Sunday, May 21, 2023

The animals we may lose

A moment to remember threatened animal species:

"...it is important to say the names of some of the creatures whose remaining time on Earth may be cut short due to human action. Among them are the African forest elephant, Amur leopard, black rhino, Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, Cross River gorilla, eastern and western lowland gorilla, hawksbill turtle, Javan and Sumatran rhinos, saola, Sumatran elephant, Sunda tiger, vaquita, Yangtze finless porpoise… To recite aloud the names of all the earth’s threatened species one by one would take about two sleepless weeks."
Leah Penniman. Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations With Black Environmentalists. Amistad, 2023. Chapter: "It Is Time for a New Covenant."

Recently, hundreds of elephants died in Botswana from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in their drinking water. (This 2023 article by Muhammad Arif is on Medium; you may encounter a paywall.)

In 2024, Zimbabwe will shoot elephants for people to eat. In a drought, the land cannot support human needs as well as a large number of elephants, authorities have decided.

sea turtle

"...a team of economists from the International Monetary Fund estimated a single baleen whale provides about $2 million worth of Earth services, both in life and death." (CNN, 2024)<.p>

2024: An endangered whale gets tangled in lobster gear. Threats to life come from various directions and cannot be forgotten because they all add up.

In 2024, a new species of anaconda was discovered in the Amazon.

Erratic Fish Behavior In Florida Prompts 'Emergency Response' From National Agency
Endangered smalltooth sawfish are spinning around and dying in unusual numbers in the Florida Keys. Curt Anderson. HuffPost, March 30, 2024

Biologists Rescue Sawfish As Dozens Of Ancient Animals Die For Unknown Reasons, Curt Anderson, HuffPost, April 13, 2024

‘The final result was good’: 130 whales rescued from mass beach stranding in Western Australia, Teele Rebane, Heather Chen and Manveena Suri, CNN, April 25, 2024

The animals know it, and they're panicking

About 100 rescued elephants escape flash floods at popular sanctuary in northern Thailand, by Helen Regan and Kocha Olarn, CNN, October 4, 2024

For more: "Climate change is expensive, but that's not the point". It's a 9-minute read on Medium.

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