North American Brown Bears: Kodiak and Grizzly

The brown bear is a very widespread species, with subspecies making their homes in North America, Europe, and Asia. In North America, we have two subspecies of brown bear: the Kodiak bear and the grizzly bear. These two bears are mostly distinguishable by their natural range and their size.

The grizzly bear is found in the mountains of British Columbus, Alberta, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories in Canada and in Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, and Montana in the United States. Grizzly bears are foragers, with a diet consisting of berries, roots, ground dwelling rodents, carrion, and pine nuts, as well as moose, elk, mountain goats, and mountain sheep.

The Kodiak bear is found on the Kodak, Afognak, and Shuyak Islands in southwestern Alaska. These coastal brown bears consume much of the same foods as the grizzly bear, however, with more animal proteins than their inland cousins. Living on the coast, these bears have access to salmon, high in fats and protein that lead the bear to be significantly larger than its inland cousin. A male Kodiak bear will usually weigh over 1,000 pounds in the fall when there is plenty to eat, where grizzly bears weigh less and have to work harder for their food.

While the brown bear is listed as least concern on the IUCN red list of endangered species, one thing that is a problem for many bear species is human-animal conflict. Camping and spending time in National Parks is a great way to connect with nature and is a popular pastime, but one thing that everyone is reminded of during those activities is to be careful of the wildlife and to keep food out of reach of bears. Feeding wild bears is a common problem and leads bears to want to be in human areas, which can be dangerous for both humans and bears. The best way to combat this problem? Listen to the advice provided by National Park Services on bear safety.

The National Park Service has a webpage dedicated to staying safe around bears. This includes avoiding an encounter in the first place, what to do in case of an encounter, and other great suggestions you can find here.

Another group working on the prevention of human-carnivore conflict is People and Carnivores. This organization works with local people to restore carnivore populations by preventing human-carnivore conflict in the Northern Rockies. They work with wolves, cougars, and grizzly bears along with other native carnivores. They provide resources on living safely with native carnivores, such as having guard dogs for livestock, utilizing bear poles for food storage, and the use of bear spray as a defense mechanism. The most important line of defense, according to People and Carnivores, is preventing the conflict from happening at all. For more, check out their website here.

https://bear.org/brown-grizzly-bear-facts/
https://www.wildrevelation.com/the-difference-between-grizzly-brown-and-kodiak-bears/

Stick Your Neck Out for Giraffes

Giraffe’s are a fan favorite, everyone looks up to them. And how can they not? With an average height of 15-20 feet, giraffe’s are the tallest land animal. But it’s not just their height that makes them big. These mammals have a heart the size of an American football that weighs about 25 pounds, their lungs can hold around 12 gallons of air, and their tongue can be over 10 inches long!* Giraffe’s necks are around 6 feet long, but have the same number of vertebrate as a human: 7 vertebrate, about 10 inches long each. While large, this animal is a gentle giant, an herbivore that roams the savanna’s of Africa in herds.

There are four distinct species of giraffe with five subspecies, though, depending on the person you talk to, there may be one species with nine subspecies. Today, we will focus on the four proposed species: Masai, southern, northern, and reticulated. Each species lives in a distinct region of Africa: the Masai in Tanzania and Kenya; the northern in Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, and South Sudan; the reticulated in Kenya and Ethiopia; and the southern in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Mozambique. Their range can vary, but those are the primary locations of each species.* Giraffe’s as a whole are currently listed as vulnerable and decreasing on the IUCN red list of endangered species.*

So what are the main threats to giraffe numbers? Many factors affecting giraffe populations are the same as other animals: anthropogenic factors such as habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation, and human population growth. But these gentle giants are also affected by poaching, disease, war, and civil unrest throughout Africa.* Giraffe’s are poached for many different reason. Their tails are valuable to many African cultures are used in jewelry, tools, and as thread for sewing or stringing beads. They are also hunted for their hides and meat.*

So what is being done to sustain the population of giraffe’s in the wild? The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is a group based in four locations: the GCF Trust in Namibia, GCF-USA in Ohio, USA, GCF-East Africa in Kenya, and Freunde von GCF in Germany. While they are separate entities, they all function under the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. GCF is a science-based conservation organization working to provide innovative approaches to save giraffes in the wild. Their goal is to create a sustainable future for future wild giraffe populations.*

While GCF works with groups all over the world on conservation projects for giraffes, one of their key points is educating people on what is happening to giraffes and how to help. To do this more efficiently, Giraffe Conservation Foundation established World Giraffe Day as an annual event to celebrate the world’s tallest animal on the longest day (or night, depending on your hemisphere) of the year: June 21. World Giraffe Day has been widely accepted and celebrated in zoos, schools, conservation organizations, and others as a way to learn more about these incredible animals, spread awareness of what plagues them in their natural range, and raise support for the conservation of giraffes. To learn more about World Giraffe Day and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, click here to visit their website.

Pictured above is a reticulated giraffe. Pictured below is a Masai giraffe and calf. You can see the distinct difference in markings on both species.

Orangutan’s and Sustainable Palm Oil

There are 3 species of orangutan: the Sumatran orangutan, the Bornean orangutan, and the Tapanuli orangutan.* All three species are classified as critically endangered with their number decreasing.* Orangutans are known for their long, brightly colored orange fur and the adult males large cheek pads. The cheek pads are only found in males, one reason this species is sexually dimorphic. There is also a significant difference in the size of males and females, with males weighing over 200 pounds and females around half of that size, and the males have a throat sac used for vocalizing.*

There are several threats that are bringing this primate to the edge of extinction including illegal logging, forest fires, mining, and palm oil plantations.* Palm oil is an incredibly common vegetable oil used in packaged foods. Naturally, palm oil plants grow in tropical rainforests, but do to the widespread use of the ingredient, it is more and more common for these rainforests to be wiped out for the formation of palm oil plantations. The destruction of these forests effects the biodiversity of the forest by destroying the habitat of species like tigers, elephants, rhinos, and the orangutan as well as other, smaller species.*

The good news is that not all palm oil is bad. There are organizations that have moved towards the sustainable production of palm oil to reduce the devastation of natural places. Companies like ConAgra Foods, Ferraro Trading, General Mills, and the Hershey Company have moved towards 100% sustainable palm oil, as well as others.* This is a big win for conservationists, to see large companies have a hand in reducing the destruction of biodiversity and natural habitats is a step in the right direction, and more companies are starting to follow in their footsteps, forcing palm oil producers to move towards more sustainable practices.

So how can you be sure that you are purchasing products that are made with sustainably-sourced palm oil? The first is to look for the RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil logo, pictured below. This is an easy way to check for sustainably sourced palm oil. Another quick and easy way to check for sustainable palm oil is to use the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Sustianable Palm Oil Shopping app. This easy-to-use app has a list of sustainable products and a scanner so you can look up the products you use every day while doing your grocery shopping. Separated by categories like snacks, pet, household, and RSPO members, the app is comprehensive and provides information on how choosing sustainable palm oil supports the conservation of orangutans and other species. Check out Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s app and other ways to aid in the conservation of orangutans at this link.

For more information on the conservation of orangutans and what you can do to help, check any of the links tagged throughout the post.

RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil logo to look for on products

Sand Cats

The sand cat is native to the Sahara desert, the Arabian peninsula, and parts of central Asia. Adapted to a life in the desert, these solitary cats has dense hair and pads on the soles of their feet to protect against the heat of the sand and can live on virtually no water, obtaining moisture from their prey. Their sand-colored fur allows them to blend into the colors of the desert. Their large, low-set ears allow them to hide easily and listen for their prey. They can even use that advanced hearing to listen for prey animals burrowing under the ground, allowing the cat to dig down for its prey. Sand cats tend to make their home in burrows and eat primarily small rodents, but are also known snake-hunters and their prey will occasionally include venomous snakes.*

The sand cat is listed as near threatened on the endangered species list. While there are not an abundance of conservation projects for their specific cat, there are general cat conservation projects that contribute to the conservation of the sand cat. One project, called the Small Cat Signature Project, is a reproductive research project based at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW). The Small Cat Signature Project focuses on establishing a breeding management program for endangered small cat species in human care, such as the sand cat. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden also supports the Sand Cat Sahara Team. This team goes out to the Moroccan Sahara in an attempt to microchip and radio collar wild sand cats, tracking them to learn more about their range and habits. This team was also able to capture the first footage of wild sand cat kittens (video below).**

*https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/sand-cat
**http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2017/09/22/saving-the-small-yet-mighty-sand-cat/