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On July 27, 2013, a mare of the endangered Przewalski’s horse bore the first foal produced by artificial insemination.  The young female was born at the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia.

            Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus) is the only truly wild horse species left in the world.  It is native to the vast open steppes of Mongolia, China and Russia.  It is smaller than domestic horses, standing about 5 feet high at the withers, and weighing 400-600 pounds at maturity.  It is stockier than domestic horses, with short legs and neck.  Coloration is generally light brown, with dark brown lower legs and dark main and tail, which is sheds annually.  It has a double set of chromosomes which prevent effective hybridization with domestic horses.  Consequently, the species has remained distinct and was never domesticated.  Occasional specimens kept in captivity were considered great treasures in ancient times. 

            The species declined throughout the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries, owing to hunting, competition with domestic livestock and being forced into marginal arid habitats with insufficient water sources.  Collecting for zoos also damaged the populations, as the species became a prized zoo animal over the past century.  IUCN declared the species “extinct in the wild” up until 1996. 

            Collecting for zoos turned out to be the savior for the species.  About 1300 individuals exist in zoos around the world, with their genetics and other characteristics now carefully analyzed and monitored.  All horses in zoos share the same 14 ancestors, leading to concerns for loss of genetic diversity.  The Prague Zoo, in the Czech Republic, manages the official database on Przewalski’s horse genetics and has bred more than 200 foals since the 1950s. 

            With the success of captive breeding, populations were reintroduced into China and Mongolia started in the late 1980s.  Reintroductions have been successful, with now about 150 horses living freely in several small populations in its normal range.

            A huge new step in the recovery of the species occurred with the birth of the first foal fertilized by artificial insemination in 2013.  Artificial insemination is important because it allows pregnancies to be initiated without needing to transport adult animals across long distances.  It also allows strategic crosses between genetically dissimilar males and females, enhancing the overall genetic diversity of the captive and, eventually, wild populations. 

            Whereas artificial insemination is a standard practice for domestic horses, it required much research and practice before working for the wild Przewalski’s horse.  Females needed to be trained to allow repeated collection of urine so that both pre- and post-fertilization condition could be assessed.  Techniques also needed to be established to assure the successful collection and placement of male sperm.  The successful insemination and birth was finally achieved by horses and veterinarians at the Smithsonian’s conservation center in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. 

References:

IUCN Red List.  Equus ferus ssp. Przeswalskii.  Available at:  http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/7961/0.  Accessed July 28, 2017.

Prague Zoo.  Return of the Przewalski’s Horse to Mongolia.  Available at:  https://www.zoopraha.cz/en/animals/we-help-them-to-survive/projects/7678-return-of-the-przewalski-s-horse-to-mongolia, Accessed July 28, 2017.

San Diego Zoo Global.  2008.  Przewalski’s Horse, Equus ferus przewalski.  Available at:  http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/przewalski_horse/equus.htm. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Shenk, Emily.  2013.  First Przewalski’s Horse Born Via Artificial Insemination.  National Geographic, August 6, 2013.  Available at:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130805-przewalski-horse-born-artificial-insemination-animal-science/. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Williams, Paige.  2016.  The Remarkable Comeback of Przewalski’s Horse.  Smithsonian.com, December 2016.  Available at:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/remarkable-comeback-przewalski-horse-180961142/. Accessed July 28, 2017.

The outside world was introduced to the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu when discovered by American historian Hiram Bingham on July 24, 1911.  Although several unsubstantiated claims of earlier discovery have been advanced, it remains clear and undebatable that Bingham was the “scientific discoverer of Machu Picchu.”

            Bingham was born in 1875 in Hawaii and spent his youth learning mountaineering from his missionary father.  He pursued history as a university student, eventually becoming a professor of Latin American History at Yale, where he served from 1907 to 1924.  Although not a trained archeologist, his historical knowledge and his rugged childhood made him a perfect jungle explorer.  Hiram Bingham, it appears, was a real life Indian Jones.

            He mounted an expedition in 1911 to find the so-called “Lost City of the Incas.”  On July 24 of that year, he and his guides emerged onto a plateau high in the Andean mountains to find an amazing discovery.  He wrote of that day, “…suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of a jungle-covered maze of small and large walls….Surprise followed surprise until there came the realization that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru.”

            Not only did he find the finest archeological site in Peru, but undoubtedly one of the finest in the world.  The ancient facility, constructed in the 15^th Century, sits atop a mountain at 8,000 feet in elevation.  More than 200 structures comprise the site, divided among stone terraces running along the cliff side.  However, this is not the Lost City of the Incas, but rather a religious and ceremonial sanctuary built by the then Incan king for his personal use.

            UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1983.  Their declaration notes “the massive yet refined architecture of Machu Picchu blends exceptional well with the stunning natural environment, with which it is intricately linked.”  Along with the architecture, the site preserves exceptional biodiversity in the enormous range of micro-climates and ecosystems, from high-elevation grasslands to cloud forests and low-elevation lowland forests.

            More than one million visitors visit the site annually.  The 70,000-acre site is regulated by the Peruvian National Institute of Natural Resources.  As tourism has risen in recent decades, in 2015the government has instituted limits (2500 visitors per day) to protect both the site and the quality of the experience.  . 

Machu Picchu stands as a testament to the idea that nature can sustain humans in virtually any setting, as long as we work with, rather than against, the natural constraints of the place.

References:

Eisner, Peter. 2009.  Who Discovered Machu Picchu?  Smithsonian Magazine, March 2009.  Available at:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-discovered-machu-picchu-52654657/.  Accessed July 24, 2017.

Encyclopedia Britannica.  Hiram Bingham.  Available at:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hiram-Bingham-American-archaeologist-and-United-States-senator.  Accessed July 24, 2017.

Romero, Simon.  2008.  The fights of Machu Picchu:  Who got there first?  New York Times, November 8, 2008.  Available at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/world/americas/08iht-journal.1.18479442.html. Accessed July 24, 2017.

The Aswan High Dam on the Nile River began operation of July 21, 1970.  The dam is one of the largest in the world—and perhaps the most controversial dam in the world.  The Arabic name for the dam is Al-Sadd all-Ali.

            The Nile River is an essential resource to the peoples of the Nile River watershed, mostly in what is now Egypt.  Most Egyptians, 95%, live within 12 miles of the river and its diverse delta system.  Managing the massive flows of the river has always been an active part of the civilization of the region.

            Modern attempts to control the flow of the river began with the building of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902.  The dam, built by the British, was designed to control flooding and provide a more even flow of irrigation water for cotton farms in the delta.  Its height was raised twice to make it more effective, but it was still too small to produce the desired results

            Consequently, plans for a new dam, a few miles upstream, began in the 1950s.  During the Cold War, both the U.S. and England on one side and the Soviet Union on the other side competed to gain an alliance with Egypt by agreeing to pay for the dam.  However, both the U.S. and England backed out of the deal.  The Soviet Union stayed and became Egypt’s partner to help plan, build and finance the dam.

            Construction took from 1960-1968, but the official date of opening was July 21, 1970.  The dam is huge—111 meters high, 3830 meters long, and 980 meters wide at the base.  It is an embankment dam, constructed of rock, clay and dirt.  The amount used to build the dam is equal to the equivalent of 17 Great Pyramids of Giza.  The dam created Lake Nassar, one of the ten largest reservoirs in the world. 

            The Aswan High Dam has produced significant benefits for the people of Egypt.  By providing reliable irrigation water, it has doubled the annual food production of the country.  It supplies 50% of all the electricity of the nation.  River transportation has been improved, and the reduction in flooding has saved countless lives and resources.

            The controversy about the dam, however, relates to many negative impacts.  About 90,000 Egyptians were relocated, and with insufficient assistance, most became impoverished.  Annual flooding once spread highly fertile silt across the adjacent agricultural lands to the river; now, to replace those nutrients farmers must apply manufactured fertilizer.  The raising of the water table and heavy irrigation have combined to increase salt deposits in surface waters, reducing the overall quality of much cultivated land.  The permanent wetlands and shallow lake waters created by the dam have allowed the devastating disease, schistosomiasis, to spread to epidemic proportions.  Fisheries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea have declined due to increased salinity and reduced fertility of the water.

            The Aswan High Dam illustrates the dilemmas faced when humans modify the forces of nature. Today big dams like this one are generally looked down on by environmentalists, but the benefits—flood control, energy production, reliable water supply—are enormous.  Maybe Hamlet should have asked this:  To dam or not to dam—that is the question!”

References:

Encyclopedia Brittanica.  Aswan High Dam.  Available at:  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aswan-High-Dam. Accessed July 21, 2017.

Furman, T. and L. Guertin.  Problems with the Aswan Dam.  Department of Geosciences, Penn State.  Available at:  https://courseware.e-education.psu.edu/courses/earth105new/content/lesson06/04.html.  Accessed July 21, 2017.

PBS.  Aswan High Dam.  Wonders of the World databank, Public Broadcasting System.  Available at:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/aswan_high.htmlm  Accessed July 21, 2017.

Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, was born on July 20, 1822 (died 1884).  Mendel grew on a family farm in what is now The Czech Republic.  His home was then part of Austria, so he is generally described as an “Austrian monk.”  His farm background made him familiar with plants and the way they changed over time—the basis for his experiments in heredity that have made his name an easy to answer trivia question.

            Mendel was an excellent pupil in early schooling and, therefore, was encouraged to continue on in school.  As well as studying science, he pursued the ministry, becoming a Catholic monk in his mid-20s.  He settled into a life of study and research at the St. Thomas Monastery in Brno (now also in The Czech Republic).

            At Brno, he began experimenting with the way traits were passed down from one generation to the next.  He used pea plants as his subject, because peas were grown in the monastery’s garden and because they had several traits that were easy to observe, like color of the peas, and grew to maturity rapidly, allowing his experiments to proceed rapidly.

            He grew tens of thousands of pea plants between 1856 and 1863.  From what he observed in generation after generation of traits, he deduced that plants had both dominant and recessive traits (green peas were dominant, yellow peas recessive) and that those traits were randomly passed on to the next generation.  Today we know the mechanism—genes—that Mendel could only hypothesize.

            In 1865, the Natural Science Society of Brno published papers by Mendel that described his data and ideas.  While I’d like to write that Mendel and his results “went viral,” the opposite happened.  He was ignored.  The data and ideas were too complicated, and leading scientists doubted that what he observed was universal.

            Mendel had other things to worry about.  He was appointed Abbot of the monastery just a few years later, a job that absorbed all his time.  His eyesight began to fail, preventing further scientific work.  He died in 1894, at age 61.

            Despite his work being ignored, Mendel was correct.  At the start of the 20^th Century, three other botanists duplicated his work and published the results again, eventually giving Mendel credit for the original discovery. 

            The understanding of how variations in nature are passed from generation to generation is crucial to the understanding of biodiversity and, hence, to conservation.   For example, we now know that a large pool of genetic diversity is essential for a species to remain adaptable to changing environmental conditions, whether caused naturally or by humans.  Scientists working to reproduce endangered species in captivity must track genetic diversity so that the adaptability of new individuals and populations isn’t compromised.

            As conservationists work to maintain endangered species or to re-introduce populations into the wild, the concepts of Mendelian genetics are always part of the strategies.  And for this reason, Gregor Mendel is as important to our history as are Charles Darwin, E. O. Wilson and Rachel Carson.

References:

Biography.com.  Gregor Mendel—Botanists, Scientist (1822-1884).  Available at:  https://www.biography.com/people/gregor-mendel-39282.  Accessed July 20, 2017.

Miko, I.  2008.  Gregor Mendel and the principles of inheritance.  Nature Education 1(1):134.  Available at:  https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/gregor-mendel-and-the-principles-of-inheritance-593.  Accessed July 20, 2017.

National Institutes of Health, Office of History.  Gregor Mendel:  The Father of Modern Genetics.  Available at:  https://history.nih.gov/exhibits/nirenberg/hs1_mendel.htm.  Accessed July 20, 2017.

Tigers are in trouble.  The numbers of this charismatic species have declined by more than 95% in a century.  Whether or not the species can survive remains in doubt.  So, the participants at a tiger conservation summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2010 decided that the tiger needed its own day to raise awareness of the animal’s plight.  Since then, International Tiger Day has been held each July 29. 

            The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the world’s largest cat, with males weighing up to 700 pounds.  Tigers are classified in a single species, but with six genetically distinct subspecies across its large range (taxonomists seem to be squabbling about this).  They are primarily solitary, maintaining large home ranges to provide sufficient prey for an appetite that can consume 80 pounds in one meal.  Tigers live up to 20 years in the wild, becoming reproductively mature in 4-5 years. Females have 2-4 cubs every other year. 

            Before humans started changing things, tigers lived throughout a huge range—in far eastern Russia, throughout southeastern Asia and in Malaysia.  Today, wild tigers inhabit only 7% of that former range, almost all in protected preserves.  About 70% of all wild tigers live in India; the other 30% are scattered among 12 other nations.  A century ago, as many as 100,000 tigers roamed freely, but today the population is about 4,000.  Multiple factors have impacted tigers—trophy harvest, habitat conversion, human-animal conflict, harvest for traditional medicines, and illegal poaching.  Ground tiger bone sells for as much as $115 per pound.  The combination of all these forces has led IUCN to classify the tiger as an “endangered species,” and CITES to place it on its Appendix I (no international trade).

            Conservation efforts have expanded since the 2010 tiger summit.  A goal was set then to double the world population of wild tigers—to 6,000 individuals—by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger.  The chosen strategy is an integrated habitat conservation program working across nations, organizations and local communities.  The biggest success has come from India, where the government has created 50 tiger reserves and whose tiger population has grown to 3,000.  Because populations in those reserves are growing, which forces some individuals into non-protected lands, the government is also working to create habitat corridors between reserves.  With a total worldwide population of about 4,000 wild tigers in 2020, however, reaching the goal of 6,000 by 2022 seems unlikely.

            Conservationists are quick to point out that saving tigers accomplishes so much more than just keeping one species—albeit a beautiful and meaningful one—alive.  Tigers are umbrella species, meaning that protecting their habitat protects a wide range of plants and animals that share their same ecosystem.  Tigers are also top predators, playing an important role in structuring the trophic levels below them.

            But perhaps it is enough to want to save tigers because they are, well, just tigers.

References:

BBC News.  2019.  India tiger census shows rapid population growth.  Available at:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49148174.  Accessed April 3, 2020.

IUCN.  2019.  International Tiger Day:  Celebrating an integrated approach for tiger conservation.  Available at:  https://www.iucn.org/news/species/201907/international-tiger-day-celebrating-integrated-approach-tiger-conservation. Accessed April 3, 2020.

IUCN.  Red List – Tiger Panthera tigris.  Available at:  https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15955/50659951#taxonomy. Accessed April 3, 2020.

US Fish and Wildlife Service.  Tigers.  Available at:  https://www.fws.gov/international/animals/tigers.html. Accessed April 3, 2020.

World Wildlife Fund.  Species—Tiger, Facts.  Available at:  https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger.  Accessed April 3, 2020.

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal was created on July 19, 1976.  The centerpiece of the park is Mt. Sagarmatha, known to most of the world as Mt. Everest.

            Sagarmatha National Park encompasses 443 square miles of the highest region in the world, the Great Himalayan Range.  The name Sagarmatha comes from the local language, meaning “sky-head.”  Indeed, the region has its head in the sky.  Mt. Everest itself is 29,021 feet above sea level.  Most of the park lies above the tree line, with only lichens and other ground-hugging vegetation covering large expanses, and permanent snow-cover at the highest levels.  Only 3% of the park area is forested.

            The park is also home to the Sherpa people, the Nepali Buddhists known for a culture built around the high peaks.  About 7700 Sherpas live within the park, and preserving their heritage and culture is considered an important element of park management.  The combination of the world’s highest ecosystem and its attendant human culture prompted UNESCO to designate the park a World Heritage Site in 1979.

            The biodiversity of the park is minimal, but it provides habitat for many species uniquely adapted to high altitudes.  The endangered snow leopard, musk deer and red panda all call Sagarmatha home.  Within the park are headwaters of several major rivers and the Gokyo wetlands, a Ramsar designated wetland of international value.

            Visitation to the park continues to rise.  More than 45,000 tourists visit the park annually.  Most visitors are from the U.S., U.K. and Australia.  The biggest reason to visit is, of course, as Sir Edmund Hillary said, “because it is there.”  Climbing Mt. Everest attracts over 600 mountaineers annually.  More than 10,000 climbers and Sherpas have reached the top successfully since Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did so in 1953. A typical climb requires 39 days, allowing the body to adjust gradually to the decreasing oxygen.  In 2018, a record 670 people, climbers and their Sherpas, reached the summit.  Tragically, nearly 300 people have lost their lives pursuing the top of the mountain.

            All these people on the mountain for so long has earned Mt. Everest an unwelcome moniker—the world’s highest garbage dump.  Climbers leave a lot behind—tents, climbing gear, general trash, excrement—and getting it back down is strenuous and dangerous.  One climber remarked, “Everest is no longer a wilderness experience.  It’s a McDonald’s experience.”An annual ascent just to collect garbage began in 2007.  Participants have removed more than 20 tons of trash, but the problem continues.

            Taking pictures and leaving only footprints just doesn’t work on the world’s highest peak.

References:

Alanarnette.com.  Everest by the Numbers:  2019 Edition.  Available at:  https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/12/17/everest-by-the-numbers-2018-edition/.  Accessed April 2, 2020.

Dundruk, Master Krugga.  2020.  Environmental Issues on Mt. Everest.  Tibet Travel, March 31, 2020.  Available at:  https://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-everest-base-camp-tour/everest-environmental-issues.html.  Accessed April 2, 2020.

Government of Nepal.  Sagarmatha National Park.  Available at:  http://www.sagarmathanationalpark.gov.np/. Accessed July 20, 2017.

Sehgal, Jasvinder.  2019.  Cleaning up Mount Everest – the world’s highest rubbish dump.  DW, 20.2.19.  Available at:  https://www.dw.com/en/cleaning-up-mount-everest-the-worlds-highest-rubbish-dump/a-47467115.  Accessed April 2, 2020.

UNESCO.  Sagarmatha National Park.  Available at:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/120.  Accessed July 20, 2017.

Among the world’s most interesting paradoxes—military intelligence, jumbo shrimp, Cubs win—are the words and ideas of James Lovelock.  As an environmentalist, he is both a pessimist and an optimist, the strident bearer of bad news and engagingly cheerful, a scientist and a prophet.

            James Ephraim Lovelock was born on July 26, 1919 (correct, he is over 100).  He loved the books of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells as a boy, which may explain his fascination with all things scientific and futuristic.  He received a B.S. in chemistry in 1941, Ph.D. in medicine in 1948, and D.Sc. in biophysics in 1959—and a wall-full of honorary doctorates since (his list of awards and achievements would make this entry unreadable)…  He spent two decades working for the British National Institute for Medical Research and a few years as a professor at Baylor University in Texas, where he did research for NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab.

            During those years, he invented a number of important scientific instruments; he has applied for about 50 patents.  His most successful invention is the electron capture detector, used to detect the trace presence of chemicals.  The device became a standard tool for finding contaminants in food and the atmosphere.  The machine’s ability to detect DDT, PCBs and CFCs led to regulation of those contaminants, earning Lovelock’s an environmental status often compared to Rachel Carson’s. 

            In 1964, Lovelock quit working for others and became an independent scientist.  He has spent the years since then exploring the complex relationships among the various components of the earth’s ecosystem.  He originated the idea that the earth and its atmosphere comprise one “super-organism” in which the atmosphere, the earth’s physical surface and its biological inhabitants interact to regulate each other.  He called this the Gaia Hypothesis (now more commonly called the Gaia Theory), after the Greek earth goddess.  Once considered merely new-age mysticism, the theory is now a mainstream idea of climate science.  Lovelock defines Gaia as “a complex entity involving the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet.”

            Lovelock holds strong environmental positions that put him at odds with other environmentalists.  He considers most actions to improve the environment—recycling, banning plastic bags, “ethical consumption”—as useless, except that they make us feel better.  He says, “I get an awful lot of people coming to me saying you can’t say that, because it gives us nothing to do.”  He advocates nuclear energy over other forms of renewable energy, arguing, “You’re never going to get enough energy from wind to run a society such as ours.  Windmills! Oh no.  No way of doing it.  You can cover the whole country with the blasted things, millions of them.  Waste of time.”

            He believes the earth will survive, though, just not the way it is now.  The earth’s ability to self-regulate is vigorous, and the various parts of it will adjust to new conditions.  Humans, however, might not survive, certainly not living the way we do in the numbers we now have.  He has written more than a dozen books about the subject, the most recent of which, Novacene, was published in 2019, when he turned 100.  The book predicts that highly intelligent robots will be able to figure a way out of the climate crisis, perhaps averting a major extinction event afterall.  If so, then “Whatever harm we have done to the Earth, we have, just in time, redeemed ourselves by acting simultaneously as parents and midwives to the cyborgs.”

            In the meantime, the upbeat side of Lovelock emerges.  He says, “Well, I’m cheerful!  I’m an optimist.  It’s going to happen.”  Asked what we should do now, Lovelock smiles, “Enjoy life while you can.  Because if you’re lucky it’s going to be 20 years before it hits the fan.”

References:

Aitkenhead, Decca.  2008.  James Lovelock: ‘Enjoy life while you can: in 20 years global warming will hit the fan.’  The Guardian, 1 Mar 2008.  Available at:  https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange. Accessed April 2, 2020.

Jameslovelock.com  Curriculum Vitae.  Available at:  http://www.jameslovelock.org/curriculum-vitae/.  Accessed April 2, 2020.

Radford, Tim.  2019.  James Lovelock at 100:  the Gaia saga continues.  Nature 25 June 2019.  Available at:  https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01969-y. Accessed April 2, 2020.

Rafferty, John P.  James Lovelock, English Chemist, Doctor, and Author.  Encyclopedia Britannica.  Available at:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Lovelock. Accessed April 2, 2020.

Most of the articles about Jim Corbett start by emphasizing that one person being both a hunter and a conservationist is rare.  But that’s not true.  As students of conservation know, hunters have always been at the forefront of efforts to sustain wildlife and to protect wild places.  The legendary story of Jim Corbett proves the point.

            Edward James Corbett was born on July 25, 1875, the child of Irish immigrants to India (died 1955).  He lived in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, at the base of the Himalayas, in the far north of the country.  He spent his youth roaming the local forests, observing wildlife and absorbing the lessons of animal behavior.  A friend later wrote of Corbett’s love of nature, noting “that no man with whom I have hunted in any continent better understands the signs of the jungle.”

            As the 20^th Century began, so did the phenomenon of “man-eating tigers.”  More people meant less habitat for tigers and leopards, and more instances of what we today call human-wildlife interactions.  Mostly these interactions were fatal to the big cats, but occasionally they became fatal to humans.  As Corbett wrote, “Human beings are not the natural prey of tigers, and it is only when tigers have been incapacitated through wounds or old age that, in order to survive, they are compelled to take to a diet of human flesh.”

            These predators on rural villagers needed to be removed, and Jim Corbett became the man to do it.  Because of his understanding of the animals and the habitat—along with enduring patience, undaunted courage and good aim—Corbett was able to track and shoot troublesome tigers and leopards better than anyone.  He shot the famous Champawat tigress, estimated to have killed more than 400 humans.  Between 1907 and 1938, he reportedly killed 19 tigers and 14 leopards, all carefully verified by Corbett to be human-eaters.

            He became a legend, and he used his legendary status to protect, rather than exploit, his beloved tigers.  As he watched the increasing amount of hunting, he feared for the survival of the species.  Noting that “wildlife in India is a sinking ship,” he determined to reverse course.  He wrote six books, initially about his experiences as a hunter, using the draw of his adventures to tell a more important story:  “…a tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage and when he is exterminated – as exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support – India will be the poorer by having lost the finest of her fauna.”  He created two nationwide organizations for wildlife protection, and he spent years speaking to school groups about conservation.

            Corbett realized that habitat was the critical need for protecting tigers (the fundamental tenet of conservation).  He used his fame to push for creation of India’s first national park, specifically as tiger habitat.  The park was created in 1936 and we renamed in 1957 in his honor as Jim Corbett National Park.  It holds the largest population of tigers in India, one of only two self-sustaining wild populations in the world.  The park preserves high levels of biodiversity, including 650 bird species of which more than 50 species are raptors, an endemic crocodile, and the Asian elephant.

            The park is also the original site for Project Tiger, the Indian government’s program to sustain the tiger.  Begun in 1973, the program now includes 50 reserves covering 2% of India’s land.  Tiger populations in the reserves continue to grow, reaching nearly 3000 in the 2018 census.

            Whether or not tigers can survive in nature is still in doubt.  But it is clear that India’s most famous tiger hunter is the person who set the stage for the glorious animal’s recovery.  He loved nature and encouraged others to love it, too:

“The book of nature has no beginning as it has no end. Open the book where you will, and at any period of your life, and If you have the desire to acquire knowledge, you will find it of immense interest and no matter how long or how intently you study the pages your interest will not flag for in nature there is no finality.”

References:

Buncombe, Andrew.  2007.  Hunter who turned to conservation:  The remarkable legacy of Tiger Jim.  The Independent, 1 November 2007.  Available at:  https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/hunter-who-turned-to-conservation-the-remarkable-legacy-of-tiger-jim-398493.html. Accessed April 1, 2020.

Corbett National Park.  About Jim Corbett National Park.  Available at:  https://www.corbettnationalpark.in/. Accessed April 1, 2020.

Kumar, Taruni.  2019.  Jim Corbett:  The Hunter, the Conservationist, the Legend.  The Quint, 07.08.19.  Available at:  https://www.thequint.com/news/world/jim-corbett-the-hunter-the-conservationist-the-legend. Accessed April 1, 2020.

National Tiger Conservation Authority.  Details of Tiger estimation for the year 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018.  Available at:  https://projecttiger.nic.in/content/39_1_Reports.aspx.  Accessed April 1, 2020.

The Logical Indian.  2017.  Jim Corbett:  From a Hunter To A Conservationist, The Man Behind India’s Oldest National Park.  Available at:  https://thelogicalindian.com/rewind/jim-corbett-from-a-hunter-to-a-conservationist-the-man-behind-indias-oldest-national-park/?infinitescroll=1. Accessed April 1, 2020.

Whales are among the world’s most beloved animals.  They are large mammals whose complex social behavior enthralls humans.  We love to watch them, listen to them, draw them and cuddle with stuffed resemblances.  And, for most of history, we loved to capture them, eat their flesh and use their body oils for energy.

            That all changed with a decision by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on July 23, 1982.  The IWC’s members voted to enact a moratorium on commercial whaling to begin in 1986 and continue indefinitely.  The rule affected the “schedule,” which is the allowable catch of whales, broken down by species, stock and location.  A table that had filled many pages with numbers could now be reduced to just one number—0.  The decision stated that “Notwithstanding the other provisions of paragraph 10, catch limits for the killing for commercial purposes of whales from all stocks for the 1986 coastal and the 1985/86 pelagic seasons and thereafter shall be zero.”  Every two years, the IWC meets to update the schedule (and do much other work to conserve whales and their relatives), and at every meeting since 1982, the organization has maintained the moratorium.

            But it isn’t quite that simple because small amounts of whaling continue.  First, member nations can file an “objection” to the ban, making them exempt from following it.  Norway has done so since the beginning, and it conducts commercial whaling for minke whales along its coast.  Second, a nation can simply withdraw from the IWC.  Iceland did so for about a decade in the 1990s, but it has since rejoined—but with an objection that allows the country to continue hunting whales.  Third, the prohibition on commercial whaling still allows whale harvest by aboriginal peoples in Alaska, Canada and Russia.

            The real controversy in the moratorium (in the general IWC rules, actually), however, has been the provision for “scientific whaling.”  A member nation can capture and kill whales, if necessary, to improve understanding of whale population dynamics—rates of reproduction, paths of migration, rates of growth, overall health of the animals.  Japan conducted such scientific whaling since the beginning of the moratorium, which has always been a source of diplomatic stress and some violent confrontations.  In 2018, Japan withdrew from the IWC and has now resumed whaling around its coasts.

            Without question, however, the IWC in general and the moratorium in particular have been successful.  The killing of whales has declined precipitously; more than 2 million whales were killed in the century before the moratorium, a small fraction of that since.  The reduced hunting pressure has allowed stocks of m0st whale species to rebound.  The western South Atlantic stock of humpback whales, for example, has increased from 1,000 to nearly 25,000 over the course of the moratorium. 

            As has been the story with species after species of wild animals, when hunting pressure drops, a species can recover.  And when the world comes together for the cause of conservation, conservation even the most critical cases can recover, too.

References:

Greenpeace.  International Whaling Commission.  https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/save-the-whales/international-whaling-commission/.  Accessed March 31, 2020.

International Whaling Commission.  History and purpose.  Available at:  https://iwc.int/history-and-purpose. Accessed March 31, 2020.

Whiting, Kate.  2019.  This is how humans have affected whale populations over the years.  World Economic Forum, 26 Oct 2019.  Available at:  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/whales-endangered-species-conservation-whaling/. Accessed March 31, 2020.

World Wildlife Fund.  2005.  The History of Whaling and the International Whaling Commission (IWC).  Available at:  https://wwf.panda.org/?13796/The-History-of-Whaling-and-the-International-Whaling-Commission-IWC.  Accessed March 31, 2020.

Today commemorates the day when the Pied Piper of Hamelin performed his evil plot to lure the children away from their homes.  Historians vacillate between two possible dates, but July 22, 1376, seems to hold the advantage.  Hamelin is a town in Germany, where they call this tale the “Ratcatcher of Hamelin.”  The day has evolved to the charming cause of celebrating the hard work of pest exterminators.

            As you’ll remember, before the Pied Piper took the children away, he was called in to get rid of the city’s rats.  He did so—by playing magical music on his flute—but then the fine folks of Hamelin refused to pay.  So, he used his magic on the town’s children.  But let’s focus on his ability to get rid of the rats.  And that brings us to today’s topic—wildlife damage management.

            Wildlife damage management (WDM) is an important part of conservation.  It isn’t the first thing that conservation students think of as a career option, but it is where many find themselves later.  Wildlife can be like the definition of a weed—a plant where it isn’t wanted—because sometimes humans and wildlife don’t mix well.  As a consequence, the conflict needs to be handled.  The definition of wildlife damage management is “an activity that tries to balance the needs of humans with the needs of wildlife, to the enhancement of both.”

            While we praise the value of wildlife, our beloved animals also exact a cost on human needs for food, shelter and transportation. The federal agency in charge of WDM is the Wildlife Service branch of the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).  That agency estimated in 2001 that wildlife caused $944 million in damage to agricultural crops, so the figure is surely over $1 billion by now.  More than half of all farmers and ranchers reported losses from wildlife.  Most of that damage is caused by animals eating crops—a totally natural thing for both herbivores and carnivores to do.

            A more specific and particular aspect of negative human-wildlife interaction is the car-animal collision, mostly involving deer.  The National Highway Safety Administration estimates that about 1.5 million deer-related accidents occur annually, causing 175-200 human deaths, more than 10,000 injuries and over $1 billion in property damage.  The highest frequency of animal-vehicle collisions is in West Virginia, where 1 in 38 drivers is likely to hit a deer every year.  Montana, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Iowa round out the top five.

            WDM experts work mostly to reduce impacts in and around our homes.  The Wisconsin Extension Service recommends several strategies, most of which do not involve killing animals.   First, they suggest installing barriers to keep unwanted animals out—caps on chimneys, wire skirts around elevated decks, netting over berry patches.  Second, if necessary, hire a WDM expert to capture a troublesome animal and relocate it elsewhere.  Third, use repellents that animals don’t like to smell or taste, like hydrogen sulfide sprays for shrubs and flowers, or place objects outside to scare animals away. 

            But the more effective strategies are to change the way you interact with animals.  Assess your property and remove items that attract animals, like brush piles, standing water, firewood stacked against a wall, trash containers where animals can find a meal.  Plant flowers and shrubs that animals won’t eat (many lists are available).  Don’t feed animals, intentionally (e.g., putting out food for those cute furry squirrels or chipmunks) or unintentionally (using bird feeders that other animals can get into, or putting bowls of pet food outside). 

            But always remember this—if you do engage a WDM professional, the modern day Pied Piper of Hamelin, be sure to pay her!

References:

Caryl-Sue.  2014.  Jul 22, 1376 CE:  Ratcatcher’s Day.  National Geographic Resource Library.  Available at:  https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul22/ratcatchers-day/.  Accessed March 30, 2020. 

Craven, Scott and David Drake.  2012.  An Introduction to Wildlife Damage Management.  Wisconsin Extension Service.  Available at:  http://wildlifedamage.uwex.edu/pdf/Introduction.pdf.  Accessed March 30, 2020. 

Dalbey, Beth.  2019.  Deer Collisions Across The U.S.:  The Odds of Hitting Animals.  Patch, Oct 3, 2019.  Available at:  https://patch.com/us/across-america/deer-collisions-across-u-s-odds-hitting-animals. Accessed March 30, 2020. 

Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management.  What is Wildlife Damage Management (WDM)?  Available at:  http://icwdm.org/. Accessed March 30, 2020. 

US Department of Agriculture.  2012.  Managing Wildlife Damage to Crops and Aquaculture.  Available at:  https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/informational_notebooks/2012/Protecting_Agriculture_combined.pdf. Accessed March 30, 2020.