi, who inhabit in all habitats.

Loss of the diversity of these microorganisms is caused by ? Deforestation, ElNino-LaNina Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Genetic contamination through creation of gene altered or transgenic microbes.?

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Tropical Biodiversity

Life flourishes in the tropics, whether microbes or plants or animals. Most of Earth?s living form is represented by insects in general and beetles in particular. Although 1.4 million species of insects, 80% of all living forms are on record, tropical forests may contain as much as 30 ? 50 million species of insects, some 97% of global biodiversity, living every where, from deep in the soil to the top of the trees, underground aquifers to within the feathers of the penguins in Antarctica, deep in the caves to our eye brows. Among the insects, beetles are the most speciose, the most pervasive, the most wide spread and dominant in all ecosystems and all habitats. They tunnel, mine and chew every substrate. Tropical biodiversity has not been fully studied, hence, it is essential to collect data, maintain inventory of all forms of tropical insects especially, beetles with samples. The samples so collected must be cold stored, identified and named using Alphanumeric Assessment System (QTES) and feeding the same to data base and taxasphere for formal identification. The same may be followed for other flora and fauna found in the tropical ecosystems.

Population Diversity

1. Mortality (death rate): is the rate at which death occurs in a population; Dispersal: is the rate at which individuals are immigrated or emigrated; Growth rate/form: is the sum total of natality, mortality and dispersal. Sex ratio & age structure: In most vertebrae populations, the sex ratio is primarily 50 male:50 female which, however, may vary between the populations. Age ratio: it determines the growth/decline in a population. For example: Rhesus monkeys of age group 1-3 years living on the road sides were trapped and exported in the 50s/60s for biomedical and pharmaceutical researches leading to their population decline when those in temple precincts were not. Life table: It is the tabular data on age structures based on a. Census data b. Mortality data from which ?S? shaped
   survivorship curve is charted out by end users/insurance companies. Broadly, however, survivorship curves are of 3 types; a. convex type, where the population mortality rate is low until near the end of the life span as found in many species of large animals including man, b. concave type, where the population mortality is high during the young stages as in the profuse breeder species of both plants and animals and c. straight line type where the diagonal straight line curve indicates an age specific constant survival, a constant rate of mortality occurring at every stage as seen in hydra, gull and American robin etc.

Carrying capacity and Environmental resistance:

Every habitat and ecosystem has a specific space that can accommodate a certain number of individuals because of the limitations of space and food; and this is called the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. The ecosystem environment resists an increase in the density of populations as the fight for food, space and mate increase. The situation is further complicated by such factors as parasitism, prey-predator relationships and other such natural factors. The environmental resistance acts against the biotic potential of the organisms living in that ecosystem. An increase in the amount of struggles within the species and/or between the species leads to decline of their numbers, sometimes to near extinction. The decline and extinction of the Dinosaurs is a glaring example.

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On October 3, 2003, Charles T. Munger, the largest shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway after Warren Buffett, gave the Herb Kay Undergraduate Lecture to the Economics Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara after which, I have no doubt, he was soundly applauded. Unfortunately, the lessons he taught made not a single impression on the minds of the attendees.

Although he made many salient points, one was that economists pay too little attention of second and higher order effects. He said that “this defect is quite understandable, because the consequences have consequences, and the consequences of the consequences have consequences, and so on. It gets very complicated. When I was a meteorologist I found this stuff very irritating. And economics makes meteorology look like a tea party.” I call this practice of ignoring higher level consequences the fallacy of ignored consequences.

It is well known, of course, that if one can select the data to be taken into consideration, almost anything can be proven, since the ability to select the data is but one iota removed from simply making the data up. This fallacy is akin to the well known statistical fallacy called confounding, for although a positive correlation can often be found between two things, it is never known whether the correlation is not an accidental result from another correlation that is not taken into account in the data selected.

All economists who advocate globalized free-trade commit this fallacy, because the only data considered are the prices of the imported products. Here is an example: Dr. Steven J. Balassi, who teaches economics (MBA and undergraduate) for several San Francisco Bay Area Institutions, wrote in a comment that “It depends on what perspective you take. If you take the U.S. perspective, jobs moving overseas are bad and good. They are bad for those losing jobs but good for the price of the product. If you take a global perspective, trade is good. If one job is lost in America but two are gained in India, that is good for humanity. It is once again good from the product price standpoint.” Ignoring the poor syntax in this comment, which indicates that Dr. Balassi was himself not a superlative student of even his native language, I would maintain that the perspective of economists is always too narrow.

The price of products has meaning only in relation to other things, as for instance, the income of consumers. But considering only the price of products entirely ignores other costs of international trade, which if added to the price of products would make the claimed advantages of it ludicrous.

For instance, the BBC has just reported that hundreds of thousands of unsafe chargers, imported from China, for mobile phones, games consoles, and music devices could have made their way into the UK. Some of these chargers carry a CE safety mark which officers believe to be fake. The chargers are being sold for about ?5 on the internet and about ?6 in shops. Safe chargers, which have been checked properly, retail for around ?15. Concerns were raised about the safety of chargers 18 months ago following the death of a seven-year old British boy who was found dead after using his game console’s charger. Trading standards officers are trying to recall the chargers. The chargers also give electrical shocks to their owners, overheat, explode, and cause fires.

If the costs of cleaning up the damage from recalling and disposing of, treating those injured by, and compensating families for the deaths of their children caused by these products were added to the ?5-price, what would the true cost of these imports be? But this is a minor example.

The Black Death was carried east and west along the Silk Road by traders. The introduction of smallpox into the Americas by Europeans obliterated entire Native American civilizations before they were ever even seen by Europeans. Were the imported products worth the lives of the millions who died?

The chestnut blight, which wiped out the American chestnut tree, was caused by a fungus introduced by the importation of Japanese chestnut trees. The fungus virtually eliminated the American chestnut from over 180 million acres of eastern United States forests and was a disaster for many animals that were highly adapted to live in forests dominated by this tree species. For example, ten moth species that could live only on chestnut trees became extinct. The Asian clam came to North America from China. This mussel clogs condenser tubes, raw service pipes, and fire fighting equipment and decreases the efficiency of energy generation, a major problem today. Cuban treefrogs are believed to have been introduced into Florida in cargo imported from Cuba. These frogs are attracted to the buzzing noise of electrical transformers and often short out the transformer causing localized blackouts. Dutch elm disease has severely damaged the American elm. European starlings, mute swans, and nutria demonstrated the characteristics of invasiveness long after their original introduction. The Australian paperbark tree has replaced native plants, such as sawgrass, in over 400,000 acres of south Florida. Because it has a combination of spongy outer bark and flammable leaves and litter, it increases fire frequency and intensity. Many birds and mammals adapted to the native plant community declined in abundance as paperbark spread. Aquatic plants such as the South American water hyacinth in Texas and Louisiana and marine algae such as Australian Caulerpa in the Mediterranean Sea change vast expanses of habitat by replacing formerly dominant native plants. The European parasite that causes whirling disease in fishes, introduced to rainbow trout in a hatchery in Pennsylvania, has now spread to many states and devastated the rainbow trout sport fishery in Montana and Colorado. The predatory brown tree snake, introduced in cargo from the Admiralty Islands, has eliminated ten of the eleven native bird species from the forests of Guam. The Nile perch, a voracious predator introduced to Lake Victoria as a food fish, has already extinguished over one hundred species of native cichlid fish there. The zebra mussel, accidentally brought to the United States from southern Russia, transforms aquatic habitats by filtering prodigious amounts of water (thereby lowering densities of planktonic organisms) and settling in dense masses over vast areas. At least thirty freshwater mussel species are threatened with extinction by the zebra mussel. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates a potential economic impact of $5 billion in the Great Lakes attributed to impacts of the zebra mussel and attempts to mitigate those impacts. Zebra mussels have virtually eliminated native mussels from the Great Lakes and altered the basic food chain, threatening the availability of microscopic food for native fish. The sea lamprey reached the Great Lakes through a series of canals and, in combination with overfishing, led to the extinction of three endemic fishes. The first sailors to land on the remote Atlantic island of St. Helena in the 16th century introduced goats, which quickly extinguished over half the endemic plant species. North American gray squirrels are driving native red squirrels to extinction in Great Britain and Italy by foraging for nuts more efficiently than the native species. The Hawaiian duck is being lost to hybridization with North American mallards introduced for hunting. The rarest European duck (the white-headed duck) is threatened by hybridization with the North American ruddy duck, which was originally kept as an amenity in a British game park. The ruddy duck escaped, crossed the English Channel, and spread to Spain, the last stronghold of the white-headed duck. Ornamental fig trees, planted in the Miami area for over a century because they were sterile, requires a particular wasp to pollinate it, and the wasps were absent. About fifteen years ago, the pollinating wasps for three fig species arrived and now these fig species are reproducing. At least one has become invasive, with seedlings and saplings being found many miles from any planted figs. More cases of this phenomenon, termed “invasion meltdown,” are likely to arise as more species are introduced and have the opportunity to interact with each other. And this, believe it or not, is a short list.

Approximately 68% of fish species lost in North America over the last century were caused by an invasion of exotic species. and has also caused the economy to suffer through the obstruction of industrial and municipal water pipes and the displacement or elimination of important commercial and sport fishing species. Public health is also negatively impacted. For example, in a number of coastal areas in the United States, cholera strains carried in the ballast water of some commercial trade ships contaminated numerous oyster and fin-fish populations, making them unsafe for consumption. Without the disease and predators that they contend with in their native lands, the spread of these species can be epic in proportion and the effort to control them can cost billions of dollars. Exotic species can have many negative impacts on the environment, the economy, and human health. When species are introduced into an area, they may cause increased predation and competition, disease, habitat destruction, genetic stock alterations, and even extinction. Of 26 animal species that have gone extinct since being listed under the Endangered Species Act, at least three were wholly or partly lost because of hybridization with invaders. One was a fish native to Texas, eliminated by hybridization with introduced mosquito fish. Rainbow trout introduced widely in the United States as game fish are hybridizing with five species listed under the Endangered Species Act, such as the Gila trout and Apache trout.

Almost half of the native species in America are endangered because of invasive species. The statistics are startling and more attention must be paid to the problem and devising a solution before the cost is more than we can bear. Compared to other threats to biodiversity, invasive introduced species rank second only to habitat destruction, such as forest clearing. Of all 1,880 imperiled species in the United States, 49% are endangered because of the introduction of exotic species alone or because of their impact combined with other forces. In fact, introduced species are a greater threat to native biodiversity than pollution, harvest, and disease combined. Further, through damage to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and other human enterprises, introduced species inflict an enormous economic cost, estimated at $137 billion per year to the U.S. economy alone.

No one would suggest, of course, that international trade be abandoned, but any attempt to justify it and its increase that is based merely on nominal commodity prices is a logical absurdity, since all such attempts are based on a single, primary consequence. When the costs of the overlooked secondary, tertiary, and quaternary consequences are added to the nominal prices of imported products, the economic advantages of international trade do not look nearly as beneficial.

Of course, our economists who hew to the so called liberal/neoliberal ideology will never take these additional consequences into account. To do so would complicate their calculations far beyond their meager intellectual capacities and nail shut the coffin of their religiously held ideology. Humanity should be well aware by now of just how difficult it is to get someone to abandon his religion. Moslem hoards once attempted to convert Christians to Islam with the command, convert or die. Perhaps we need to confront our economists with a similar choice, but it would have to be, convert or we all die.

?2008 John Kozy

If you are beginning to feel like an endangered species
surrounded by the chewed up remnants of your previous existence,
fear not. First of all you are not alone. There are dog owners
like you suffering the same fate and having the same problems
getting their otherwise delightful pet to cease and desist from
devouring hearth and home. Not only that, but people,
experienced dog owner type people, have spent a great deal of
time and energy on solving the problem.

Your first step in the direction of rehabilitation is the same
as it is with any such process. You need to establish the exact
nature of the problem. If your pet is a newly acquired puppy
then rampant chewing goes with the territory. It is a natural
response to teething. If your pet is past puppy-hood and showing
no sign of quitting or, if your mature pet inexplicably begins
chewing away at stuff, this is a sign of a more serious problem
that needs attention.

Pets of all kinds can be divided into aggressive chewers and
non-aggressive chewers. Aggressive chewers annihilate what they
chew and sometimes swallow the pieces - often in one sitting.
Non-aggressive chewers gnaw, play and mouth toys without
actually breaking them. Many theories attempt to pinpoint
certain dog breeds as most likely to chew aggressively but, the
fact is, it’s more personality related than it is breed related.

If your dearly beloved pet is still a puppy you will need to
work out which category of chewer he or she is as this is an
important fact to take into consideration when shopping from the
broad range of dog toys available. If your dog is an aggressive
chewer you will need to buy dog toys that are chewy and rubbery
as well as super strong and durable. Because aggressive chewers
are inclined to bite and then swallow toys that are brittle,
they must be literally unbreakable. Some manufacturers actually
sell toys with an impressive 100% product replacement if the
animal manages to destroy it. Aggressive chewers need their own
type of toy made of tough rubber and rawhide. They need to be
kept well clear of toys that lesser chewers would be safe with.

Black Kongs are ideal for these enthusiastic chewers, so are
toys like the jumbo retriever rolls otherwise known as ‘chronic
chew toys’. These are wound out of several feet of rawhide
compacted into one giant roll. Even the most vociferous of
chewing pets can do no better than wear away at the exterior
leaving the tightly wound core still intact. Pressed rawhide
bone-shaped toys are also good options for the aggressive chewer
who must be protected from his or her own capacity to reduce an
innocent toy to sharp, dangerous shards that may injure the
pet’s esophagus when swallowed.

If your mature pet is chewing and she is past teething and
puppy-hood then there is a possibility that the chewing may be
the symptom of a displaced anxiety. Here’s where you will need
to play dog psychologist and spend time with your pet to discern
what is troubling him or her. Are you spending enough time with
your pet? Does he get enough attention? Exercise? Has there been
a recent disturbance in the household routine that the pet may
be responding to?

Your pet is a barometer for any stress or disruption in the
environment. Taking up chewing becomes a comforting action for
the disturbed dog. You will need to spend more supervised time
with your pet reeducating him or her on the rewarding
consequences of desirable behavior. Pets are very much like
children in this way; they will do anything to get attention
even if it means demolishing the surrounding environment. Don’t
be slow to enlist the aid of an expert when tackling chronic
chewing problems. A fresh and educated viewpoint may save
everyone a great deal of frustration.

Found throughout the circumpolar Arctic, the polar bear is one of the largest land carnivores. Surviving mainly on a diet of seal, polar bears also eat kelp, scavenge on carcasses, and occasionally even kill a walrus or a small whale. Aptly titled Kings of the North, or Lords of the Arctic, polar bears are truly fascinating animals with unique characteristics, all of which enable them to survive in a harsh and unforgiving world.

So how does a polar bear start out in life? Well, sometime around midsummer, polar bears mate and then go their own separate ways. This is the point where things get very interesting. The fertilized egg divides into a hollow orb of cells called a blastocyst, then free floats in the uterus for four months before attaching to the uterine wall. This delay allows the female polar bear to build up the fat she needs, roughly 400 pounds of it, before the fetus or fetuses begin to develop. This also insures that the cub or cubs are not born too early. Typically, once the blastula begins to develop, one to three embryos will result with actual gestation taking another four months.

Not long after mating, the female polar bear begins preparing a den that she will enter sometime in mid October. Her den will be a hole dug into the deepest snowdrift she can find on a south facing slope and measures approximately 6.5 x 5 x 3 feet with an air vent in the top. There she will spend the winter in hibernation, the cubs being born sometime between November and January. At birth, a baby polar bear weighs around one pound and measures about twelve inches. Blind, deaf, and covered in very fine fuzz, the cubs are totally dependant on mom for food and warmth, spending all of their time nursing and sleeping. Roughly, one month later, the cubs will begin to hear sounds and shortly thereafter, they will open their eyes. At two months, they begin walking around the den. Finally, mom and cubs emerge from the den in March or April by which time the cubs weigh in at around 23 pounds.??

For the first 12 weeks, mom and cubs stick close to the den while the cubs get used to the colder temperatures and develop their leg muscles. Polar bear cubs stay with the mom for about 2.5 years. During this time, she fiercely protects them while teaching them how to hunt for food and the basics of survival. The cubs start eating solid food when they are around 3-4 months old but continue to supplement their diet by nursing for another 18 months or so. At around one year of age, the young bears will start trying to hunt on their own, not truly becoming efficient hunters until they reach about two years old. Not long after this, once the mother is again ready to breed, either mom or her new suitor, will chase off the cubs, forcing them to make their way in the world.

Polar bear cubs grow quickly, weighing in at around 99 pounds by the time they reach 8 months old. Once they reach adulthood, a female polar bear will weigh in at 350-550 pounds and can measure over 8 feet tall while a male can easily weigh anywhere from 1,000 to 1,400 pounds and measure over 9 feet tall. Their life span varies but polar bears in the wild have an average life span of span of 20 years with a few living as long as 30.

Survival for polar bear cubs is not high, only 55% will make it to adulthood. They do have some unique factors to help them. A polar bear?s fur is not actually white. Each hair is a clear hollow tube with highly reflective qualities (making it appear white) while their skin is black to absorb heat from the sun. They can also swim for long periods while their thick layers of fat and water repellent fur protect them from the freezing water. Partially webbed front paws and elongated hind paws, which act like rudders, allow the polar bear to swim more efficiently. The pads of their feet, the only place on their bodies with the exception of their nose that is not covered with fur, have a layer of ?dermal bumps which combined with long hairs between the toes allow for friction against the ice.

Sadly, as of May of 2008, the classification of polar bears upgraded to ?threatened? allowing them increased protection under the Endangered Species Act. A combination of melting arctic ice, oil drilling and over hunting have put these fascinating animals in danger of extinction, some experts saying there could be a reduction in the polar bear population of two thirds by 2050. The polar bear is the first animal whose decline ties directly to global warming. Let us hope that with continuing conservation efforts we can still save these magnificent creatures from disappearing along with the arctic ice that they call home.

It is been said a smart person changes with time and trend but a smarter person keeps in mind the benefits and the outcomes of everything before taking an account on it. The fashion world is changing constantly in quest of experimentation of new materials. Bamboo fabrics have become a trend and are popular among everyone these days. It is showing up everywhere from stores to boutiques. Bamboo fabric is considered softer than cotton and silk and is known to be environment friendly. Thus, Bamboo clothing does not only feel great on your skin; it is also a great choice for the environment as well.

Biodiversity is the assortment of life on earth, and we depend on it for our survival. It is necessary to protect endangered species and plants to maintain this assortment for a better tomorrow and the contribution of every individual is necessary. One can also support the nature and protect it by purchasing an endangered species shirts. Bamboo is the newest and latest sustainable eco-fabric that has become an essential part of the today?s fashion business because of its suppleness, smooth hand flowing and tender drape and not so costly prices.

Animal prints come and go with diverse fashion trends and this year they are everywhere. Wild animal t-shirts are in and everyone from kids to adults love to add a pair of these T?shirts in their wardrobe. These wild prints not just look great but can also make you look different. One can also flaunt his love for animals in front of the world through these tees.

Reasonable, natural, aesthetically pleasant, contented, and long lasting, bamboo fabric is perceptibly going to be the way of the future. Supple, breathable, naturally antibacterial and anti fungal, it contains “Bamboo Kun”, that averts the germs from taming on it. Bamboo fabrics never lost their qualities during processing or repeated washings and also have a natural UV protection that helps protect your skin from sun burn or skin cancer.

Bamboo organic clothing is a cost-efficient, fashionable, exceptionally comfortable way to dress oneself. It not only makes one look great but also gives him a supple feel and is best for those who do not want to be anxious about putting together different wardrobes for various climates. The variety of bamboo is available for everyone from kids to adults. Kids bamboo t shirts not only make the children look smart and stylish but also protect them from harmful sunrays and the bacterial infections. The combined feel of style and health makes bamboo tees a perfect balance of perfect clothing.

What began with four original designs ? the Buck, Mallard, Labrador and Bass - depicting the trademark outdoor sports of hunting and fishing, has now grown to 48 one-of-a-kind designs in DRI DUCK?s Authentic Wildlife Series line of headwear.? The original, embroidered designs have become an industry trailblazer, creating a collectible series of wearable art for outdoorsmen of all types.?? The quality and uniqueness lit the fire in what can now be called a bonafide success story.? The Authentic Wildlife Series? original design collection grew 1100% in just three years ? from 4 to 48 one-of-a-kind designs that simply make wildlife come alive!?

?It?s a supply and demand thing,? says Scott Tubbs, President of DRI DUCK.? While it seems the Midwesterners were the originators setting the trend for many of the new designs, it wasn?t long before the East and West Coast folks starting to weigh in.? ?They were the driving force behind our salt water fish designs,? said Tubbs.? DRI DUCK responded with new original embroidered art by way of the Marlin, Sailfish and Salmon.

For the collector or advocate, join DRI DUCK in spotlighting awareness for Endangered Species.? Four meticulously designed Wildlife scenes perfectly depict the unique likeness of an image fading fast from the planet:? Peregrine Falcon, Eastern Cougar, Gray Wolf and the Grizzly Bear ? all crafted from 100% pure Organic Cotton.?? ?DRI DUCK works with conservation groups through a variety of alliances and as a result, our design fabrication is the most authentic representation and it serves as a voice for the endangered,? said Cathy Groves, Vice President Marketing for DRI DUCK.???

DRI DUCK takes their role in the animal world seriously, and is committed to the environment and green initiatives from the inside out.? As part of their enterprise-wide dedication they have developed a program called Shades of Green, through which they take a comprehensive look at ways DRI DUCK can positively impact the environment. From fabrics to freight, the DRI DUCK team is continuously evaluating day-to-day operations to identify ways to be more environmentally conscious.? As a result of their Shades of Green program, combined with their involvement with the Organic Exchange, a non-profit organization committed to expanding organic agriculture, DRI DUCK began offering 100% certified Organic Cotton apparel in January 2007, including the Eco-conscious collection of jackets for both men and women, and the Endangered Species headwear from the Authentic Wildlife Series.

The Authentic Wildlife Series is a high-quality collection of hats and caps designed with DRI DUCK standards of uncompromising craftsmanship.? You?ll find a full range of designs and color options, 100% cotton chino twill or camo patterns with 60% cotton/40% peached twill, Velcro-adjustable straps or FLEXFIT? options, mesh back and styles for women, as well.?

For the man (or woman) in your life, that guy (or gal)? who hunts, fishes or just loves the great outdoors, put DRI DUCK on your shopping list and grab a Wildlife Series hat.? Better yet, start his (or her) collection this Holiday season.? We invite you to find the style that will keep you looking a head above the rest. Visit driducktraders(dot)com? today.