So now the task of gathering information on endangered species begins.
And the first task in gathering information is to look for the ‘best’ sources of information on endangered species around the world. And that is how I plan to spend this next month; looking for credible sources of information about endangered species.
This would include international bodies like CITES or the IUCN and government sources from countries around the world like the Fish andWildlife Service (FWS) in the United State.
There are also a number of non-government sources of endangered species information like the World Wildlife Fund (WWW) or the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). And then there are projects that were created by individual scientist like Jane Goodall, or by concerned individuals like Peter Mass, who created the ‘The Sixth Extinction’ website (a wonderful ‘extinction’ resource).
And then there are also the zoos and aquariums around the world, that both house endangered species and work to protect them in the wild.
The San Diego Zoo is such a facility.
Anyone who knows me knows I spend A LOT of time at the San Diego Zoo. It is one of my favorite places to be in the world. And in fact, I am in San Diego at this moment ‘gathering’ information to launch this part of the ‘Endangered Earth Journal’ and ‘a Tiger Journal’.
I’m not sure exactly how many endangered species can be found at the San Diego Zoo, but I have counted over 60. And every endangered species at the zoo has a sign at their enclosure with habitat information and also information why the animal is endangered.
Now, it would be easy to just leave it at that, but here is where it gets interesting. And it’s where the ‘gathering’ of endangered species information can get complicated.
The San Diego Zoo has a Spectacled Bear on exhibit (see picture above). And according to the sign at the enclosure, the Spectacled Bear is ‘endangered’ (see image below). However, according to the CITES, and the US Fish and Wildlife (FWS), it is not listed as endangered (see the endangered species list at Bagheera - under 'B' for bear not 'S' for Spectacled).
When I asked an animal keeper about this this discrepancy, she explained –correctly- that often times the status of an animal might be endangered in one part of their range, and not in another. Or, that the status of an animal changes so quickly, the information is hard to keep track of.
And that’s exactly right. Information about the status of endangered species is hard to keep track of, but is also hard to gather (and expensive). To complicate that, there is often time no agreement between some of the ‘major’ endangered species organizations what the exact status of an animal is (see FWS and CITES for examples on this).
So is the Spectacled Bear endangered - or not. I don't know yet. But I do plan to persue that in a future journal entry.
But, for the purpose of this journal, and for my goal of updating the Bagheera and Endangered Earth websites over the course of this next year, the point is clear; gathering information about endangered species from expert sources around the world, will not necessarily be an simple task.
But it is an important one.
The 'status' of an animal (vulnerable - endangered - critically endangered) determines the level of protection it receives under many of the laws written to protect endangered animals. And those animals that are 'endangered' deserve -and need- all the protection they can get.
For more information about endangered animals go to Bagheera.
For more information about endangered tigers go to Tigers in Crisis.