Decline of the Southern Skua in the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean near the coast of South America, is home to several unique indigenous bird species. One of them, Catharacta Antarctica, also known as the Southern Skua or the Falklands Skua, is in serious decline. Over the past five years, their population has gone down almost 50 percent. The exact reasons are unknown, but some experts suspect the decline is due to low breeding success and increased competition for resources. Some fear that the problems with the skua are linked with an unhealthy Patagonian marine ecosystem.

The Falkland Skua is a subspecies of the Great Skua, a carnivorous gull-like species. It lives on the Falkland Islands and travels north when not breeding. It feeds on fish, small mammals, and eggs. Often, it scavenges for carrion and employs kleptoparasitism, which means it saves energy by stealing food from another predator. They nest on the ground because the Falklands have no native trees, only grasses and shrubs.


Two surveys of the skuas nesting on New Island, home of the largest population to west of the Falkland main islands. The surveys were conducted in 2004 and 2009 by Dr. Paulo Catry of the Museum of Natural History in Lisbon, Portugal as well as other researchers from Portugal and the UK. "Although brown skuas have been the subject of many studies, virtually nothing has been done on the Falklands subspecies," says Dr Catry.

The surveys, spaced five years apart, showed a dramatic decline of 47.5% on New Island. This has caused worry because the Falkland Skua has a long life span. Such a dramatic change in so short a time means the situation is extremely abnormal.

One theory is that the decline is due to low breeding success which affects the birth rate. Typically, the Falkland Skua has a high rate of breeding success. Each breeding pair raise one chick a year on average. The researchers found that the new rate on New Island is only 0.28 chicks per year. This is despite the fact that other nesting seabirds on New Island have not shown similar declines in breeding rates.

A higher death rate of adult Skuas is suspected of compounding the low birth rate. Dr. Catry's team believes the species may be struggling to compete with another avian predator, the Striated Caracara, a.k.a. the Johnny Rook, which feeds on the same prey. Part of the Falconidae family, this bird is extremely aggressive, attacking everything from baby lambs to sick sheep. It will even steal red pieces of clothing hanging out to dry because they are the same color as meat. The Johnny Rook is a formidable foe for the Skua and a thorn in the side of Falkland sheep farmers.

The greatest fear, however, is that the Skua decline is related to a decline in the marine ecosystem. "Falkland skuas are top predators of marine ecosystems. They will take fish, squid, crustaceans, and they are also important predators of other seabirds," says Dr Catry. "If something is not well with them, it may mean that something is not well with the rich Patagonian shelf ecosystem."

The study has been published in the journal, Polar Biology.

Source: http://www.enn.com/

New Report Lists 25 Most Endangered Turtle Species

A report issued on February 21, 2011, co-authored by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) working in conjunction with the Turtle Conservation Coalition, lists the 25 most endangered turtle species from around the world – some of which currently number less than five individuals.


Decimated by illegal hunting for both food and the pet trade along with habitat loss, many turtle species will go extinct in the next decade unless drastic conservation measures are taken, according to the report, which was released at a regional workshop hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore and WCS. Seventeen of the 25 species are found in Asia, three are from South America, three from Africa, one from Australia, and one from Central America and Mexico.

The report was authored by the Turtle Conservation Coalition, which is made up by IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Conservation Fund, Turtle Survival Alliance, Turtle Conservancy/Behler Chelonian Center, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, WCS, and San Diego Zoo Global.

The list of 25 includes “Lonesome George” – the only remaining Abdington Island giant tortoise. Though there is still scientific disagreement as to whether he is a recognized species or a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise, all agree that he is the last of his kind. Another species on the brink is the Yangtze giant softshell turtle with just four known individuals. Wildlife Conservation Society veterinarians have been working with Chinese officials and other partners to breed the last known male/female pair of these giant turtles, which currently reside at China’s Suzhou Zoo.

Illegal hunting for turtles in Asia for food, pets, and traditional medicines is a particular problem, the report says.

“Turtles are being unsustainably hunted throughout Asia,” said co-author Brian D. Horne of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Every tortoise and turtle species in Asia is being impacted in some manner by the international trade in turtles and turtle products. In just one market in Dhaka, Bangladesh we saw close to 100,000 turtles being butchered for consumption during a religious holiday, and we know of at least three other such markets within the city.”

Liz Bennett, Vice President of WCS Species Program, said: “Turtles are wonderfully adapted to defend themselves against predators by hiding in their shells, but this defense mechanism doesn’t work against organized, large-scale human hunting efforts. The fact is that turtles are being vacuumed up from every nook and cranny in Asia and beyond.”

The report says that better enforcement of existing trade laws, habitat protection, and captive breeding are all keys to preventing turtle species from going extinct while bolstering existing populations.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

ARKive.org — Discover the world’s most endangered species

"For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth."

"The Outermost House" - Henry Beston Author (1888-1968)

Environmental News Network is proud to announce our newest affiliate, ARKive. ENN partners with leaders in environmental and sustainability issues to bring you cutting edge news to help you stay up to date on the important issues of the day. Endangered species are being impacted by deforestation and development on every continent. Most people have only a limited idea of just how many species are endangered, what they look like, what habitats they need to survive, and what we can do to help them stay around a little longer, or perhaps, rebound enough to no longer be endangered.


Wildlife films and photos are vital weapons in the battle to save the world's endangered biodiversity from the brink of extinction. So, with the help of the world’s best filmmakers, photographers, conservationists and scientists, ARKive is creating the ultimate multimedia guide to the world's endangered species.

In a world in which a species becomes extinct every 20 minutes, films, photographs, and audio recordings may soon be all that remain of these species. However, until now, this valuable imagery has been scattered throughout the world in a wide variety of private, commercial and specialist collections, with no centralized collection, restricted public access, limited educational use, and no coordinated strategy for its long term preservation.

ARKive, a unique global initiative, is now putting that right by leading the "virtual" conservation effort to find, sort, catalog and digitize threatened species multimedia. Contributed by the world’s most prestigious photographers and filmmakers such as National Geographic, the BBC (and more than 5,000 others), much of this media would otherwise be unavailable to the public — but ARKive is making it freely accessible through one centralized digital library at http://www.arkive.org/ to build environmental awareness. This multimedia is being preserved and maintained in a secure media vault, providing a digital safe-haven for the benefit of future generations.

As an official partner of the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species™, the ARKive team is in the process of creating dynamic online multimedia profiles of all 17,000+ plants, animals, insects and fungi most at risk of extinction. These profiles offer great detail in easily understandable language on each species -- including facts and status, description, range and habitat, threats to conservation, and more, bringing scientific names to life and showing why each species is special. Visitors can also learn about the groups and individuals working to conserve each endangered plant and animal. These multimedia species profiles are a valuable educational resource and conservation tool in the fight to raise awareness of the thousands of species on the brink of extinction. ARKive’s supporters include Dr. Sylvia Earle, Sir David Attenborough, Dr. E. O. Wilson, and numerous other conservationists and scientists from around the world.

We invite you to visit http://www.arkive.org/ to explore for yourself the wealth of information, compelling imagery, and rich interactive tools which make ARKive such a compelling resource. If you have imagery of an endangered species, we'd like to hear about it. Or please consider making a donation to the ARKive project, and don't forget to explore ARKive's many thousands of wildlife videos and photos, and tell everyone you know about ARKive’s search for the world's most endangered species.

Source: www.enn.com