Wildlife Matters: On the Ground in South Sudan
Wildlife Matters: On the Ground in South Sudan
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February 2011
On the Ground in South Sudan
News from Capitol Hill: Give Wildlife A Second Chance
Run for the Wild: Make Tracks for Penguins
Tiger or Peacock? Take the Bronx Zoo’s Courtship Quiz
RUN FOR THE WILD
Make Tracks for Penguins
Join us for the third annual Run for the Wild at the Bronx Zoo, on
Saturday, April 30. This year’s run will help support WCS’s campaign to save threatened penguins. This family-oriented event is open to runners and walkers alike.
Sign up now to get a jump on fundraising, and you’ll make your contribution to saving penguins go so much further. And for an added bonus, when you register by February 14, you’ll get $5 off the entrance fee.
STAFF PICK
Fraser’s Penguins
©Holt, Henry & Company, Inc
A new book by award-winning journalist and author Fen Montaigne chronicles the lives of a colony of Adélie penguins on the brink of oblivion. In Fraser’s Penguins,
Montaigne brings readers along on a journey to a place doomed by the impacts of climate change: Anvers Island, Antarctica. Here, at the Palmer Research Station, we meet scientist Bill Fraser and his birding team, who have studied the resident penguin colonies for more than 30 years. The author blogs about his experiences in the Antarctic, and the impacts of climate change far beyond the poles, on his blog.
TIGER OR PEACOCK?
Take the Bronx Zoo’s Courtship Quiz
Birds do it, bees do it, and so do monkeys and crocodiles. The range of courtship behaviors in the animal kingdom is stunning – and not unlike the range of courtship behaviors among humans. In honor of Valentine’s Day, answer eight questions to tell us what kind of partner you are, then find out which animal you most resemble!
DONATE
Name a Roach
Flowers wilt.
Chocolates melt. Roaches are forever. In honor of your loved one, on behalf of your boss…whatever the reason, consider naming a roach this Valentine’s Day. In addition to guaranteeing a smile (or a squirm), your gift will help WCS save wildlife around the world – and not just those of the hard-shelled variety.
© P. Elkan & M. Fay
On the Ground in South Sudan
This month, officials in South Sudan announced the official results of January’s independence referendum. The people voted overwhelmingly in favor of building a new nation. Now, as they begin to plan for their future, the southern Sudanese have an historic opportunity to integrate conservation into their national goals.
In 2005, surveys conducted by WCS in partnership with the government of Southern Sudan revealed that herds of giraffes, elephants, and antelope have survived here in spite of decades of war. The region also hosts one of the world’s greatest mammal migrations, the seasonal journey of close to a million white-eared kob across the savannah. The sustainable management of these astounding wildlife and landscapes will be key to the region’s development strategy.
WCS is the only conservation NGO to currently operate in South Sudan. In the past several weeks, WCS’s CEO and President Steven Sanderson and WCS-Southern Sudan Country Director Paul Elkan have spoken out on the elections, affirming our steadfast commitment to helping Africa’s newest nation-to-be achieve a prosperous and stable democracy.
NEWS FROM CAPITOL HILL
Give Wildlife A Second Chance
John Gwynne © WCS
WCS is fortunate to partner with the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service and others to make a difference for wildlife around the world. Whether it’s protecting gorillas in Gabon, tigers in India, elephants in Cambodia or sea turtles in Central America, WCS cannot do it alone.
This year, the political environment in Washington is changing and U.S. government programs and agencies that support our programs in places like South Sudan, Afghanistan, the Andean Amazon and the Congo Basin are under greater threat than ever before. International conservation support is being targeted for deep cuts or elimination. If these WCS programs go extinct, we fear the creatures they aim to protect may soon follow.
It’s going to take a redoubling of our efforts to save these programs that allow WCS conservationists to continue their work. And right now, there’s one more chance to get the job done: Congress is debating this week whether or not to fund these programs.<
Ask Congress to take care of unfinished business and fund these important conservation programs today!
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
Expedition to Karukinka, Chile
© Alejandro Vila
I took this picture during the austral summer in December on a solitary beach on the Karukinka coast. I am studying a group of southern elephant seals there with colleagues from WCS’s Global Health, Marine and Argentina programs along with the Center for Quaternary Research and the Antarctic Chilean Institute. We are researching their habitat use, foraging ecology, population genetics, and health. These seals were decimated in Southern Chile during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
On this trip our team counted 150 individuals and deployed four satellite transmitters in Jackson Bay – a hopeful sign of the species’ recovery.
This particular group was resting and molting on the beach. Although it’s common to see them crowding together, I never saw an elephant seal resting on a mattress of its own kind.
– Alejandro Vila, WCS-Chile Marine Coordinator
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©2011 Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460, 718-220-5100
thank for posting this!