The Last of Their Kind.

As the War on Wildlife Continues, We're Losing Species at an Incredible Rate

The big, slow-moving Galapagos tortoise is one of the most endangered animals on Earth, confined to dwindling populations on just five islands. On one of these islands so memorably visited by Charles Darwin, a solitary male tortoise survives. Galapagos tortoises, which can grow to over 500 pounds, live to 100 and take 20 years to reach sexual maturity, are protected today, but there is a long history of calamitous contact with the human race. Nineteenth-century whalers used to toss a clutch of live tortoises on their backs in the ships' holds, using them as a valuable source of fresh meat and oil. These days, the tortoise's main enemies are domestic animals, introduced species like goats, dogs and pigs.

The Galapagos tortoise's survival in the wild is in doubt, but that doesn't mean the wealthy are denied the pleasure of keeping one as a pet. The live reptile trade has grown enormously in recent years, and more than nine million turtles and snakes were exported from the U.S. in 1996. The Captive Bred Wildlife Foundation in Arizona (its slogan is "When Turtles Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Turtles") would be happy to sell you a young Galapagos tortoise for $3,500, and it's perfectly legal provided you have a federal permit. What's more, for just $20, you can get a TROVAN microchip transponder implanted in its body so you're sure the valuable tortoise in question is your own. Jeff Gee, who runs the reptile farm, says that a species' value is "intrinsic, based on rarity or availability of the animal. I guarantee you could take a canary, put it on the Endangered Species list, and tomorrow it would be worth $250."

Endangered species remain global big business, despite worldwide treaties like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), as well as national protections like the Endangered Species Act, now undergoing a contentious renewal process (see sidebar). Protection on paper is no guarantee that a species will recover. Not only do all the laws and treaties contain loopholes, but enforcement on the ground is difficult at best. Endangered animals are slaughtered for trophies and traditional medicines, made homeless by development, caught up in wars and eaten as "bush meat."

Though species have a definite right to exist for their own reasons, it's also true that they're disappearing before we fully understand their ecological significance to the planet as a whole. That's a tragedy when applied to rare medicinal plants, but it's relevant for animals as well. An entirely new bird species was discovered in Tanzania in 1991. Unfortunately, the specimens were in a bird exporter's shop, and two were already dead and the other two dying. An increasingly endangered West African chimpanzee subspecies, Pan troglodytes troglodytes, was recently revealed to harmlessly harbor an AIDS-like virus that could solve the mystery of the disease's origins in humans--and lead to a cure.

The numbers are as stark as ever, pointing to what biologist E.O. Wilson calls a "sixth extinction" of species comparable to the mass die-off of dinosaurs. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) calculates that one-third of all U.S. plants and animals are at risk of extinction. Since European discovery of North America, 110 irreplaceable flora and fauna have disappeared forever, and another 416 are "missing" and presumed lost. Almost 7,000 U.S. species are threatened. According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 50,000 plants and animals become extinct worldwide every year. Within 50 years, one quarter of the world's species could be gone.

Larry Master, TNC's chief zoologist, says the group must perform a kind of triage, devoting resources only in specific instances where it thinks intervention will provide a survival edge. TNC's protected land, some nine million acres in the U.S. and Canada, is the only extant habitat for some severely depleted species. But for every modest success story, like the piping plover and the Peregrine falcon, there are many losses.

Compassion Fatigue 

Just as "compassion fatigue" has been identified as an unfortunate syndrome, so too have warnings about imminent extinction sometimes fallen on deaf ears. "Save the Whales" is derided as a slogan from the 1960s, and as a crusade whose goals have already been achieved. Whales are more popular than ever before--as symbols of the majesty of nature, or as entertainment--but whale-watching expeditions don't in themselves save species. One reason endangered whales aren't bouncing back from the brink is that illegal and irresponsible hunting still occurs. According to the journal Nature, Harvard biologists recently found, through DNA testing, that whale meat for sale in Japanese markets came from a rare hybrid bluefin whale caught off the coast of Iceland, supposedly for "scientific" purposes.

Americans can perhaps be forgiven for thinking that endangered species are yesterday's problem, since threatened "charismatic megafauna" (from bald eagles to cheetahs) are pervasive on television and in magazines, where their computer-manipulated images are used to sell products and create brand identities. A commercial featuring herds of rhinos and tigers thundering through Manhattan may convince viewers that the real animal is not going to disappear. Writing in Double Take, Bill McKibben observed that we've already archived so much wildlife imagery that we need never disturb the real animals again.

The film Fierce Creatures satirized the growing corporate involvement in the world's zoos, which use endangered species as calling cards. The San Diego Zoo is hardly immune from this, having set up the Giant Panda Research Station in partnership with Pacific Bell. The visiting public can get up to date on the latest news from Bai Yun and Shi Shi, who are on a 12-year loan from China, by calling the Giant Panda Hotline.

The zoo calls its arrangement with Chinese authorities a "research loan," but that belies the pandas' role as a major zoo attraction. San Diego's Georgeanne Irvine admits that the pandas are "one of our most popular animals," but she insists that the zoo is also gaining valuable insights into panda communications and breeding activity. In addition to scientific studies of panda scent markers, DNA and stress physiology, the zoo sends $1 million annually to aid China in habitat preservation efforts. Delegations from the zoo travel frequently to the Wolong Giant Panda Preserve in China to study pandas in the wild. But if casual zoo visitors can buy an encounter with such rare animals along with their modest admission price, not to mention a plush talking version in the gift shop, are they going to worry about the species' long-term survival?

The role of zoos in endangered species protection gets more complex when one considers that, for some species, they have become the best hope for survival. In too many cases, zoos and research institutions hold the most viable breeding populations as natural habitats are devastated. That's certainly the case with the once-plentiful black-footed ferret (see page 33). But can a species be truly said to have "survived" if it no longer has any wild identity?

And reintroducing captive-bred animals to the wild is a frustrating and often-heartbreaking business. Efforts to repopulate the thick-billed parrot into Arizona, for instance, have recently failed because birds raised in zoos or by breeders lack the vital herding instincts that keep them safe from predators. A plan to bring the lynx back to what had become unfamiliar territory in New York State also ended disastrously.

But scarcity in the wild is actually a plus to wildlife traders. As Jeff Gee notes, a brutal law of supply and demand is in effect when it comes to endangered species--the fewer there are, the more they're worth. Simon Habel, director of TRAFFIC North America, an arm of the World Wildlife Fund that tracks the endangered animal trade, says the business fluctuates according to "the flavor of the month." Collectors have what Habel calls "a postage stamp mentality" meaning they'll pay almost anything to get a rare specimen, sometimes alive or dead. The CITES Appendix I-listed (the most endangered) Australian palm cockatoo, which is difficult to breed in captivity, sells for up to $20,000 a pair.

Some countries are tightening penalties. Chinese panda smugglers get life sentences. In the U.S., traders can now be prosecuted for even claiming that their products contain the bones of tigers or other endangered species--even if the claims prove to be untrue. "All over the world, there's an effort to clamp down," says Habel, who adds that TRAFFIC is helping to educate practitioners of traditional medicine in humane alternatives. "We're finding that people who buy these products don't realize there is a direct connection with tigers poached in the wild" he adds.

Despite some positive enforcement steps, the illegal wildlife trade is still very profitable and, in most countries, the penalties for getting caught are not very severe. In 1996, Hector Ugalde pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in the smuggling of Brazil's critically endangered Hyacinth macaw, which can fetch $8,000 on the open market. His sentence: three years of probation and a $10,000 fine.

TRAFFIC produces highly-detailed--and very depressing--reports showing how wasteful the wild-caught trade can be. When a Senegalese bird dealer makes the two-day trip along rutted roads from Kedougou to Dakar, for instance, he is expected to lose a third of his 15,000 passengers. And the damage isn't limited to the birds themselves. In Argentina, and in many other countries, the most popular way to catch valuable parrots is to cut down their nesting trees, which in Argentina alone accounted for the loss of 100,000 quebracho trees in the 1980s.

Although habitat destruction is probably the major factor pushing endangered species into extinction, civil unrest plays a part, too. Our unstable world has little respect for Habitat Conservation Plans. Aside from their incredible human toll, the ethnic massacres in Rwanda threatened the last bastion of the 400 surviving mountain gorillas. Sometimes the killing is officially sanctioned: The Tanzanian Army has been implicated in the killing of Ugandan elephants for "bush meat." Other times, the damage is collateral: Jungle fighting in the Asian country of Myanmar last January scattered a herd of 97 wild elephants, sending them fleeing into neighboring Thailand. Conflict in the Congo late in 1998 may have decimated the last few Northern white rhinos in the wild.

It's hard to escape the conclusion that many of our critically endangered species are on an unstoppable downward spiral. But there are occasional bright spots. President Clinton recently proposed a $100 million plan to save the rapidly dwindling population of Pacific salmon. And, in 1998, The Nature Conservancy announced that seven U.S. species thought to have disappeared entirely (the list included three snails and two freshwater mussels) had been rediscovered, still clinging to life. TNC scientists failed to locate 72 other threatened species, so the applause should be somewhat muted.

After the heedless depredations of the 19th century, it is perhaps good news that we're at least trying to save our endangered species. Unfortunately, we're losing the battle on many fronts. To save our wild future, we'll have to try harder.

Coming in July/August: Part 2, the crisis in endangered plants.

RELATED ARTICLE: Political Animals: The Fight to Save the ESA 

Wildlife protection is headed for a showdown, but it may not come in the current Congress. The main players are Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) and Representative George Miller (D-CA); both have sponsored bills which, if passed, would dramatically change the face of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Senate bill 1180, introduced by Kempthorne in 1997, weakens the ESA by adding new bureaucracy, and offering a 15-month window in which destructive actions, such as clear-cutting, could continue after a species has been listed. It also gives the government considerable leeway in preparing recovery plans.

House bill 2351, introduced by Miller, also in 1997, strengthens the act by allowing more public participation; requiring more federal research on candidate species; providing tax incentives for landowners who voluntarily agree to implement beneficial measures; and establishing binding deadlines for recovery plans.

Unfortunately, while the Kempthorne bill passed through the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works and was placed on the calendar in less than a month and a half, the Miller 5 bill is not likely to get out of the House Committee on Resources, chaired by the notoriously anti-wildlife Don Young (R-AK).

Kim Delfino, staff attorney for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), feels that "if anything, we'll be fighting a defensive battle and building support for [reauthorization in] the next Congress." In the meantime, lobbyists will have their hands full protesting the wave of anti-environmental riders that, Delfino predicts, will likely come in the form of piecemeal attacks on particular endangered species, such as grizzlies, wolves and salmon. Last year, 22 of 40 such riders passed in Congress. CONTACT: Public Interest Research Group, 215 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20003/[phone].

--J.B.

RELATED ARTICLE: 10 in Trouble

A comprehensive endangered species report is impossible in this limited space, so E chose to focus on 10 of the most seriously endangered. This isn't a scientific selection, but a subjective appraisal of species that, we believe, can still be saved by a concerted global effort. This list has some overlap with the 25 species highlighted in the National Wildlife Federation (NWF)'s "Keep the Wild Alive" campaign. For details on that recently launched effort, visit NWF's website at http://www.nwf.org/wildalive.

Asian Tiger

There are eight tiger species, but that distinction may soon be irrelevant as whole populations disappear. In the early 1900s, the jungles of Asia were roamed by 100,000 of the animals whose "fearful symmetry" was so memorably sketched by poet William Blake. Today, at most 7,000 remain--the Javan, Caspian and Balinese variants are already extinct, with the Siberian and South Chinese on the brink. Tigers need cover, clean water and abundant prey, and uncontrolled logging and other development activities have taken a toll on all three. An enduring Chinese medicinal trade, which values tiger bone as a cure for rheumatism, has also been devastating. The penalty for tiger poaching in India, where the bulk of the world's tigers survive, is only $140. Indian traffickers who invest $1.25 in a trap can make $5,500 by selling the resulting carcass.

Exxon, which uses the tiger as a corporate symbol, has bankrolled the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Save the Tiger Fund with $6 million, which is parceled out to conservation projects. Although a well-publicized habitat preservation effort by the corporation that despoiled Prince William Sound is blatantly self-serving, Exxon's deep pockets have proven useful to many grassroots groups. As the foundation reports, "Unless extraordinary conservation measures are taken, the tiger's continued existence in the wild is in serious jeopardy." CONTACT: Save the Tiger Fund, 1120 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036/[phone].

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

The Kemp's Ridley, once called the "Heartbreak Turtle" for its futile struggle on the decks of fishing vessels, still clings to life. The battle of the smallest and most-endangered sea turtle (all seven species are at least threatened) is still against human activity. Only the hazards have changed: from egg-collecting and direct fishing to habitat degradation and incidental catch.

Nesting Kemp's Ridley turtles have declined from 40,000 observed on a single day in 1947 to only 580 in 1994. Many turtles fall victim to floating debris, which they either ingest or become entangled in. And before the mandatory installation of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in trawling nets, the commercial shrimping fleet killed between 500 and 5,000 Kemp's Ridleys a year. Most of the survivors nest at only one Mexican beach, the 4.9-mile Rancho Nuevo. Only partially protected by Mexican presidential decree, the beach is still threatened by development. Already, the gulf near both primary feeding grounds is an area of high-density offshore oil extraction, and experiences chronic low-level spills.

Noting that only one in 10,000 sea turtle hatchlings will survive to adulthood, Amanda Johnson, trade program associate with the National Wildlife Federation, says the group's turtle work is focusing on illegal shrimp trawling, which victimizes those surviving adults. "If we can protect them after they become adults, it's profoundly more effective," she says. To help the turtles, political pressure on fishermen to actually use the mandated TEDs would do the most good. CONTACT: Sea Turtle Restoration Project, PO Box 400, Forest Knolls, CA 94933/ [phone].

Karner Blue Butterfly

No bigger than a quarter, the Karner Blue butterfly once inhabited 14 states and Ontario, but is now confined to small, fragmented plots of land in six states--New York, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Indiana. However, while habitat protection seems the key to most species' survival, the Karner Blue is somewhat of an anomaly. It actually needs interference--if left completely alone, areas that now contain the butterfly will slowly become inhospitable to it. The only known food source for Karner larva is wild lupine, which needs open, recently disturbed spaces to grow. A combination of human fire suppression, conversion of open land to agriculture and real estate development have all contributed to the waning range of wild lupine, and the Karner Blue's subsequent 99 percent decline.

Scientists are scrambling to properly manage what little habitat the butterfly has left, and the public could help by lobbying for protection to continue. "Because of dedicated biologists working on recovery efforts," says Catherine Carnes, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Karner Blue recovery coordinator, "the species has a good chance to recover in all six states." CONTACT: US Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Endangered Species, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, MN 55111/[phone].

Black-Footed Ferret

Listed as endangered in 1967, even before the passing of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the black-footed ferret is considered by many to be the rarest land mammal in North America today. It once ranged from Texas north across the grasslands into Alberta and Saskatchewan, but black-footed ferrets disappeared from the wild in 1987, leaving the entire species dependent on captive breeding. So far, reintroductions have occurred in four states--Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Arizona--but the mortality rate is over 50 percent.

Like any other predator, the success of the ferret is dependent on its prey, but the prairie dog is rapidly hosing ground as well. According to Jonathan Proctor, prairie dog ecosystem coordinator of The Predator Project, not enough prairie dog complexes exist to take the black-footed ferret off the list, even if captive breeding programs were extremely successful. In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Utah prairie dog as threatened after federal poison campaigns helped wipe prairie dogs from 98 percent of their range. But outside of Utah, it's still open season for groups like the Varminters, "sportsmen" who shoot prairie dogs for the sheer joy of seeing them thrown in the air by .22-caliber bullets. The Predator Project and NWF have each campaigned for federal listing of the black-tailed prairie dog, which now exists on just a fraction of one percent of the Great Plains. A public clamor for prairie dog listing could provide what Proctor calls "a lot of hope for ferrets." CONTACT: Predator Project, PO Box 6733, Bozeman, MT 59771/[phone].

Giant Panda

It's not surprising that the Giant panda is the official poster animal for many an endangered species campaign, because its unparalleled cuddly helplessness is matched only by the koala bear. But the panda doesn't just look like it needs help; its plight is quite real. Dependent on bamboo as its exclusive food source, the panda is increasingly isolated in the forests of central China. Like orangutans, pandas are slow breeders, and were never numerous. Today, there are probably less than 1,000 in the wild (and 110 in captivity, mainly in China and North Korea). Will the wild population be saved by an outpouring of international attention? Probably not, but the millions in habitat protection money pouring in from the west certainly helps, and 11 bamboo preserves have been established. Simon Habel of TRAFFIC says that panda poaching (fueled by a market for pelts) still occurs, but heavy penalties have reduced it to what he calls "a low-level activity." Meanwhile, anything that slows the headlong rush of Chinese development, particularly in the central highlands, helps the pandas. CONTACT: The Giant Panda Research Station, PO Box 551, San Diego, CA 92112/[phone].

Orangutan 

Their name means "man of the woods" in Malay, but orangutans may soon be more appropriately called "residents of the zoo." Once numbering in the hundreds of thousands and ranging from southern China through Southeast Asia, orangutans now exist in the tens of thousands and only in scattered populations in Borneo and Sumatra. Slash-and-burn agriculture, logging and poor land management have all sliced away at suitable orangutan habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia--a decline of more than 80 percent in the last 20 years. Prolonged development and a low reproductive rate make it difficult for populations to recover from such rapid habitat destruction. Females have their first infants between 12 and 16, and then give birth only every seven to eight years.

Ironically, the orang's resemblance to humans is contributing to its demise at the hands of man. Despite international regulations, a black market pet trade is still alive and well, with every baby that changes hands representing another three to five that died. There are more orangs per square mile in Taipei, Taiwan than in the apes' native forests. Paul Waldeau, vice-president of the Great Ape Project, points out that although there "can be very beautiful laws on the books, enforcement is always a critical issue." CONTACT: Great Ape Project, PO Box 19492, Portland, OR 97280-0492/[phone].

Roseate Tern

An uninhabited rock off the coast of Guilford, Connecticut, Falkner Island is the summer nesting spot for 250 pairs of roseate terns, a graceful fork-tailed migrating seabird that's been officially endangered since 1987.

According to Dr. Jeff Spendelow, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, the population has been slowly declining, despite strenuous rescue efforts. In the summer of 1998, a drop of 10 nesting pairs was observed. The situation is perhaps unique in that human depredation is not a major cause: Spendelow blames a small colony of black-crowned night herons, which eat tern eggs. Federal managers are contemplating the use of "acute lead poisoning" to stop the heron raids, illustrating dramatically how the survival of one species can depend on the sacrifice of another.

There are about 6,000 Northeast roseate terns nesting between Long Island and Nova Scotia, a small remnant of a population decimated by the mania for hat plumes in the 19th century. Many of the birds winter in Brazil, where there has been some loss due to hunting. At Falkner Island, volunteers aid protection efforts by building tern nests from old tires and other materials. "We're cautiously optimistic about the terns' long-term survival," says Spendelow, "but we need to know more about what happens to them when they're away from their breeding grounds" CONTACT: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11510 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708/[phone].

Black Rhinoceros 

The African black rhino has declined precipitously, from 70,000 or more in the late 19th century to only 2,408 in 1996. Rhino horn poaching is the main cause, with more than half of the world supply going to North Yemen to make handles for traditional daggers. Worldwide trade prohibitions have put a damper on the trade, but as late as 1996, a substantial amount of rhino horn was still being exported, says TRAFFIC, and Yemen is still the major market.

Steve Ososki of the World Wildlife Fund Species Conservation Program says that dehorning programs have had some short-term success at controlling rhino poachers, but had the unintended consequence of leaving the animals defenseless against predators. "And some poachers kill dehorned rhinos just so they don't track the same animal again the next week" he adds. "Our challenge is to find some way to make a live rhino worth more than a dead one." And public education campaigns could convince rhino horn end-users to find a non-lethal substitute. CONTACT: World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington, DC 20037/[phone].

Florida Panther

Is the Florida panther a separate species, or simply a group of more common cougars that adapted themselves to life in the sunshine state? The subject has filled the pages of scientific journals for years, but it may soon become irrelevant as the population dwindles to the vanishing point. There may be as few as 30 Florida panthers left, and inbreeding has left them as poor prospects for a population increase. Kris Thoemke, director of NWF's Everglades Project Office, says the panthers' gene pool was somewhat enriched by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's import of 10 close cougar relatives from Texas two years ago. The move was controversial, but most observers say the panther would have disappeared without such intervention.

Further clouding the panthers' picture is their location in southwest Florida, one of the hottest building markets in the country, where their most significant predator is the speeding car. Panthers roam an area of 150 square miles in search of prey, mainly white-tailed deer, and that habitat is fast disappearing. "It doesn't take much development to disrupt them" says Thoemke. "The panther issue goes right to the heart of efforts to control sprawl and growth. And even when there are large habitat areas, if there's not enough food, the animals can't intermingle through wildlife corridors" Floridians have put the panther on their license plates, but to date have shown little inclination to stop the growth that is endangering their future. CONTACT: US Fish and Wildlife Service, 117 Newins-Ziegler Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-0307/[phone].

Northern Right Whale 

A fateful combination of characteristics--commercially valuable products, slow swimming speed, flotation when killed, and coastal distribution--made the Northern right whale the "right" one to kill during an extensive hunting period lasting over 800 years. Although now protected from human predation by a variety of international laws, the population has been so decimated as to earn it the title of the most endangered of all large whale species.

There are currently less than 350 Northern right whales in the North Atlantic Ocean and less than 100 in the Pacific. According to Doreen Moser, assistant director of education for the Marine Mammal Center, regeneration of the population will prove a difficult task, because the whales have a relatively high mortality rate and naturally low rate of reproduction. Other on-going human impacts, including collisions with ships, account for half of all Northern right whale deaths. Some 58 percent of surviving whales show scars from entanglement in fishing gear. Last January marked the launch of a project between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the New England Aquarium using VHF-radio tags to observe whale calving behavior. Says Stephanie Dorezas, a NOAA spokesperson, scientists are "very hopeful this project will help the agency develop a plan to ensure the Northern right's survival." Indications are that slowing unchecked coastal development would do the most to save these whales, which are easily affected by oil spills and entanglement with fishing gear. CONTACT: Marine Mammal Center, Marin Headlands, GGNRA, 1065 Fort Cronkhite, Sausalito, CA 94965/(415) 289- 7369.

JIM MOTAVALLI is editor of E; JENNIFER BOGO is E's editorial assistant.