The animals are in Western Indonesia and experts believe that there are around 200 in the Tripa forest which is in the Aceh province.

Unfortunately this part of the world has plantations with palm oil trees around it which is why companies harvesting the oil are now clearing the area with fire to get to them.

Before palm oil plantations were developed in the area the population of these animals was around 2,000. However this number has been drastically depleted due to forest clearance. As the animal’s natural habitat is being destroyed they will either be killed by fire, die through malnutrition and starvation of they could be killed or captured by people in the surrounding area.

Ian Singleton who is currently the conservation director for the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program was quoted as saying:

“They are just barely hanging on. It is no longer several years away, but a few months or even weeks before this iconic creature disappears.”

Right now the numbers of Sumantran orangutans in the wild is thought to be around 6,600 and this number is getting smaller and smaller each year.

Groups such as Rainforest Rescue are working in the area to save the orangutans however as the animals will sleep high up in trees overnight on platforms they have made it is sometimes difficult to get to them in time.

Thankfully they are seeing some positives results in the area where they have been able to restore the habitat of these creatures so that they can go back to where they previously lived and be healthy and happy. This work can only continue through support and donations made to the cause.

If you’d like to help you can do so by adopting an orangutan.

These figures have led conservation groups to demand that immediate action is taken to stop the elephant’s natural habitat from being destroyed.

The primary reason for the reduction in population numbers is deforestation, particularly in Indonesia. The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) decided to change the status of these animals as they have tracked and found a reduction in the elephant’s habitat of around 69%.

This loss has only taken 25 years which means that conservation organisations are sitting up and taking notice of what is happening. It is thought that the total population in the wild of the Sumatran elephant is now only around 1,800.

The IUCN also stated that they fear for much of this is remaining population as many of the communities of elephants are in areas that are not protected by conservation programs. To back up this statement figures were shown that indicated that in Riau Province 6 herds disappeared between 2007 and 2009.

The IUCN also stated that unless something is done urgently it is likely that these animals will become extinct in this lifetime. As the plantations in Indonesia continue to grow more and more of the natural habitat of these animals is being destroyed.

Unfortunately unless money is put into these projects the authorities in Indonesia not likely to do anything about the plantation owners that continue this destruction.

News like this comes as a blow to conservationists around the world especially since the last Javan Rhino in Vietnam was found killed by poachers in October 2011 which means that this animal is now extinct in this part of the world.

These animals had previously been removed from the list by wildlife managers who believed that these creatures were no longer at risk as their numbers were on the increase in Yellowstone Park and surrounding areas.

The decision to remove these iconic American animals from the list was taken back in 2007 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

However, the new ruling which was made by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and saw the Yellowstone Grizzly Bears being placed back on the Endangered Species List and back under protection once again.

Why Grizzly Bears are Endangered Again

The reason given for this ruling was that the bears are suffering as a result of climate change which has increased the numbers of beetles that destroy the whitebark pine trees.

With fewer trees in their native area the bears will have to start foraging for food in areas that are more highly populated. This would then result in grizzlies, livestock and people coming into contact with each other, which is something that experts want to avoid.

Over the past few years grizzly bears have been responsible for the deaths of several tourists and hikers. This has led to around 75 grizzly bears being removed from the park or euthanized in 2010.

Obviously putting these bears down is not something that wildlife experts want to do, however, when they start to attack and kill humans are livestock there is little else that can be done. This is the reason that the Yellowstone grizzly bears needed to be back on the endangered species list.

Arriving at this Decision

The panel that was responsible for putting the Yellowstone grizzly bears back on the endangered species list was made up of three people.

After reviewing the evidence that was put before them they stated that the wildlife agency who had made the previous decision had “failed to adequately consider the impacts of global warming and mountain pine beetle infestation on the vitality of the region’s white-bark pine trees.”

Due to the unseasonably warm weather over the past few years the beetles responsible for decimating the trees in Yellowstone Park had not died off as they normally would do. This left the beetles to damage in excess of 25% of the trees in Yellowstone and destroy around 16% of them. Clearly this was a high percentage and the effects of these beetles could not be ignored.

Diana Tomback who is a whitebark pine expert from the University of Colorado discussed the fact that the scale of the problem that is being caused by these beetles is unprecedented and it could lead to the ravaging of much of the ecosystem within Yellowstone Park.

Studies have shown that trees that have been ravaged by beetles have a 90% plus chance of dying, which means that these beetles could destroy large areas in a short space of time.

The beetles responsible for this will bore into the tree barks and lay thousands of larvae within the tree. This will cause the tree stress and many of them will then turn red as a result.

How Endangered Status Helps

Thanks to previously being placed on the endangered species list, coupled with a recovery strategy, the grizzly population in the Yellowstone Park and the surrounding region had tripled in the past 35 years. In fact the population of these bears is estimated at 600 although the growth of this population has started to level out over the past few years.

As a result of this ruling the white bark pine has been scrutinised and the Fish and Wildlife Service believes that the trees themselves should be put on the endangered species list. Doing this would help to put strategies and processes in place that could help to increase the number of these trees in the Yellowstone area.

Rulings like this also highlight the fact that the executive branch and courts are realising the impact that global warming is having on areas across the globe. In some places global warming is totally transforming the natural landscape and this is leading to problems such as this one.

While you might think that taking a ride on the back of a sea turtle looked fun in Finding Nemo it is a stunt that could see Jamie O’Brien, a pro surfer get into a lot of trouble thanks to a photograph that was taken off him.

O’Brien, aged 28, posted a photo onto a local TV stations Facebook Page which was taken underwater and shows him riding on the back of one of these creatures.

Mr O’Brien did not mean to cause any harm to the sea turtle by riding on its back and he stated that the photo was only taken and posted to highlight to the world the spread of a herpes like virus – fibropapillomatosis – which affects seas turtles and is becoming a real problem for these creatures in the wild.

The disease creates tumours, which are benign and these cause sea turtles to have difficulty breathing and moving, and can cause death in some cases. These tumours are becoming more widespread and if it continues, as it did with green turtles, it could be a bigger threat to sea turtles than man.

The problem with the photograph that was taken was that Mr O’Brien had broken federal and state laws by disturbing the creature. The Federal Endangered Species Act that is in place to protect against humans from coming into contact with various sea creatures have a fine of up to $13,200 for anyone who has harassed a sea turtle. As a result of his actions Mr O’Brien is now being investigated by law enforcement agents in Honolulu.

Right now there is no actual limit on the distance that humans must keep away from sea turtles, there is however legislation on how far away humans must stay from whales for example.

However it is considered that being too close to sea turtles can constitute breaking a state or federal law, especially if the animal in question is seen to be disturbed or have its natural behaviour disturbed in any way.

In Hawaii the sea turtle is also considered as a sacred creature and the laws that are in place tend to be strictly upheld. This means that Mr O’Brien could see the full weight of the law come down on him in order to safeguard against this happening in the future.

The underwater cameraman, Brent Bielmann who shot the photo was unavailable for comment, as were Body Glove and Etnies who sponsor Mr O’Brien.

While Mr O’Brien’s actions were certainly ill judged and misguided they were men in the right way and hopefully this should bring attention to the plight of sea turtles in the wake of this terrible disease.

You can watch some commentary on the story below:

However, it is now felt that this review came around far too late for it to make a difference to these animals.

Chuck Underwood of the Fish and Wildlife Service was quoted as saying:

“We don’t have anything in our files that indicates that they’ve been seen in 50 years or more. We don’t think they’re out there anymore.”

The South Florida rainbow snake was one of the rainbow snake subspecies and it was known as living in the Fisheating Creek area which is close to Lake Okeechobee.

The Florida fairy shrimp was known to inhabit pools that were in the south of Gainesville, however these pools along with the Florida fairy shrimp were destroyed by commercial development in the area.

It was a thanks to a petition that was filed to the government from the Centre for Biological Diversity that made the review possible. In the petition is stated that the CBD wanted the government to review more than 400 aquatic species that were in the United States.

A recent legal decision was also made to hurry along the decisions that were to be made on 757 species that could be facing extinction and therefore could be liable to be protected.

One of the problems with these decisions is that many species will have to wait for many decades before a scientific hearing is granted on their protection eligibility.

One of the reasons that these two species didn’t survive is that neither of them were under protection from the Endangered Species Act. As this is the most powerful weapon conservationists have against species becoming extinct species with depleting numbers need to be covered by it.

Another issue that has got a lot of people worried is the fact that the Earth appears to be entering a period of mass extinction with the levels of extinction being thought to have risen up to 1000 times the average rate. As humans are the main factor in this mass extinction period something needs to be done in order to save more animals and allow them to live on into the future.

Stem cell research into endangered animals has been successful and scientists have recently been able to produce the very first stem cells from the white rhino and a species of monkey from West Africa called the drill.

It is believed that these stem cells might be used to create the vital eggs and sperm that are needed to artificially reproduced animals. If this is successful the two species may be saved from extinction.

So how can this happen?

Firstly not everyone is aware that research into stem cells has been going on since 1970s when a scientist Oliver Ryder began collecting skin cells, that were then frozen from in excess of 800 animals that were facing extinction. He termed this collection a Frozen Zoo and it was his dream that one day there would be the technology to use these cells in order to protect any species that were endangered.

Dr Jeanne Loring spent 5 years researching and trialling a process that is known as induced pluripotency, which generates stem cells. These cells can then be used to create any tissue that can be found in the body – such as sperm and eggs. These eggs and sperm can then be used to create embryos which can be used in IVF treatment in endangered animals.

While this method seems like the most effective to increase the numbers of endangered animals there are still other means of helping them to reproduce. The reason for this is that as there has been little research done on stem cell technology it could be too late to help certain animals, such as the West African Rhino, as their numbers have depleted so significantly.

However, that is not to say that this technology could not be used in other medicinal applications for animals that are suffering from various diseases which could reduce their numbers further.

So, as is often the case, it’s scientific breakthroughs which are providing real hope when it comes to endangered animal conservation.

The reason that a badger cull was planned was due to the fact that badgers that are infected by the TB bacterium are able to spread it to herds of cattle.

It is estimated that bovine TB costs the UK around £100 million per year and over the next 10 years the total cost could go up to £1 billion.

Clearly this is a huge amount of money and farmers in areas that are affected by bovine TB are keen on the cull being undertaken.

However, there is fierce opposition against the cull and this is due to two factors:

- One is that the badger is currently a protected species under both UK and European laws which means that anyone killing them would have to have a particular license to do so and be sanctioned by government ministers.

- The second is that many people object to the method that was used to kill badgers in the RBCT (Randomised Badger Culling Trial). In the RBCT badgers were caught in cages and then shot and many people believe that this was an inhumane way to cull badgers as being trapped in a cage caused them anxiety and stress. When the plans were put together for a UK cull this was the method that was going to be used to help to control the numbers of diseased badgers that are currently in the wild.

Under the new plans which are due to go on the consultation government officials are interested in using fully trained marksmen to shoot the badgers at night time. They will not be using the method of trapping badgers in cages and then shooting them, often hours later.

It is thought that not only would this method be more cost effective it would also be much better for the animals as they would be killed by a single shot.

Anyone employed as a marksman would have to undergo training and be a holder of a deerstalking license. This new method will be trialled in two areas if the consultation does not bring up any major issues that will need to be discussed.

It is thought that culling badgers so that they cannot pass the TB bacteria from farm to farm could reduce the disease in local areas by up to 16%. This would have a definite benefit on the farmers in these areas as they would not lose money due to their herds contracting the disease.

While this seems like a simple and straightforward plan there is another problem that could occur if a badger cull goes ahead and that is the threat of perturbation. This is the name given to the way in which badgers will scatter when they are being shot.

When they scatter they move on to other local areas and many believe that this could increase the number of cattle suffering from bovine.

So, before a UK cull can be given the go ahead for 2013 the new plans need to be discussed and an agreement needs to be reached.

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An ecologist Alistair Melzer from Central Queensland University sums up the issues affecting the koala, with both human conflicts and climate change affecting the species:

“Unfortunately the best places for the koala are also best for humans, namely fertile land. If the climate changes these animals don’t migrate, so population groups won’t move south, where it’s cooler. They’ll die.”

The climate change issue is particularly worrying as there’s the possibility of huge numbers of koalas dying in Northern areas unless a widescale relocation programme was implemented.

In terms of their numbers, without serious investment in any counting programmes it’s hard to get accurate figures on the number of koalas alive in the wild in Australia, but the number is almost certainly between 50,000 and 100,000.

On the face of it this might seem like a healthy number but along the Gold Coast where population studies have been carried out, numbers have declined by 80% in only the last 20 years.

One of the most disheartening ones has just been released, highlighting the fact that last year the RSPCA received 29,000 separate reports of animal cruelty in Wales alone. When you take England into account as well, this figure then rises to 160,000, up over 10% on 2009′s figures.

However, in some slightly better news it appears that the work of the RSPCA is helping. In Wales around 15,000 people received welfare improvement advice, with 92% of these people choosing to follow up and act on the advice, thereby avoiding prosecution and improving the welfare of their animals and pets.

This was highlighted by the RSPCA’s David Bowles, who said:

“It is such an achievement that more than 90% of animal owners chose to follow the welfare advice offered by our officers.”

It is good news that these types of initiatives do make a difference and hopefully with the economy likely to pick up over the next year the RSPCA’s donations will also increase.