Leonardo DiCaprio praises Chester Zoo that helped the golden skiffa fish from going extinct

48-year old Leonardo DiCaprio heaped praises on Chester Zoo for preventing the golden skiffa from going extinct. Its native habitat is in Mexico and the Teuchitlan River in central-western Mexico was its only known home. These fish have not been sighted there since the 1990s. The concerted efforts of experts from Chester Zoo and Michoacan University of Mexico helped bring the species back from the dead. The zoo and the University undertook a conservation-breeding program and released 1,200 golden skiffas back into their native river. They chose the date of release to coincide with Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. Leonardo DiCaprio went to Instagram, a social media outlet, to praise Chester Zoo for its wonderful work. They helped to reintroduce a near-extinct species of fish to its native habitat in Mexico. DiCaprio, the Hollywood actor, describes himself as an environmentalist. He has been vocal on key climate summits, including the signing of the Paris climate agreement in 2016. Leonardo DiCaprio praises Chester Zoo for helping bring golden skiffa fish 'back from the dead'. The team at Chester was delighted with the endorsement and replied: "Thank you for sharing this incredible story!"

There are many reasons for the species of fish to face near extinction. Most of these are manmade – like construction of dam, extraction of water, pollution and an invasive species in their river. Paul Bamford is the regional programme manager for Latin America at Chester Zoo. He said - "This project is a great example of how zoos can contribute to conservation in the field through conservation breeding and research. By supporting freshwater conservation in Mexico and the ecosystems where the fish live, we're not only protecting biodiversity and the wellbeing of freshwater environments, but also the people and communities that live alongside them." Omar Dominguez-Dominguez is a professor and researcher from the Michoacan University of Mexico. He is leading the golden skiffia reintroduction. In his words - "Releasing the golden skiffia at this time is a metaphor for how the species has come back from the dead to return to its home, not for one night, but forever.” He adds that “universities, zoos and aquarists can come together to fix some of what has been destroyed and return to nature some of what has been lost is an amazing thing."

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The government of India has identified wildlife conservation as one of its key goals

India has a wide variety of flora and fauna and the government has identified conservation of wildlife as one of its key goals. None other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his commitment on many global platforms about promoting environmental and wildlife conservation. He has now assigned a target of conservation and protection of big cat species. This is after achieving the target of doubling the number of tigers ahead of time. The target also includes 50 cheetahs during the next five years. Already, the exercise of inducting eight cheetahs from Namibia is over. It is the first inter-continental large carnivore translocation project. With their arrival, India has become the only country where all five members of the big ‘cat species’ are now present. On the subject, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said – “Decades ago, the age-old link of biodiversity that was broken and became extinct, today we have a chance to reconnect it. Today the cheetah has returned to the soil of India.” Incidentally, the last cheetah in India was found dead in Chhattisgarh in 1947 and was officially declared extinct in 1952. India goes all out to increase wildlife species.

The authorities expect cheetahs to help restore the open forest and grassland ecosystem in India and the program will help in the conservation of biodiversity. Society would reap benefits like improvement of ecosystem processes in the form of water security, carbon absorption and soil moisture conservation. It could also increase livelihood opportunities for the local communities. This could be through eco-development and eco-tourism activities. The arrival of cheetahs has made India the only country that is home to all five members of the ‘big cat’ species – tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard and cheetah. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 has notified animals like tigers, elephants, rhinoceros, lions, etc. as endangered species. They enjoy the highest degree of protection.

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This year there has been a considerable drop in the number of migratory birds that have arrived in the Bhitarkanika National Park and it is a matter of worry for bird lovers. As per the annual census report of Bhitarkanika's winged species released by the forest department, the number of avian winter species had dropped to 76,268 from 106,156 last year.
This has been reported in telegraphidia.com dated 16 January 2017.

Of course, there is a bright side because several rare winged species of central Asian origin have been spotted in the wetlands of Bhitarkanika.
Wildlife officials are examining the factors that could have led to the drop in the number of migratory birds. These birds usually like to be around water bodies. However, a number of water bodies had dried up at the park.This could be attributed to the prawn dykes in the close vicinity of the park which might have restricted the flow of tidal water. Raising such prawn dykes in the sanctuary area is illegal and these need to be demolished in order to conserve the ecosystem and the flora and fauna of Bhitarkanika.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 28 October 2016.

The decision was the outcome of deliberations of nearly 250 oceanic experts from 24 countries and the European Union - they had assembled in Tasmania and struck the historic deal to manage and protect the region's pristine ecosystem and reduce illegal fishing.
The agreement that has been sealed by the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) will result in creating a 1.55 million sq km (600,000 sq miles) reserve in the Ross Sea. The area is roughly six and half times the size of of the UK.
Limited amount of fishing will be allowed mainly for research purposes. This will be throughout the protected zone because several countries fish in the waters surrounding Antarctica for lucrative toothfish, which are sold in North America as Chilean sea bass. Ross Sea is home to penguins, seals, toothfish and crystal krill and the zone is a critical research area for scientists who are trying to understand how marine ecosystems function, and, simultaneously, monitor the impacts of climate change.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Drop in population of seabirds an indication of our deteriorating eco-system

#ecosystem #ClimateChange #pollution #environment Based on research carried out on 500 seabird populations globally, it has been revealed that there has been a drop of nearly 70% since 1950s and that is an indicator of our deteriorating eco-system and that our marine ecosystems are in danger.
This has been revealed in zeenews.india.com dated 10 July 2015.

The research team compiled information pertaining to 500 seabird populations from around the world. This is representative of 19 percent of the global seabird population and the team has found that overall population had declined by 69.6 percent. This is the equivalent to a loss of about 230 million birds in 60 years and, that is alarming.
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(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Researchers have now come across another hot-spot for these dolphins - near the shores of Great Barrier Island. This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 1 April 2015.

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