Extinction looms for two rare birds after devastating hurricanes

Conservationists race to save remaining populations

Conservation biologist Paul Reillo is torn between two worlds in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria — one of swift action and one of waiting.

There is little time to rest. More than 200 animals, many fighting extinction, are relying on him. The FIU scientist is the founder of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF), a partner in FIU's Tropical Conservation Institute (TCI), which offers safe haven, captive breeding programs and field-based conservation to help save endangered species. In a matter of two weeks, two species of birds on the brink of extinction were dealt devastating blows when hurricanes Irma and Maria crossed the Caribbean, leaving devastation in their wakes. The team at the Tropical Conservation Institute knows it is facing an unprecedented conservation crisis.

Working

Hurricane Irma caused more than $200,000 in damages at RSCF's property in Loxahatchee, Fla. Little could be done to save enclosures and fences from the storm, but Reillo and his team secured the animals, including 40 endangered east African bongo antelopes, 35 primates including endangered golden lion tamarins, nearly 100 parrots representing a variety of threatened and endangered species and 42 critically endangered Florida grasshopper sparrows.

The TCI team is putting in long hours to rebuild what was destroyed at the RSCF facility and to help the animals recover from the stress brought on by the storm. The Florida grasshopper sparrows are the greatest cause for concern. It is the world's most endangered bird with less than 100 remaining in the wild before Irma. The team fears the hurricane has crippled the wild population which resides exclusiv
ely in the prairie grasses of Central Florida. They are working with state and federal wildlife officials on strategies to help preserve the small number of birds that remain on the planet.

Waiting

Meanwhile, Reillo is waiting for news about Dominica's critically endangered Imperial Amazon.

Since the late 1990s, he has been working with Dominica's Forestry, Wildlife and Parks Division to help restore the rare parrot's population in the wild which has been devastated by habitat loss, the pet trade and natural disasters. In 2000, the local government established a national park to protect critical habitat for the rare parrot species. Reillo raised many of the funds himself to purchase the land necessary for the initiative.

Hurricane Maria, in a matter of a single day, destroyed more than 20 years of work to save the species.

"The flagship species we have fought to save for so many years may now face imminent extinction," Reillo said, pausing for a rare break from post-hurricane clean-up.

When Maria marched across the Caribbean, the expansive forests of the island were decimated. Tree canopies were gutted and critical habitat for the Imperial Amazon was destroyed. Dominica is among the most hardest hit countries by the recent spate of storms that attacked the Caribbean. Fewer than 250 mature Imperial Amazons were known to populate the forests of Dominica before Maria. Local forestry officials have been looking for any signs that some of the rare parrots weathered the storm, but the bird is elusive and difficult to find under normal circumstances. These are not normal circumstances.

"TCI's fight to save endangered species is critical," said Mike Heithaus, dean of FIU's College of Arts, Sciences & Education, which houses TCI. "Recent hurricanes have proven how very vulnerable many species are. Our programs can make the difference between an animal being here and not, but the monumental task before us is going to require tremendous local, national and international support."

Even if Imperial Amazons survived, the catastrophic destruction of the island's richly biodiverse forests is causing alarm for conservationists. Locals have spotted the more common Jaco parrot among the gutted forests, but those are struggling to find food. Their plight represents a much larger crisis looming over Dominica's wildlife and especially the Imperial Amazons.

Reillo believes the Imperial Amazon still has a fighting chance. For now, the focus is on getting supplies to the island including tarps, chainsaws, tools and veterinary supplies. Researchers and forestry officials are still trying to assess the status of the population and develop a strategy for recovery. The FIU Tropical Conservation Institute team is preparing for an aggressive plan that Reillo knows will come at a significant cost. But the alternative — loss of another flagship species — poses a far greater cost to the health of the planet.

For the love of birds

Any bird lovers out there? The change into the autumn season awakens the wonder of migratory birds on the wing once again, and with expectations we watch the sky for the first arrivals from the north.

At the same time, in this fiery fall of 2017, we watch the sky for smoke — the devilish byproduct of fire — and hope the waterfowl and other wanderers can endure the toxic atmosphere. Let the flames cease!

Of all the nature categories, birds have been one of the greatest attractions to me, a passion kindled during my Missouri boyhood days. Through the Missouri Department of Conservation, I became a Nature Knight, a program for kids, and was supplied with field guides, obtained a cheap monocular, and became obsessed with identifying a host of birds, as any bird watcher experiences when confronted with flocks of feathered friends.

When some of those vicious Midwestern storms pounded wind, lightning, and thunder into the night, I would lay in bed and wonder how those delicate bird beings could survive out there in the dark. I still think of the bird's crisis in extreme weather, or wildfires, 80 years later in Oroville.

Amazingly, next morning after a storm, the little sparrows, juncos, quail, and jays are there, going about their food-gathering ways like the beginning of a new day!

Prodded by that concern for resident winter birds in the Heartland, I would load my sled with lespedeza and grains after a big snow, and plow my way to a grove of eastern red cedar at the edge of Floyd's Timber. The cedar's low sprawling evergreen branches provided a shelter of sorts where I would lay out my offerings and hope no fox or weasel caught on. The adjoining woods were alive with squawking blue jay and jubilant cardinal and juncos that descended on my offerings.

Just imagine clutching a branch with thin legs as wind whips the woods furiously, and stinging rain — and sometimes hail — pelts the birds as if with a will to bring them down. You wonder if they feel fear, or worry about life itself.

Equally, what do the thicket birds do when flood or snow covers up their food supply, or a forest fire destroys their habitat? Shrubs such as buckbrush in California are very important shelters for ground birds, but its doubly tragic when the flame-monster destroys that benefit. There is doubling up on habitat, too, if they can escape on wings in time.

In the same vein, coral-berry brush, scattered weed patches, and fence rows were life savers for Missouri birds when winter weather raged.

There is always the presence of predators, even at night with the owl and fox on the prowl. Regardless of sympathy expressed by those who know birds and care, it is a dangerous jungle out there for songbird and shrew alike.

Resident birds endure the winter rather than migrate like the swallows and flycatchers, and as do the waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway. Who is there that cannot feel compassion for the goose or duck winging their way through the perilous sky southward toward an ice-free marsh?

"All day thy wings have fanned,/At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere ..." said Bryant.

Of utmost concern, even pity, is the case of Anna hummingbirds that choose to remain in Oroville rather than migrate like most hummers. The flowers on which they depend are far fewer in winter, and I, as well as many others, keep sugar-water feeders out for them.

Wallflower center pack baboons find place

Are you the kind of person who, at a party, tends to be surrounded by friends in the middle of the crowd, or do you prefer to find a quiet corner where you can sit and talk? Recent work by scientists at UC Davis shows that wild baboons behave similarly to humans—with some animals consistently found in the vanguard of their troop while others crowd to the center or lag in the rear.

Using high-resolution GPS tracking, UC Davis Assistant Professor Margaret Crofoot and her team of researchers continuously monitored the movements of nearly an entire baboon troop in central Kenya to discover how interactions among group-mates influenced where in the troop individuals tended to be found.

"How animals position themselves within their social group can have life or death consequences," explained Crofoot, an anthropologist. "Individuals at the front of their group may get the first crack at any food their group encounters, but they are also more vulnerable to being picked off by predators."

Interestingly, the team's work suggests that very simple behavioral rules may explain baboons' apparent preferences for particular spatial positions. "Animals who pay attention to more of their group-mates when deciding where to move will inevitably end up at the center of their group," said Crofoot. Differences in social sensitivity may therefore explain why younger baboons end up in the safest positions at the center of their troop, while adult males find themselves exposed on the leading edge.

Researchers have long noted that spatial positioning has important fitness implications, but where an animal is positioned in its group depends not only on its own behavior, but also on the behavior of its group-mates. "How natural selection shapes such emergent properties is fundamental to understanding the evolutionary dynamics of social organisms," Crofoot said.

Missing Arctic Fox found in Orchard Park

An Arctic Fox that went missing from Buffalo Animal Adventures last week has been found and is back at their enclusre in West Seneca.

The animal was spotted by a woman on her lunch break Tuesday in Orchard Park. 

A viewer, Anthony Rusinek, sent 2 On Your Side a photo of the white, furry fox saying his wife snapped the picture while eating her lunch in the parking lot of the Buffalo Medical Group on North Buffalo Road.

After the photo was posted on social media, a representative from Buffalo Animal Adventure, Anthony Kelly, called 2 On Your Side. Kelly said he thought the fox was one-year-old Cleo who went missing from Animal Adventures last Thursday.

The animal education firm says Cleo was adopted by them after a man in Ohio tried to keep her as a pet. Kelly says they have permits from the state to keep her in a special double-gated enclosure because she is technically considered to be wildlife. They stress she got loose at feeding time last Thursday because of a mistake by one of their staffers. They also say this is the first such escape from their enclosure and the staffer will be re-trained to make sure it does not happen again.  

The fox is not a public health concern in any way, an Animal Adventures representative says. She is not aggressive and has been vaccinated.  She is used for educational visits to homes, nursing homes, and evemn kids birthday parties.

The tip from a viewer prompted Buffalo Animal Adventure staffers to try to catch her in Orchard Park. They were unsuccessful on Tuesday evening. But she was spotted again near the Orchard Park Veterinary Emergency Hospital and wildlife expert Elise Able was able to successfully and safely lure her into a Have A Heart style trap. She has since been returned to the West Seneca enclosure.

Online animal lovers raise money for wounded pup

It had been more than a week since Marissa Hinrichs and Cory Stinar had last seen their dog, Orion, but the pair wasn't giving up hope.

The husky, less than a year old, had gotten away from the Grand Forks couple two weeks ago while on a walk in Alvarado, Minn., sparking a campaign of flier-hanging, Facebook-posting and general worrying about the fate of the energetic dog Hinrichs describes as "technically still a puppy" but almost wolf-like in appearance.

Eventually, their search paid off. A man in Grafton, N.D., about 30 miles from Alvarado, called their home to say he believed the dog was in his shop.

"We drove out there immediately and saw it was Orion," Hinrichs said. "That's when we saw his paw had just an awful, nasty gash on it."

The dog was stand-offish at first, favoring the wounded paw in which bone and tendon could be seen through the torn flesh and fur. But when his owners called his name, Orion limped to them, whining in recognition.

The couple drove to Kindness Animal Hospital in Grand Forks to assess the severity of the wound. The veterinary staff soon found bullet fragments embedded in the gash, Hinrichs said, indicating Orion had been shot. What's more, the bullet had caused such damage to the dog's lower leg that the veterinarians determined the paw—and possibly the entire affected leg—could not be saved.

Orion is now due for surgery Thursday at the animal hospital. Hinrichs said the staff there will determine the full extent of the damage to his leg that day to decide how much of the limb is in need of amputation. Though Orion was largely back to his old, playful self by Wednesday night, Hinrichs said the cause of his injury is still a sore subject.

"After we found out it was caused by a bullet, it's hard not to be angry," she said. "He's our family, so it's hard to imagine him going through that pain."

The initial shock of the gruesome-looking injury was followed shortly after by some sticker shock at the vet. Hinrichs said the cost of Orion's surgery is nearly $1,600, a sum she said will likely be boosted to an even greater level by follow-up care and therapy.

To help defray the expense, Hinrich's mother, Vicki, started a GoFundMe page to raise donations on the popular crowdfunding site. As of noon Thursday, the effort to raise money for Orion had raised more than $1,300 toward a $1,500 goal.

The outpouring of support has been overwhelming, Hinrichs said, and she expressed gratitude for monetary gifts and positive thoughts alike.

Even if the surgery leaves Orion a three-legged pup, Hinrichs was optimistic he'd be content no matter what. Shortly after coming home from the vet Monday, Orion had "snuggled up into his bed" to recuperate with plenty of sleep and food. By mid-week, Hinrichs said, he was "trying to play as if nothing is wrong."

"He's hopping around on three legs," she said. "I think after the operation, he's going to be just fine, going to be happier than ever."

Wallflower center pack baboons find place

Are you the kind of person who, at a party, tends to be surrounded by friends in the middle of the crowd, or do you prefer to find a quiet corner where you can sit and talk? Recent work by scientists at UC Davis shows that wild baboons behave similarly to humans—with some animals consistently found in the vanguard of their troop while others crowd to the center or lag in the rear.

Using high-resolution GPS tracking, UC Davis Assistant Professor Margaret Crofoot and her team of researchers continuously monitored the movements of nearly an entire baboon troop in central Kenya to discover how interactions among group-mates influenced where in the troop individuals tended to be found.

"How animals position themselves within their social group can have life or death consequences," explained Crofoot, an anthropologist. "Individuals at the front of their group may get the first crack at any food their group encounters, but they are also more vulnerable to being picked off by predators."

Interestingly, the team's work suggests that very simple behavioral rules may explain baboons' apparent preferences for particular spatial positions. "Animals who pay attention to more of their group-mates when deciding where to move will inevitably end up at the center of their group," said Crofoot. Differences in social sensitivity may therefore explain why younger baboons end up in the safest positions at the center of their troop, while adult males find themselves exposed on the leading edge.

Researchers have long noted that spatial positioning has important fitness implications, but where an animal is positioned in its group depends not only on its own behavior, but also on the behavior of its group-mates. "How natural selection shapes such emergent properties is fundamental to understanding the evolutionary dynamics of social organisms," Crofoot said.