Zeiss Sports Optics Sponsors Search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.News & Sports Editors CHESTER, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 2001 30-Day Expedition in Louisiana's Pearl River Pearl River, uninc. village (1990 pop. 15,314), Rockland co., SE N.Y., near the N.J. line. It is a residential suburb of New York City, and a computer and telecommunications research and development center. Pearl River River, central Mississippi, U. Area To Launch in Early 2002 Zeiss Sports Optics, a leading manufacturer of sports optics, today announced that it is sponsoring the most extensive search to date for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker ivory-billed woodpecker, common name for the largest of the North American woodpeckers, Campephilus principalis. Once plentiful in Southern hardwood forests, since 1952 it was believed to be extinct or nearing extinction. in the Pearl River area of Louisiana CODE, OF LOUISIANA. In 1822, Peter Derbigny, Edward Livingston, and Moreau Lislet, were selected by the legislature to revise and amend the civil code, and to add to it such laws still in force as were not included therein. . In early 2002, two experienced birders will spend 30 days in the Pearl River's swamps, bayous and forest searching for this elusive, if not extinct, bird. The Zeiss-sponsored search is being planned and coordinated with the help of Dr. Van Remsen, an ornithologist at Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. and curator of birds at its Museum of Natural Sciences, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries. Many experts believe that the American population of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been extinct for at least 50 years, but reported sightings have continued, stirring hope that some may have survived the intense deforestation deforestation Process of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agricultural use. of the past century. The last reported sighting of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Pearl River area occurred in April 1999 when David Kulivan, a forestry student at Louisiana State University, reportedly saw a pair of Ivorybills while he was turkey hunting. Experts, including Dr. Remsen, deem it a very credible report. "Not only was Kulivan's account very detailed, he described features of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker that are not mentioned in guidebooks - for instance, the way the crest of the female curled forward," said Remsen. "The Ivorybill question - 'Is it extinct or does it actually still exist?' - is an important one to many birders and nature enthusiasts worldwide," states Anthony R. Cataldo, vice president and general manager, Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss (September 11, 1816 – December 3, 1888) was an optician commonly known for the company he founded, Zeiss. Sports Optics U.S.A. "If the Ivory-billed Woodpecker does still exist, being at the right place at the right time to document it is a long shot, we know, but it is worth a concentrated effort." Many searches have been made in the Pearl River area since April 1999, but none for longer than a 7-day period and most of the effort has been concentrated relatively near the location of the Kulivan sighting. "Zeiss' commitment to send a team into the Pearl River area for 30 days will enhance the odds of finding the Ivorybills if they are still in existence in the Pearl River area," said Remsen. "Since placing an ad to recruit two experienced birders for the upcoming search, I have heard from birders around the world. There is still a great deal of interest in the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the debate as to its existence or extinction will likely continue for years unless indisputable video documentation can be made of one of these reported sightings." For additional information and links about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker please visit www.zeiss.com. About the Ivory-billed Woodpecker It is widely believed that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis - "the princely prince·ly adj. prince·li·er, prince·li·est 1. Of or relating to a prince; royal. 2. Befitting a prince, as: a. Noble: a princely bearing. b. eater of grubs") was never a very common bird. Averaging 20 inches tall, with a wingspan of 31 to 33 inches, the Ivorybill made its home primarily in the southeastern and Gulf Coast regions of the United States, where it lived among old-growth river-bottom timberland. Here they would strip bark off of dying trees with their powerful ivory bills to reach the bugs and larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. beneath. These massive trees, so attractive to the Ivorybill, were equally appealing to the timber industry, and it is widely believed that logging led to the extinction, or near extinction, of the bird. In addition to the American Ivorybill population, biologists also identified another subspecies subspecies, also called race, a genetically distinct geographical subunit of a species. See also classification. called Campephilus principalis bairdii, or the Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and rumors abound that a few still exist in eastern Cuba. About Zeiss For more than 156 years, Carl Zeiss has maintained a reputation for leading the evolution of optics to the high-tech precision that outdoorsmen Outdoorsmen are men who enjoy hunting, fishing, and camping out in the woods. Typically, they live in the northern United States or Canada. Stereotypically, they are flannel wearing, beard toting men like Paul Bunyan or the Brawny paper towel mascot. know today. Headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany, the company is a world-renown manufacturer of optics. Zeiss pioneered the development of binoculars in 1894 and continued to build on its strength as an innovator by introducing the world's first roof prism binocular binocular, small optical instrument consisting of two similar telescopes mounted on a single frame so that separate images enter each of the viewer's eyes. As with a single telescope, distant objects appear magnified, but the binocular has the additional advantage in 1897 and inventing anti-reflection coating in 1935. The U.S. headquarters for the distribution of Zeiss sports optics is located in Chester, Virginia. |
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