Some cool animals that are extinct images:
Extremely Rare Guam Rails Hatch at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Image by Smithsonian's National Zoo
Photo Credit: Jim and Pam Jenkins, FONZ Photo Club
As Washington, D.C.’s unseasonably warm winter turns into spring, a baby boom is underway at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Two Guam rail (Gallirallus owstoni) chicks hatched March 3 and 4; they join six others in the Zoo’s collection—three of which live at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va. This brings the total population of these small, flightless birds to 162 individuals. Each hatching is significant—the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists these birds as extinct in the wild.
In about six weeks, keepers will separate the chicks from their parents, and Zoo veterinarians will perform a routine medical exam and take feather samples to determine their sexes.
To date, 82 chicks have hatched at the Zoo and SCBI, and each provides scientists with the opportunity to learn about the growth, reproduction, health and behavior of the species. The Zoo sent 29 Guam rails to the government of Guam for release and breeding, and an additional 25 birds have gone to other institutions to breed.
Guam rails flourished in Guam’s limestone forests and coconut plantations until the arrival of the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis), an invasive species that stowed away in military equipment shipped from New Guinea after World War II. Because these reptiles had no natural predators on Guam, their numbers grew and they spread across the island quickly. Within three decades, they hunted Guam rails and eight other bird species to the brink of extinction.
In 1986, Guam’s Department of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources captured the country’s remaining 21 Guam rails and sent them to zoological institutions around the globe—including the National Zoo—as a hedge against extinction. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums created a Species Survival Plan for the birds. The SSP pairs males and females in order to maintain a genetically diverse and self-sustaining population.
Today, 118 Guam rails are thriving on two islands near the mainland: Rota and Cocos. The availability of release sites continues to shrink, however, due to deforestation and human expansion. Controlling the brown snake population remains a significant challenge as well, though researchers have made progress in developing a variety of barriers, traps and toxicants. Forty-four birds reside in zoos and other facilities in North America.
Visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo can see these birds on exhibit in the Bird House. In stark contrast to their brown-and-white-plumaged parents, Guam rail chicks sport black downy feathers.
nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/
Otter Family Makes a Splash at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Image by Smithsonian's National Zoo
Photo Credit: Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian's National Zoo
As the U.S. Olympic Swim Team prepares to go for the gold in London, a new family of Asian small-clawed otters (Amblonyx cinereus) is making quite a splash of their own at the National Zoo. Eleven otters—two parents and nine offspring—will dive into their new digs this Saturday.
Whole Foods Market made a monetary gift that covered the cost of transporting the otters from the Santa Barbara Zoo to Washington, D.C., in early April. The donation also supports the Zoo’s Asian small-clawed otter conservation, enrichment and public education programs. In appreciation, the Zoo asked Whole Foods Market to select names for the family.
This species spends much of its day foraging for food, so it was only fitting that Whole Foods Market select gastronomic-themed names. They chose Chowder and Clementine for the Zoo’s 5-year-old father and 3-year-old mother, respectively, as well as Pork Chop (male), Pickles (female), Saffron (female), Olive (female), Peaches (female), Turnip (male) and Radish (female). The last adolescent male answers to a more traditional title: Kevin. Whole Foods Market engaged its Facebook fans to select the most masterful moniker for the 11th otter, a female whom they named Rutabaga. At the debut, visitors will receive a commemorative “ottergraph” illustration with all 11 names from Whole Foods Market, while supplies last.
Asian small-clawed otters are the smallest and most social otter species in the world. When these animals have pups, the entire family pitches in to raise the young. Zoo visitors can expect to see Chowder and Clementine teach their offspring—born in August 2010 and May 2011—to swim, play, forage for food and nest materials and catch fish.
The new family will ultimately help the Zoo learn more about their behaviors and social dynamics. Because all 11 otters are similar in size and coloring, Zoo staff and volunteers identify one otter from another by small shaved or dyed areas on different parts of their bodies.
Located on Asia Trail, the otter exhibit is one of the largest in the nation. It was specifically designed to house a large, multigenerational family and mimic all the elements of a riverbed habitat, including a waterfall, stream and climbing structures such as rock formations and logs. Asian small-clawed otters are built for navigating the water: the outer layer of their fur is waterproof while an inner layer keeps them insulated from the cold, their slightly flattened tails act like rudders, and their partially webbed feet help them steer.
Asian small-clawed otters are vulnerable to extinction in their native Indonesia, southern China, southern India, the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Scientists consider them an indicator species—their population indicates the general health of their habitat and the health of other species in their habitat. Threats such as habitat destruction, hunting and pollution put these small mammals and hundreds of other species at risk of going extinct.
