Conservation Comeback

The straight-horned markhor, the national animal of Pakistan, is a mythical-looking mountain goat with long, twisting horns. It reminds me of something you might see in the Lord of the Rings ...

Photo courtesy of USFWS

With the help of concentrated conservation efforts, this endangered species of markhor is on the rebound, warranting a proposed change in its listing from endangered to threatened in recent months.

Learn more about this amazing animal.  

 

What do Sports and Endangered Species Have in Common?

At least six sports teams around the world are represented by mascots that are endangered species. For instance, the Florida panther is it's state hockey team's flagship animal.

Photo courtesy of USFWS

Learn about five more endangered species that adorn helmets and uniforms here:

Endangered Species as Sports Team Mascots

Sometimes, it works ...

What works?

Conservation.

Despite all of the news stories we hear about species declining and, worse yet, going extinct, there are instances when conservation efforts succeed in recovering species, bringing them back from the brink of extinction. 

Photo courtesy of USFWS

Learn about six success stories here:

Endangered Species Success Stories of 2012

Voluntary Simplicity

What a great term:

voluntary simplicity.

It means consciously choosing to pare down, use less, and buy responsibly.

This is an important concept to consider as the new year rolls in, and we're feeling the urge to make resolutions to better our lives--and the planet.

Get inspired to make a change that matters with these New Year Resolutions for Endangered Species.

The Last Asian Unicorn?

You know how it feels when you discover a box of your favorite 

chocolate/cookies/chips/candy 

somewhere in the dim reaches of your cupboard, but then you open it ...

and discover that only a few crumbles remain?

That must be a very trivial comparison to how researchers felt when they discovered an animal called the saola in 1992.

The saola is a small relative of the cow that has two long, straight, sharp horns. It's profile has earned it the nickname "Asian unicorn." 

Photo by Silviculture at vi.wikipedia (GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0) / Wikimedia

Sadly, this interesting creature is so rare due to hunting and habitat loss that as few as 70 individuals are estimated to populate a small mountainous area between Vietnam and Laos. Take a look:

Geographic distribution of the rare saola. Photo courtesy of IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, species assessors and the authors of the spatial data / Wikimedia Commons

Learn more about the critically endangered saola here:

Saola: The Endangered Asian Unicorn