On days (weeks, really) like these, when the media abounds with bad news about the environment, including fresh videos of the oil continuing to gush out 'neath the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico, which itself may be heading for hypoxia, one desperately needs reminders that we human beings are not only about one constant fuckup after another. That we are, no doubt, more often that not. Fuckups, I mean. But we are also capable of some good, of relating with the environment and wildlife in tender, nurturing ways, of beginning to heal the injuries we have inflicted upon this world and ourselves.
So in that spirit of reconciliation ecology, of wanting to draw upon our innate biophilia and altruism, allow me to share with you a couple of videos of wildlife being rescued. Rest assured that neither video is anywhere near as heavy-handed in conveying the message as I just was. And if it helps - the wildlife being rescued are very very cute ... you've been warned!
First - whatever jackanapes came up with the idea that Sloth was a sin (or whatever jackanapes named these beautiful creatures after a sin) had clearly never experienced anything like this:
via vimeo.com
I filmed this at the Aviaros del Caribe sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica - the world's only sloth orphanage. Baby 2 and 3 toed sloths, whose mother's have either been run over or zapped by power lines are brought to the sanctuary and looked after by Judy Arroyo. For more sloth photos and vids visit my blog pinktreefrog.typepad.com or follow me on twitter @amphib_avenger. For more on the sanctuary go to slothrescue.org. Music: "Scrapping and Yelling" by Mark Mothersbaugh from "The Royal Tenenbaum's" movie soundtrack.
At the other end of the activity scale, check out this amazing tale of an injured baby Hummingbird rescued by humans - in astonishingly close and active collaboration with the wild mama hummingbird!! Wow!!
via youtube.com
[Tip o' the hat to Arvind and Audubon California, both via Facebook]
My daughter and I just previewed (
The study conducted by Smith took place in the Cascade Mountains of southwestern British Columbia, which is significant, because the Cascade Mountains create a rain shadow with the forests to the east being very dry and prone to burning. In this area, lodgepole pines are ubiquitous and their cones are serotinous, they remain closed for years after maturation to enable them to reseed areas after frequent burns (Smith, 1970). Douglas-firs are also common in this area and will alternate between years of crop failures and years of crop masts; large production. The squirrel population in this area is very stable, they first feed on Douglas-firs but switch to lodgepole pines during crop failures (Smith, 1970). The lodgepole pines serve as a nearly constant food source. On the west side of the Cascade Mountains, the situation is quite reversed. Lodgepole pines are rare, are nonserotinous, and may have cone crop failures (Mowat 1960). This results in a fluctuating squirrel population exerting less selection pressure on lodgepole pines, as they do not exploit as much of the cones. The squirrels in the east exert a selection pressure for harder lodgepole pine cones, and less seeds per cone in the Douglas-firs. Thus, the lodgepole pines exert a selection pressure for squirrels with stronger jaws, those that can eat the stronger cones (Smith, 1970). This change in squirrels is evident as the squirrels in the east have stronger jaw muscles than those in the west.
The city may be the ultimate expression of the human effort to control our environment: in evolutionary ecological terms, it represents a strategy to minimize the risks of starvation and predation by creating habitats which dampen natural variability in climate and food availability, and provide shelter from predators. Simultaneously, humans also generate a considerable surplus of food, making cities attractive habitats to many other wild species. Recent theoretical work by myself and colleagues shows that typical changes in spatio-temporal patterns of food availability (higher and more predictable) and predation regimes (may be lower) accompanying urbanization can alter competitive dynamics such that weak competitors survive better in urban than in more natural habitats. This has several implications for species that are able to invade the novel urban habitat: higher population densities, potentially reduced selection pressures, and in turn, greater vulnerability to sudden environmental changes. In this presentation, I explore consequences for the evolution of commensalism and the continued coexistence of other species with humans, using recent work on house sparrows (the ultimate commensal now at risk in urban habitats), corvids (suburban Scrub Jays), and south Asian primates (urban Macaques and Langurs). I will also present an overview of several projects currently ongoing in my laboratory focusing on different effects of urban environments on bird behavior, ecology, and diversity, and describe opportunities for students to get involved!
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