charismatic species – Forecast: partly sunny with a chance of cataclysms

Every 15 minutes, a poacher kills an elephant for its tusks.

Does one elephant matter? Check it out:

https://www.paulallen.com/china-takes-aggressive-steps-to-close-ivory-trade/#1545-2

Previously I raised the issue of, how much do we want to pour resources into the protection of “charismatic” species such as the elephant, when more humble unnoticed creatures (and plants) go ignored at the planet’s peril? Not to mention the multitudes of suffering human beings.

It’s a serious question, but let me be irrational for the moment, since it seems that a little irrationality can go a long way toward positive outcomes, where sheer logic falls short (read Antonio Damasio).

Continue reading “How Much Does Elephant Slaughter Matter?”

For those of us depressed by the continuing hammer blows delivered to the environment by humans, there are a few bright spots. A couple below, although one can’t sugarcoat them.

Bengal Tiger Resurgence

I recently heard that the population of Bengal Tigers is on the upswing in India (they have been increasing in Nepal too). I couldn’t find that recent story with a Web search, but here’s a report from January 2015, with numbers cited by India’s Environment Minister: Bengal Tiger Numbers Up

Assuming we can trust NDTV and India’s environment minister, these are promising numbers—an increase of 58% in seven years.

Unfortunately, there’s a downside to these stats: the populations are scattered, meaning genetic diversity is still low, and the total number of the big cats, unsurprisingly, is 1/50th of what it was circa 1900 (then 100,000). At the same time, India’s human population has gone up by a factor of 4.

Continue reading “Good News, Good News, and Unsurprising Bad News on the Environment: Tigers, Amur Leopards Get a Break, Not So Elephants”