Defenders of Wildlife Blog

They may have made the trek from the North Pole this year safe and sound, but how will Santa’s reindeer fare in a warming planet? Hear about the challenges that face Rudolph and the rest of the crew as the climate continues to change from Defenders’ board member Jeff Corwin.

Sadly, climate change isn’t the only threat facing caribou today. Members of Congress are again ramping up efforts to drill for oil in the birthplace of Santa’s reindeer, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain. Such a move would destroy the pristine nature of the coastal plain forever, and make life even harder for animals like the Porcupine caribou that are already suffering the effects of a warming world.

You can make a difference  - contact your member of Congress and tell them to keep drilling OUT of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge today.

Any scuba diver will tell you that the world’s coral reefs today are a far cry from what they once were. Climate change is leaving a permanent mark on these underwater jungles, a problem that only promises to get worse with time. Warmer water temperatures cause coral bleaching, a sudden death that occurs when corals expel the algae that normally live inside them, providing them with food and bright coloration. Warmer oceans also make corals more susceptible to bacterial and fungal infection, such as black band disease and purple blotch disease.

Rising temperatures aren’t the only threat facing reefs today. Overfishing, the explosion of invasive species, and an unsustainable aquarium trade all threaten the survival of these biological marvels, as well as the economies that rely on them. With the odds stacked against them, is there anything we can do to save coral reefs before it’s too late?

Wildlife biologist and Defenders’ board member Jeff Corwin, along with the Georgia Aquarium, is determined to find out.  Watch a sneak preview of his show, “Ocean Mysteries“ below and join Jeff as he explores one of the world’s majestic reefs, and what hope they have for the future.

Learn more: 

Hear more from Defenders’ board member Jeff Corwin as he talks about the world’s coral reefs – and how climate change is slowly killing these magnificent hotspots of biodiversity.

Defenders is working with other conservation and humane advocates to make sure the international trade in coral reef animals is done is a safe, sustainable way. Stay tuned for more on our efforts to protect the world’s reefs and the array of wildlife who call them home.

Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin airs on Saturdays at 11am. Check your local ABC listings for more details.

Famed conservationist Jeff Corwin looks back on 20 years of leadership from Defenders of Wildlife’s retiring president Rodger Schlickeisen.

I remember when I first met Rodger.

It was 2003 and we were standing on the steps of the US Capitol building. The sun was shining but there was a distinct chill in the air. Beside us was an impressive assortment of environmental leaders and members of Congress. In front of us sat about 30 school children, equal parts nervous and excited. Our purpose that day? To celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

And I remember how eloquently Rodger spoke about the Act – the bipartisan support it enjoyed, the creatures it had saved, the threats it faces – and I realized this man wasn’t just reading words on a page. He could have been working without prepared text at all, because this man was clearly moved. He felt what he was saying and he felt it deep and it was apparent to all. I have made the conservation of wildlife my life’s work and I knew right away, listening to Rodger, I had found a kindred spirit. It was the beginning of my proud association with Defenders of Wildlife and the beginning of what I hope will be a lifelong friendship with its departing leader, Rodger Schlickeisen.

Rodger isn’t just the head of one of the nation’s top environmental groups, he is the consummate hands-on, make-things-happen leader. He is as much at home in the Oval Office chastising the president as he is clad in a winter parka, releasing wolves back into Yellowstone. And you are just as likely to find him in a powerful Senator’s office as you are the wilds of Africa, tracking collared lions with Masai warriors.

And his brand of leadership has served Defenders well. When he joined the organization in 1991, it had 60,000 members. Now? The list of members and supporters tops one million. When he joined Defenders, the US Geological Service had no arm devoted to addressing the impacts of climate change on wildlife. Now they do. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the wildlife conservation programs, public and private, that were not in existence before Rodger made creating them a priority for Defenders.

When Rodger got started, environmental conservation had Democratic and Republican champions alike. And he deftly maneuvered back and forth across the aisle, exhorting champions from both sides to support key conservation programs. A decade later, when wildlife conservation became a political hot potato, Rodger read the writing on the wall, formed the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, and began taking on some of the environment’s worst enemies at the ballot box. Richard Pombo, Sarah Palin, Steve Pearce, Marilyn Musgrave, all soon found that you cannot run roughshod over the environment without hearing about it from Rodger.

Leadership, foresight, flexibility, proven accomplishment, all things we look for in a leader, all things Rodger delivered.

But as Rodger moves on from Defenders, I find myself thinking back to that fall day in 2003. And I think about another leadership quality: dedication. On that day, I saw the intense dedication he shows to the cause he so clearly believes in and the organization he cares so deeply about. And I am left to ponder how rare such devotion is in many of the leaders we see today. Truly, lots of people run organizations, but few people actually lead with such dedication. Rodger did. And we − along with the natural world − are the better for it.

Watch Feeling the Heat with Jeff Corwin to learn how climate change is affecting this cool cat.

A glimpse of its stubby tail or tufted ears and you may mistake a Canada lynx for its bobcat cousin, but this big cat is more adept at navigating the deep, snow-packed forests of Canada and a handful of northern states, including Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Montana,Washington and Wyoming. These finicky felines can’t live just anywhere. They have very specific habitat needs: older forest with good cover for building dens and younger forest with thick vegetation for hunting prey such as snowshoe hare.

National forests provide habitat for Canada lynx.

A snowshoe hare’s fluffy white camouflage is no match for the lynx’s expert eyes and long, tufted ears. Unless the bunny makes a dash for it, that is, since lynx aren’t designed for endurance chases. You would think that those long legs would offer some benefit to make up for its strikingly odd proportions (smallish cat body with oversize limbs and massive feet). But they do come in handy in deep, fluffy snow, which offers an excellent advantage over competing predators such as coyote and bobcat. Combined with those big snowshoe-like paws, the lynx is like a four-wheel-drive vehicle — able to go where others dare not.

The Canada lynx remains a threatened species in the lower-48 states, with only around 1,000 cats calling U.S. forests home. Unfortunately, climate change is making it tougher for them to survive. Loss of snow or changes in its density due to warming temperatures affects the lynx’s hunting abilities — as well as the number of snowshoe hares.

Lynx Forest Home Faces a New Threat

The Obama administration has proposed a new plan for our national forests, setting aside vital measures that have protected the homes of lynx and other imperiled wildlife since the days when Ronald Reagan was president.

Don’t let President Obama turn back the clock for our wildlife. Urge federal officials to stand up for wildlife protections in our national forests.

Plenty is at stake. The U.S. Forest Service manages 155 national forests and 20 grasslands spread across some 193 million acres nationwide.

What You Can Do

Tell the Obama administration that you want to protect wildlife such as lynx in our national forests.

Take action yourself to stop climate change and help save vulnerable species like the Canada lynx.

Two polar bear cubs, Gregor and Aleut, made a big debut for crowds at Germany’s Nuremberg Zoo last week. Follow the link to MSNBC’s video coverage of the event.

But while these polar bear cubs enjoy their celebrity spotlight, polar bears in the wild are facing increasingly difficult problems. Jeff Corwin, Defenders of Wildlife board member and television star, talks about the plight that polar bears in the wild are facing because of global warming in the video episode (below) of “Feeling the Heat with Jeff Corwin”.

Below is some exciting news from our friends over at the National Zoo!  Defenders of Wildlife, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and 5 other zoos around the country have partnered on The Panama Amphibian Rescue project, created to capture frogs that are directly in the path of chytrid fungus, an epidemic which is wiping out frog populations across the globe, and keep them safe until they can be once again be returned to the wild.

National Zoo and Partners First to Breed Critically Endangered Tree Frog

As frogs around the world continue to disappear—many killed by a rapidly spreading disease called chytridiomycosis, which attacks the skin cells of amphibians—one critically endangered species has received an encouraging boost. Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is the first to successfully breed this species.

“We are some of the first researchers to attempt to breed these animals into captivity and we have very little information about how to care for them,” said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, one of nine project partners. “We were warned that we might not be able to keep these frogs alive, but through a little bit of guesswork, attention to detail and collaboration with other husbandry experts—we’ve managed to breed them. The lessons we’re learning have put us on target to save this incredible species and our other priority species in Panama.”

Nearly one-third of the world’s amphibian species are at risk of extinction. The rescue project aims to save more than 20 species of frogs in Panama, one of the world’s last strongholds for amphibian biodiversity.

The rescue project currently has 28 adult La Loma tree frogs and four tadpoles at the Summit Municipal Park outside of Panama City, Panama. In addition to the La Loma tree frog, the project also has successfully bred the endangered Limosa harlequin frog, Atelopus limosus. Keepers will continue to carefully monitor the tadpoles of both species.

Nearly one-third of the world’s amphibian species are at risk of extinction. The rescue project aims to save more than 20 species of frogs in Panama, one of the world’s last strongholds for amphibian biodiversity. While the global amphibian crisis is the result of habitat loss, climate change and pollution, chytridiomycosis is likely at least partly responsible for the disappearances of 94 of the 120 frog species thought to have gone extinct since 1980.

“Although the outlook for amphibians is grim, the rescue project’s recent developments give us hope for these unique Panamanian species,” said Roberto Ibáñez, local director of the project and a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, one of the project’s partners. “We are creating what amounts to an ark for these animals so that their species may survive this deadly disease. We’re also looking for a cure so that someday we can safely release the frogs back into the wild.”

Of Panama’s six harlequin frog species, five are in collections at the Summit Zoological Park and the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in El Valle, Panama. One species, the Chiriqui harlequin frog, A. chiriquiensis, from western Panama, is likely extinct. The other species range from being extinct in the wild—the Panamanian golden frog, A. zeteki—to being endangered.

The mission of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is to rescue amphibian species that are in extreme danger of extinction throughout Panama. The project’s efforts and expertise are focused on establishing assurance colonies and developing methodologies to reduce the impact of the amphibian chytrid fungus so that one day captive amphibians may be reintroduced to the wild. Project participants include Africam Safari, Panama’s Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Defenders of Wildlife, El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, Houston Zoo, Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Summit Municipal Park and Zoo New England.

For more information, photos and a new video about this work, visit www.amphibianrescue.org.