Goodbye, Lonesome George.

Lonesome George in his corral at the Charles Darwin Research Center on Isla Santa Cruz.

In December 1971 , the last Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni) was discovered in the Galápagos.  This solitary male would come to be known as "Lonesome George", and he would spend the rest of his days serving as an international symbol for conservation.  As the last of his subspecies, much effort was put into trying to breed him with females of closely related subspecies, but all eggs laid were infertile.  Today, Lonesome George's life ended, and with it, another (sub)species has gone extinct.

A film about our HOME.

(So I know I did the same thing last year, but please bear with me as I try and get everything sorted out after my week at SVP so that I can finish up tmy "daily posts from the field".  I'm glad I was able to get up three considering how busy the days are, and the lack of free Wi-Fi in the rooms.  They will come soon, but someone recently sent me this, and I feel like putting it up is pretty important, so here it goes.)

Depending on who you ask, the human population on the planet currently numbers somewhere between 6.973 billion (U. S. Census Beureau) and 7 billion (United nations Population Fund).  That is a lot of people, and sometimes, I don't think we consider the impact a population like that can have on the planet.  Even those of us that do are guilty of contributing to that impact in one way or another.  Many have suggested that we have now reached a critical point in human history; one where we understand what may be before us, and have to act in order to preserve our shared future.  The film HOME does this in a way that is hard to not take seriously.

New at the Zoo: African lion cubs!

Good news everyone! Last Monday night/Tuesday morning, Luke and Shera welcomed four little bundles of liony joy into the world. This is Shera's first litter, and Luke's first surviving litter (following the death of the cub born to Shera's sister, Nababiep, on May 20th of this year), and is truley great news for the Zoo, it's staff and visotors, and lions the world over. Their birth is a momentous occasion, and represents a huge victory for lion conservation. These cubs will help protect the survival of their species by contributing their unique genes to the captive breeding population in the future.

One less tiger in the world.

Rokan

Sad news yesterday from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Rokan, the almost 20 year old Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), was euthanized after several years of worsening health conditions. He was an amazing big cat who sired 10 cubs during his lifetime. He should be remembered and celebrated for the contributions he made to tiger conservation efforts. You can read more about the story at the Zoo's Tiger Diary.