Yeah, I see a lot of shark positivity posts on my dash these days and I really appreciate that. But I think something is being left out of the message so I’m just gonna say that:
YES, Sharks are not bloodthirsty monsters. They only do what they do because they are instinctively driven to do so.
NO, sharks are not your friends. They are not sea-puppies, gentle babies, or whatever BS anthropomorphic “cute” term you want to use to describe them.
YES, you are more likely to be killed by falling coconuts and any number of improbable circumstances than you are to be killed by a shark attack,
NO, sharks are not “harmless”. They are apex predators of their habitats and deserve to be treated with the same respect that you would give to a wild lion, bear, or wolf. JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT LIKELY TO ATTACK YOU DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY WON’T. ACCIDENTS CAN ALWAYS HAPPEN, AND A SHARK’S PATIENCE IS NOT LIMITLESS.
YES, you should take every precaution to prevent a shark from “test-biting” you.
NO, a test-bite is not just a harmless consequence of shark curiosity. A TEST-BITE CAN KILL YOU. Just because sharks generally release people after the first nip and don’t make any effort to eat them does not mean that the bite is somehow any less deadly. You will bleed out in the water if the wound is bad enough.
YES, sharks are endangered and unfairly demonised and worthy of our support.
NO, that does not mean that anthropomorphising them and spreading false information is okay.
Please support sharks, but please, for the love of god, give them the respect they deserve when you do so. YOU ARE NOT HELPING THEM BY ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO SWIM RIGHT INTO THEIR JAWS.
Your annual Shark Week PSA. Sharks are incredible, thrilling creatures but spreading the idea that they are all harmless or interested in eusocial behavior with humans does them no favors.
A new chapter in the wild began today for 26 eastern indigo snakes reared at the Zoo in the latest milestone in a conservation partnership to restore a native species to its original range. In a collaboration between Zoo Atlanta, the Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation and Auburn University, the snakes were released into the Conecuh National Forest near Andalusia, Alabama, on July 14, 2017.
Previously to the beginning of a reintroduction effort, the eastern indigo snake had not been sighted in the wild in Alabama in around 50 years. The snakes are a keystone species of the longleaf pine-wiregrass and sandhills ecosystem, and their reintroduction carries significant positive ecological benefits for the national forest.
Zoos are known for their conservation work on other continents around the world, but conservation begins in our own backyards. This is a notable example of a project that continues to have a direct impact on re-establishing an iconic species in its native range.
Our Zoo has reared more than 80 eastern indigo snakes for the reintroduction program, which is a cooperation among stakeholders throughout the Southeast. Additional project partners include the Alabama Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and The Nature Conservancy.
The newest group of reintroduced snakes had been reared here since 2015. As they had been designated for release into the wild, the young snakes received care and feeding in behind-the-scenes facilities where they had limited interactions with humans. In this environment, the snakes were able to grow to a size capable of avoiding many of the predators that feed on juvenile snakes.
Prior to their release, the snakes received passive integrated responder tags (PIT) for identification. Preliminary results from tracking efforts have shown that previous groups of reintroduced snakes are surviving, thriving, and reproducing.
To date, more than 100 eastern indigo snakes have been released into Conecuh National Forest, a majority of which have been reared at the Zoo. The goal of the project is to release 300 snakes over a 10-year period at an average of 30 snakes a year.
The largest nonvenomous snake species in North America and a native of southern Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi, the eastern indigo snake has declined across its historic range with the destruction of its ecosystem. This decline is also observed in Georgia’s state reptile, the gopher tortoise, which creates burrows that are often used by eastern indigo snakes and other species.
Eastern indigo snakes play an additional valuable role in their environment by keeping other snake populations in check, as they are known to eat venomous species, including copperheads. These snakes are not constrictors; instead, they overpower their prey using the crushing force of their jaws.
To learn more things people dont realize about zoos here ~>
One of my very favorite reptile species! It warms my heart to see captive breeding programs finally come to fruition and the animals in the programs get the chance to return to their homelands. Go with God, little reptiles. Your planet needs you!
Over the course of running this blog, we have received a few messages about outdoor cats bringing home wild snakes. So, while this is certainly not the first post to bring up the issue, it bears repeating that outdoor cats are extremely damaging to the environment.
A number of studies have shown that outdoor cats, along with feral cats, kill billions of native birds, mammals, and reptiles and have even contributed to or outright caused the extinction of entire species. While some, like the Lyall’s Wren, are and were particularly vulnerable due to their limited range, outdoor cats pose a significant threat everywhere. You probably live within the range of an endangered, threatened, or protected species without even knowing it.
You can instantly and permanently improve the health of your local ecosystem just by keeping your cat indoors. This isn’t even to mention that outdoor cats live statistically shorter, more stressful, and less healthy lives. So, for the sake of your pet and the lives of many vulnerable creatures, don’t let them roam.
If your cat needs to be outside that damn badly then it better be supervised or you better have an outdoor enclosure of some sort. Cats kill things for the heck of it and most of the time don’t even eat what they kill, so it’s not like they’re even hunting for food. Just because you haven’t seen yours bring prey home doesn’t mean your cat isn’t still a natural hunter.
Since that (albeit deceptive) picture of the maned wolf is going around, I thought I would post this. This little buddy is actually the closest living relative of the maned wolf. Of course, their both the only living members of their respective genera so they aren’t that closely related, but given their evolutionary isolation it’s as close as one can get for a living relative. So, let’s take a moment to revel in the irony that this stubby little cutie is a cousin of that leggy maned wolf.
Bush dogs are diurnal hunters, preferring wet savannas and forests. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, they typically hunt in pack of 10-12 individuals and communicate through whines. Their favorite prey is the paca, a large rodent.
This is the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). An impressive 2 inch exotic Fulgorid type thing from China and Southeast Asia, it is a bark sucker and can do tremendous damage to smooth barked woody plants. The Ag folks are concerned about things like apple, peaches, and grapes, but there are indications that other native plants may be at risk.
Currently found in 6 counties in PA, efforts to eradicate it are ongoing, but it continues to spread. Any sightings of something like this should be reported to your local Ag Extension Office if you are in the U.S. One final note is that this species favorite late season host is Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Another reason to remove this exotic wherever it occurs.
Photos, in part, by Sydney Price. Specimen from USDA APHIS. I would love to have additional fresh specimens particularly of the strikingly colored nymphs.
Kudos to this mom visiting the San Diego Zoo for turning this amazing event into an educational experience and not a source of horror and fear.
This is so cool, and she explained it beautifully to the children. Everything has to eat. For my followers who need fair warning the komodo does catch, kill and eat a squirrel so if that makes you uncomfortable don’t watch.
PiraticOctopus 