Afrotheria

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:03:11 -0700

This article is an eye opener for anyone who appreciates the rate at which we are killing off species. One fifth of ALL known vertebrate species are listed as threatened on the International Union for the conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. We should all consider this appalling and embarrassing. The “smartest”, “most advanced” species on the earth cannot stop the mass extinction of literally thousands of “genetically invaluable” species. We need to open our view to more than our backyards and country for that matter. Although vertebrates only comprise 3% of all living species they are the species which spark the concern and make us aware of the “less popular” species which are equally as important in the big picture.
If you love elephants you should love the Grey faced Sengi (photo above). These two are part of the same superorder (Afrotheria), but would you donate to save the Grey Faced Sengi, probably not. Would you go to the zoo to see the new Sengi exhibit, again, probably not. Why though, we see the intelligent, social, powerful and often cute African Elephant and don’t hesitate to make a day out of going to the zoo to see the new elephant barn. This is just one example of why it is so important to save these animals.
The “big” ones like the Tiger, Elephant, Polar Bear etc. It gets us interested and makes us aware of these “little” guys who are just as important in their ecosystem and will make an equally devastating “ripple” if they disappear. No matter how small the species, we should all be aware of the effect we are having and EVERY choice we make in our wealthy country has an affect on animals like the Grey Faced Sengi in the “monetarily” less wealthy Africa. The farmer cutting down his rainforest to feed his family so that you can have a real “Afican Blackwood” coffee table affects the Grey Faced Sengi and small species like it. What kind of a “ripple” do you want to leave, one of saying “I wish i had” or “ I am glad i did”. Please be aware and educated before making careless decisions, everything makes a ripple.

Endangered species news and blog

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:55:38 -0700

A new species of carnivore, the Durrells Vontsira (Salanoia durrelli), was recently found in Madagascar in Lac Alaorta. This is an amazing discovery. For us to still be discovering cat sized mammals on the relatively small island of Madagascar leads me to believe that there are thousands if not millions of animals we do not even know exist yet. At the rate we are destroying forests and other biomes we will miss the existence of some amazing new species that could potentially aid the human race in some way or another. Madagascar is an extremely “species dense” island and almost all of the animals on Madagascar or ONLY found on Madagascar. Yet another reason to reach out and help anyway you can this amazing island and its animals will be gone in the blink of an eye.

Why it matters

Afrotheria

Endangered species news and blog