Island Conservation
Island Conservation is attending an innovation summit taking place December 5, 2016. The summit aims to generate management plans and policies for addressing the problem of invasive species. More information U.S. Department of the Interior. Featured photo: Antipodean Albatross with chick. Credit: Jason Zito/Island Conservation
In honor of #GivingTuesday and #MyGivingStory, we asked Emily Heber, a volunteer for Island Conservation, what inspires her to help us prevent extinctions. Here is her response… Conservation is important for so many reasons — economic value, ethics, intrinsic value, ecological balance, and a host of other reasons. Personally, my drive to conserve threatened and endangered species […]
Something is happening on Choros Island, Chile. Imagine a penguin poking his head above the sea, looking around in all directions. He wants to be sure there is no threat nearby before jumping to the closest rock. Once on land, with little jumps and steps, he decisively walks up the cliff to reach a safe […]
Sightings of Endangered Night Parrot suggest the species is doing better than previously thought. The Endangered Australian native Night Parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis) was believed to be extinct for over 100 years until 2013. Now, more and more sightings suggest that this nocturnal bird species is doing better than previously thought. However, the Night Parrot is still very […]
A five-mile cat-proof fence built on Mauna Loa will keep native birds safe from invasive feral cats. The ‘Ua’u, also called the Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis), is a seabird listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. ‘Ua’u spend most of their time out at sea, but they settle on the slopes […]
A new study shows that the native Galápagos Critically Endangered Mangrove Finch–which is imperiled by invasive predators and struggling to survive–is now threatened by inbreeding with a local woodpecker species. The scientific journal Conservation Genetics has published a new study: “Slow motion extinction: inbreeding, introgression, and loss in the critically endangered mangrove finch,” explores the threats that […]
Invasive predators have contributed to hundreds of extinctions. Island species are some of the most vulnerable to impacts from invasives. A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, edited by Island Conservation Board Member Daniel Simberloff, sheds light on native wildlife deaths amassed by invasive predators. The New Zealand native Stephens Island Wren is […]
Students at Foothill Knolls Stem Academy of Innovation researched endangered island species and gave presentations to their community to raise awareness and support island restoration projects. By: Jennifer Morris At Foothill Knolls Stem Academy of Innovation, we believe children can save our world little by little and piece by piece. Project-based learning provides our students with authentic learning […]
The San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher, a bird species endemic to the Galápagos Islands, has gone extinct. The Galápagos Islands are famous for their incredibly high biodiversity. Are they at risk of becoming famous for high extinction rates? The San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus dubius) used to fly, sing, forage, and build nests on San Cristóbal Island of the Galápagos […]
Feral cats are already known for threatening small native wildlife. Now, new evidence is emerging that indicates that by transmitting parasites, feral cats are also harming larger animals. Evidence is mounting that the small predators are responsible for an outsize number of wildlife deaths around the globe. Feral cats are known to cause ecological damage by […]