Green-eyed Tree Frog

The Green-eyed Tree Frog

The green-eyed tree frog (Litoria serrata) is a species of Australasian treefrog in the family Hylidae that occurs in the Wet Tropics of Australia. It is a member of the Litoria eucnemis species-group, which occurs in New Guinea and north-eastern Australia. Litoria serrata was formerly synonymised with Litoria genimaculata, but this name is now reserved for a species in Papua New Guinea.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, intermittent freshwater marshes, rural gardens, and heavily degraded former forests. It is threatened by habitat loss and chytridiomycosis.

History

Australia is home to almost 230 species of frogs who mainly live in Queensland,  which is a tropical part of Australia. Thousands of years ago, green-eyed tree frogs separated in the northern and southern parts of Queensland and recently started breeding again. However, due to the separation, it is considered cross-breeding, since the species are so different now. Male green-eyed tree frogs from the Northern region in Australia, are rejected by female green-eyed tree frogs from the south. Their geographic separation has caused a change in mating calls, that continues to drive the two types of green-eyed tree frogs apart. If and when the females from the southern region decide to mate with the males from the north, they are re-productively disadvantaged. Their crossbreed offspring don't survive as long as the frogs whose parents breed with other frogs from the same region. Scientists now use the green-eyed tree frog in their studies of speciation and evolution due to the mating habits of the frogs in Australia.

Conservation

When it comes to monitoring the current population, the best method to use is a photographic identification model, since dorsal patterns of the green-eyed frog is not shown to change over time. To help conserve the green-eyed tree frog population, monitoring and awareness efforts have been increased and an exhibit was created at the Chester Zoo in the United Kingdom. It will be important to keep monitoring the wild population as the species population declines further.

Habitat

The green-eyed tree frog's natural habitats are mainly subtropical, but can also include tropical lowland forests, as well as rivers and freshwater marshes. They are mainly located in the rain forests of Queensland, Australia, as well as Papua New Guinea and West Papua (Indonesia), and is very capable of blending in with its surroundings: including the moss that covers the rain forests of Queensland. Though their markings correspond with their habitat, their bodies are mostly brownish-green with blotches that are a rust color. Living near creeks and streams, their rust colored blotches tend to match the lichen covered rocks that line the bodies of water.

This particular frog is semi-aquatic. Though it mainly prefers dense wood, it also tends to like bodies of water located in clearings or pastures. Adults are also found to be quite active during the day, as well as at night.

Reason For Decline

Populations of the green-eyed tree frog are largely found in the region's lower elevations between 1,500 and 2,700 meters. It is currently unknown why they have disappeared from high altitude areas. Though the frogs have suffered some decline in past years, which can be blamed on a fungal disease, their numbers have come back stronger. The fungal disease that is believed to be the cause of a decline in the 1990s is called Chytridiomycosis.

An infectious disease that has affected amphibians worldwide, Chytridiomycosis is caused by a fungus that causes sporadic deaths in some amphibian populations, as well as 100% mortality rates in others. This fungus is known as the chytrid fungus. Scientists and researchers believe that this disease has been the main reason for many species extinctions and population decreases among frogs since the 1990s. The main origin of the disease, as well as its true impact are uncertain, but is being continually investigated. Although Chytridiomycosis can be very deadly, the disease is believed to be avoided when under natural and unstressed conditions. Declining species have been found to coexist with non-declining species, possibly due to their differences in behavior. There are other causes of population decline though, including habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. Not to mention, deformities in tadpoles have been linked to agricultural chemicals.

Role in Environment

Consumers because they cannot make their own food, so they need to eat/consume other plants and or animals. They feed mostly on insects, and prefer crickets, flies, grasshoppers and moths. Sometimes they will even eat smaller frogs. For tadpoles, fruit flies and pinhead crickets are the meals of choice.

5 Ways to Help

1. Spread awareness for deforestation

2. Donate money to help preserve their environments

3. Spread awareness for how these frogs are being killed for HIV testing

4. Never try to capture them with the intention of making one a pet

5. Take a trip to one of their locations to spread knowledge of their endangerment to locals

White-headed Langur

The white-headed langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) is a critically endangered langur. Two subspecies are recognized: T. p. poliocephalus in Cat Ba Island, Vietnam, and T. p. leucocephalus in langur, is among the rarest primates in the world, and possibly the rarest primate in Asia, with population size estimated at less than 70 individuals.

White-headed Langur are found only in Vietnam China. They live predominantly in the humid limestone (Karst) forests. These forests are considered a rainforest biome. Langurs prefer altitudes of 70-100 meters above sea level. 

The White-headed Langur diet consists mainly of leaves, bamboo shoots, flowers, bark, and fruit. There unusual characteristics is a pointed, white crown that changes colors four months after they are born. Infants are known for their golden fur. It takes 4 to 6 years to fully "mature". They typically will live in groups of 5-9, with one dominant male and several females. 

Very little is known about the reproductive biology of the White-headed Langur. Female langurs all mate with one male, the result of this is inbreeding. There are more females than males, creating a species now unable to reproduce effectively. The Golden-headed langur gives birth to a single offspring. The average lifespan of the langur is approximately 25 years. 

They are prey to wildcats, wild dogs, snakes, and crocodiles. Therefore, if there species where to go extinct it would effect all the animals that prey on them. They are nomadic creatures, so they regularly move from cave to cave when resources start to run out, or when predators and humans get closer. Otherwise, these animals sleep throughout the day, spending 2-3 days in one place and then moving on. They communicate only using signals. 

They are dangerously close to extinction due mainly to hunting. Poaching for traditional medicine is the sole cause for the dramatic and rapid population decline from an estimated 2,400 - 2,700 in the 1960s to only 50 - 70 individuals. The caves they would use for protection became hunting grounds for humans to capture and kill langurs as they slept. Cat Ba Langurs were used to make "monkey balm" believed to help with erectile dysfunction and other health issues. 

In November 2000, Munster Zoo and ZSCSP, the Zoological Society for Conservation Species and Populations, started the Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project. The Cat Ba Langurs distribution range was declared a National Park in 1986, however that did not stop the poaching and decline of the population. About %30 of the population is located outside of the National Park until 2006. In 2006 Cat Ba National Park was expanded to include the entire Cat Ba Langur population and Special Protection Zones were established to provide the most stringent protection available under Vietnamese law. There is a strictly protected sanctuary, a peninsula on the eastern coast of Cat Ba Island, in the National Park and supports about %40 of the population. Fixed boundaries were set with blocking buoys and prohibition signs. Another step taken was to increase the number of rangers in the area. Local citizens, especially fisherman, were informed and rangers were given permission to remove people and take away any poaching equipment they found. 

At the end of 2001, there was no more hunting of the Cat Ba Langur. Since the beginning of the conservation efforts, nine langurs have been born and only three have died of natural causes. The greatest populations of the Cat Ba Langurs are expected to recover with the appropriate conservation of the limestone habitats. 

Cat Ba Island is in the process of creating a booming tourist industry. They are currently in the process of building luxury hotels around the island, with one hotel being 17 stories tall. To accommodate all the new tourism, the town of Cat Ba is building a new road that will connect the town to a small village on the northern edge of the island where a ferry will be to take tourists to another popular destination: Ha Long Bay. The road runs along a border of the park which may attract more hunters to the area.

5 Ways to help

1. Take legal action against anyone who produces "Monkey Balm"

2. Spread awareness of the poaching and why they are doing it.

3. Allow Rangers to take more drastic action against poachers if absolutely necessary and implement heavy fines.

4. By visiting you can help protect the White-headed Langur as most people don't know that they are one of the most endangered species in china.

5. Spend a day and visit the Hua Shan Cliff Paintings, over night in NingMing and early morning hire a boat up stream to Hua Shan Cliff Paintings.

Pygmy Three-Toed Sloth

The Pygmy Three-Toed Sloth are also known as the monk sloth or the dwarf sloth is a critically endangered species of the sloth. This curious animal has a very restricted range as it can only be found on a tiny island, Isla Escudo de Veraguas, located off mainland Panama. The entire population of this species is estimated at some 80 individuals.

As you can see Isla Escudo de Veraguas is a small isolated Caribbean island of the coast of the Republic of Panama. Despite its name, it is not part of the province of Veraguas, but rather Bocas del Toro. Although located 17 km from the coastline in the Golfo de los Mosquitos and isolated for only about 9000 years. There are several animals found on this island that are distinct from their mainland counterparts, and two mammal species or subspecies are recognized as occurring only on the island. One being a fruit bat and the other is the Three Toed Pygmy sloth.

The Pygmy Three- Toed Sloth primarily feeds on the leaves of the red mangrove trees in which it lives. These mangroves are thought to cover an area of just 1.3-1.5 square km on the island. Adults only come together to mate, finding each other using loud calls. Although the gestation period for the pygmy sloth is unknown, other species of the sloth are pregnant for between 4 and 7 months before giving birth. The mother bears one infant at a time, and will care for it between 6 months to a year. Famous for its slow movements, the pygmy sloth is ideally suited to live life in the mangroves and are surprisingly good at swimming. 

The major threat to the pygmy three-toed sloth is habitat destruction, which is reducing the size of its already small habitat. Through the phenomenon of island dwarfism, they have become the smallest member of its genus. Sloths usually only descend to the ground to defecate and urinate. Since they are so slow their best defense are camouflage and stealth, whereby they avoid predation largely by avoiding detection. With the three-toed sloths being a recently described species, little is known about their ecosystem roles. They are hosts to various parasites, may influence vegetation through their browsing, and act as prey for larger, arboreal predators. Unfortunately there are no known benefits to humans from the pygmy sloth at this time. The current conservation status has listed them as critically endangered by the IUCN due to extremely restricted range, habitat degradation in the area, increasing tourism, and illegal hunting.  

5 Ways to help protect the Three-Toed Pygmy Sloth

1. Stop cutting down the red mangrove trees.

2. Contain development on the island to keep their natural habitat safe.

3. Stop poachers from killing the sloths.

4. Help plant more mangrove trees on the island to create more of a food source for them.

5. Don't try to capture them and make them into pets.

Over the last decade 80% of the population has been lost and now their population is down to less then a hundred. In the graph below, I show what the future looks like for the pygmy sloth if things keep going as they are. By 2022, there will be no more of these delight able creature living that we know of.

Eastern lowland gorilla

The Eastern Lowland

Gorilla or Grauer's 

gorilla is a subspecies 

of eastern gorilla 

endemic to the 

mountainous forest of 

eastern Democratic 

Republic of the Congo.

Important populations 

of this gorilla live in 

the Kahuzi-Biega and 

Maiko National Parks

and their adjacent 

forests. It is the largest

of the four gorilla 

subspecies. It has a jet 

black coat just like the mountain gorilla, although the hair is shorter on the head and body. As the males mature their coat starts to turn grey just like other gorilla which gives them the "silverback" name. There are far fewer eastern lowland gorillas compared to western lowland gorillas. According to a 2004 report there were only about 5,000 eastern lowland gorillas in the wild, and down to fewer than 3,800 in 2016, compared to over 100,000 western lowland gorillas.

The Eastern Lowland has the widest altitudinal range of any of the gorilla subspecies, being found in mountainous, transitional and lowland tropical forests. One of the most studied eastern lowland gorilla population lives in the highlands of Kahuzi- Biega, where habitats vary between dense primary forests to moderately moist woodland, to Cyperus swamp and peat bog.

https://youtu.be/08HLFxk9rrY 

Gorillas play an important role in the tropical forest in which they live. they help disperse seeds throughout the forest and create places where seedlings can grow and replenish the forest. This is vital to the other animals that share their habitat, as well as humans who live in and around the forest and rely on that regrowth to sustain their environments. 

The eastern lowland gorillas shows a preference for regenerating vegetation associated with abandoned villages and fields. Farmers who have come in contact with gorillas in their plantations have killed the gorilla and obtained a double benefit, protecting their crop and using the meat of the gorilla to sell at the market. This leads to the primary cause of the decline in eastern lowland gorilla populations is poaching for meat, known as bushmeat. It is eaten by displaced peoples residing in the region affected by the civil war, militias groups and loggers and miners.

Conjour reached out to the Dian Fossey fund who have been working to conserve primates in their natural habitat for the last 50 years. The Fossy Fund has been working closely with the local community to track and monitor Grauer's gorillas. They built a permanent field station in the heart of the animals territory. Here, four teams of gorilla trackers are permanently based to monitor the gorillas. 

5 ways to help

1. Spread awareness of the poaching that is happening to these gorillas.

2. Donate money to Fauna & Flora International (FFI) that funds the rangers that monitor their habitats.

3. Donate to the World Wild Life Foundation.

4. Symbolically adopt a gorilla on WWF.

5. Promote awareness on social media platform on the current status of these gorillas.