Wildlife Conservation and the Battle Between Paradigms

Though the world may seem scary right now, the truth is that we are living through the golden age of human existence. Modern medicine and technology have eliminated uncountable threats to humans, allowing us to flourish. Infant mortality rates globally continue to drop, from 65/1000 in 1990 to 29/1000 in 2017 according to the WHO. In that same time span the human population has increased from 5.3 billion to 7.8 billion. Yet we must ask, at what cost?

The answer is uncontrolled global warming, increased infrastructure development, and pollution, to name a few. All of these take a toll on the natural world around us, causing harm to populations of flora and fauna globally, so much so that we have started a sixth major extinction, called the Holocene extinction. 

An image of the Western Black Rhino, which went extinct in 2011 

But, that is not to say that there is not hope. Groups around the world are working to protect wildlife, hoping to save the species that we have left.

Though they work towards the same goal, there are numerous different splits among these conservation groups. One of the biggest splits is the question of whether to prioritize a few endangered species or larger numbers of less endangered species. This split has lead to two main paths of thought and theory in conservation:  the declining population paradigm and the small population paradigm. 

The declining population paradigm is associated with the lower-risk wild life that constitutes a majority. It relates to the factors that cause large populations to become small and at risk. The small population paradigm refers instead to populations that are already small (the rare and endangered species), and the factors which cause them to shrink even further. These factors are mostly stochastic (random) events. They are often referred to as 'the final nail in the coffin', because they are the factors which cause already endangered species to become extinct. In summary, the declining population paradigm would be what would put a species at risk initially, but the small population paradigm would be what effectively causes extinction. 

The Amur leopard is an example of a species affected by the small population paradigm, as the population is extremely low. It was declared critically endangered in 1996

The small population paradigm factors include two main events: random environmental events (environmental stochasticity) and random reproductive events (demographic stochasticity). Environmental stochasticity is the random fluctuation of environmental conditions, such as fires or floods, which drastically change the environment. Demographic stochasticity can be thought of as random changes in population size due to birth and death rates. For example, if during one year many more members of a particular species die than are born, the population would shrink. It also encompasses other random reproductive events such as the male to female ratio being extremely uneven. In a large population this would have a small effect, but in a small population this can be catastrophic, because there won't be enough of one of the genders to breed.

Environmental stochasticity is so detrimental to smaller populations because there is much less genetic diversity among them, so they are less adaptable to new situations. This lack of genetic diversity is an effect of the initial population loss, where the population is bottle necked. It is only further worsened by things such as genetic drift and inbreeding.

Inbreeding is particularly dangerous because of its effect on something called the extinction vortex. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is just as scary as its name makes it seem. It describes forces, like inbreeding, that cause small populations to spiral into smaller and smaller populations until eventual extinction. In Graeme Caugley's Directions in Conservation Biology he refers to the vortex as having 5 main steps:

1. As the population decreases the frequency of mating between close relatives rises
2. This leads to reduced heterozygosity in the offspring
3. This exposes more deadly recessive alleles
4. The number of offspring is lowered and mortality is increased
5. The population becomes smaller yet, and the trend may continue to extinction

A model of the extinction vortex

Declining population paradigm factors are defined as deterministic, or initial threats. These are the factors which cause a once thriving species to become dangerously small. These are factors that humans have the greatest effect on. The major deterministic threats are over harvest/hunting, habitat loss and degradation, pathogens & parasites, climate change, exotic invasive species, and pollution.

Kangaroos are considered vulnerable, which is one level up from endangered, due to hunting and habitat loss. There situation has only worsened since the Australian wildfires

Now the question for conservationists becomes: "Which paradigm should be prioritized?" If it were the small population paradigm this would mean helping species that are near extinction make a comeback. An example of this in action is the Endangered Species Act, which ensures that government agencies don't do anything to harm endangered species. Processes such as captive breeding or translocation must be put into place to help these species.

This system has worked with examples such as the Bald Eagle, California Condor, and Kirtland's Warbler.

The Kirtland Warbler hit its population low of 167 breeding pairs in 1974, but after hands on intervention it has made a huge comeback and there are now 2300 pairs. It is still listed as Critically endangered

The Bald Eagle, has made a huge recovery and is no longer listed as endangered. 

In 1987, the California Condor got a conservation plan put into action by the US government by  capturing all of the remaining Condors after their population decrease due to poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. At this time there were 27 condors. They were released back into the wild in 1991, but they are still extremely rare.

Unfortunately these processes often these do not work. As said by Audubon Researcher Joanna Grand, "It's a critical last ditch effort for species that have already experienced severe declines and occasionally it actually works...but they are really expensive and [have] a really low probability of success." 

For this reason many conservationists try to manage the bigger forces that are at work. This means working with the declining populations paradigm. In this strategy, rather than focusing on rare or endangered species, they instead focus on "keeping common animals common." This means putting into action policies to limit global warming and pollution, protecting the few remaining wild areas from development, and curbing hunting, among other things. 

In a perfect world, conservationists would have unlimited time and funds, but as it is, both are extremely limited. Unfortunately, they must make sacrifices to protect the wild life that we have left. In this case that means that we may have to sacrifice a few of the most at risk creatures to protect the majority of the others

Positive Change in Population Control

I am sure all of you have had that experience of wandering the neighborhood, or driving down the street, and you spot a cat. It was most likely alone, minding its own business, looking for its next meal, or just simply strolling through the town it calls its home. Have you imagined that cat yet? Now, let me ask you a question about your experience: did you notice if its ear was tipped? 

If you're someone who's never looked for a cat with a tipped ear, you're not alone! It's not something most people think about when they first see a cat, but the reason for that is because people don't know the meaning behind it. I myself never looked for that noticeable mark until the summer of 2018. This was when I started volunteering for CPAW NJ. CPAW NJ is a nonprofit organization based in Montclair. The organization's sole purpose is Trap Neuter Vaccinate and Release, or TNVR (more about this later), in the cat communities in our area. 

CPAW NJ logo from http://cpawnj.org/

Karen Shinevar, the president of this charity, gave me the opportunity to help socialize a couple kittens and adult cats that they had rescued from the street. In this adventure, I was able to interact with cats who changed my opinion of feral cats and their impact on our community. Karen was honest to me in revealing that their plan was no longer to try to get cats adopted, but rather facilitate TNVR anywhere they could spread it. 

Jack and Turner photographed by me :)
both have been luckily adopted 

 All the cats I met while working this program were absolutely delightful. I worked with Jack and Turner, two siblings who both sustained injuries to their eyes pictured above, and with Oreo, he was abused when he was younger due to him being the only black kitten to come out of his mom's litter. Since then, Oreo has been rescued by Karen and is still looking for a home (if you are please send an email here)! I'm sure all of you want to keep hearing about my adventures with the cats I worked with, but I want to highlight the true purrrpose of CPAW NJ. After all, it wasn't the experiences with the kittens that I value most from CPAW. 

Picture of Oreo photographed by Alina (another volunteer)

Overpopulation can easily occur in cat communities due to the sexual behavior of female cats.  Cats reach sexual maturity at around 4 months old, so they have kittens much faster than a lot of animals. Cats, like rabbits, have heat cycles which occur every 12-22 days causing a release of hormones and a change in behavior that attracts new mates. In their period of heat, which can last from 2 days to 2 weeks, many male cats will mate with the female causing a large mix of genes. Once the cat gives birth, they can be fertilized again in as little as 2 days. This means that the cat population can get out of hand quickly. This cycle can also have effects on the mother because she can over exert herself when having litters so often. Cats can give birth to new litters 5 and a half times a year. This quick birth rate is all supposed to give cats a higher chance to pass on their genes, thus having high fitness. Currently, there are 500,000 cats on the streets of NYC, imagine in the entire US! Of course, governments have taken measures to try to regulate this cat population.

Cat population statistics brought to us by the CPAW NJ Facebook page

Traditionally, it is common for governments to utilize the option of trap and kill to handle their overpopulation of community cats. Trap and kill is when the government orders their animal control officers to lower the population of cats through the mass murdering of the population. However, this has shown to be ineffective due to the scientific phenomenon known as the vacuum effect. The vacuum effect is a description of what happens when a large piece of a population is removed: in some time, the population will bounce back because the resources in the community are now available. Immigration occurs as more animals try to take advantage of open shelters and plentiful food. Some people may be then drawn to the idea of adoption for these cats, however, this solution is also problematic. 

Yes, we always love to see a rescue mission that involves finding an animal a home. But sometimes, that is not always possible. There are strays on the street who would do much better in a home, these cats are usually banged up and ill prepared for defending themselves on the streets. Feral cats, however, have been raised in the wild. They are usually unfit for adoption because they have not been socialized. Cats need proper socialization with humans as kittens in order to become pets. If a cat is not properly socialized at the beginning of its life, it is likely that cat can never be a house pet. Without socialization, a feral cat will become stressed around humans and display aggressive behavior like hissing, spitting, and running away. Cats like Jack and Turner were lucky to be socialized as kittens because they can be adopted. However, if a cat shows any sign of being feral, they are usually euthanized in shelters for being wild. Statistics show that over 70% of cats are euthanized in shelters. 

This image shows a pyramid of actions to best reduce the cat population
https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/introducing-the-community-cat-pyramid/

This is why Karen started to spread the message of TNVR. This practice provides a humane way to handle outdoor cats while also fixing the communities' overpopulation issue. Instead of killing the cats caught by animal control officers, the goal is for cats to be neutered/spayed, vaccinated, allowed to heal, and then released back to where they were found. There are many benefits of TNVR for the cats's health and human life. For one, studies have shown that TNVR instead of trap and kill improves morale and happiness in animal control employees. The amount of euthanasias in shelters decreases significantly after a TNVR practice goes into effect. Not only that, but community cats play an important role in our environment's ecosystem. They fill in a specific niche that we should all be grateful for: small animal control. They hunt rats and mice so that the rodents cannot enter our houses. If not for community cats, our town could end up like Chicago did when it had a 3 month wait list for community cats due to a lack of rodent control. In that same matter, TNVR also prevents overconsumption of small birds and other wildlife by keeping a limited number of predators. TNVR also promotes cheap spay and neutering for pet owners. This means that humans can have easily accessible surgery that benefits the lives of their pets. In Montclair, CPAW NJ runs a monthly spay/neuter van in their campaign called Beat the Heat.

 As for the cats, the vaccinations allow the cats to become resistant to rabies, which also benefits us. The trap, neuter, and release practice allows for behavioral changes like reduced territorial fighting. The cats live a safer life with less injuries and resistance to diseases that would normally spread quickly in communities. When the cars are sterilized, they usually stop their sexual behavior. This prevents vocalized mating, a common behavior that many people are irritated by. In addition, cats can no longer have kittens in the cold outdoors where most of them usually die. To ensure they don't mistakenly attempt a second sterilization on the same cat, TNVR organizations tip one ear of the cats who have already been neutered. This is why it is important to look for that tip! Not only does TNVR result in a cheaper and practical solution to overpopulation, it also has countless studies that support that TNVR is beneficial for all parties. 

community cat inside a trap about to be checked up. The cover allows
for the cat to calm down. Photo from the CPAWNJ facebook.

With all these benefits for TNVR, it's crazy that it hasn't been implemented widely. Sadly, the true issue that prevents TNVR from spreading is the lack of knowledge. Many officials in government often say that spay/neutering will not solve the problem. This is why CPAW NJ tries to spread this awareness in communities. It solves the long term problem of overpopulation while giving cats the best chance of surviving in the outdoors. TNVR organizations also face additional challenges. Traps require food for the cat to eat as bait. Without it, no cat would enter the trap and no neutering would happen. Karen told me recently that many towns will tell her they believe in TNVR, but will not legalize feeding feral cats. Notably, another issue is that many governments mandate TNR registration. People who run TNVR efforts are forced to share their personal information. The government also considers the cats that are recovering in the operator's care as the operator's personal property. This in turn makes them violate maximum cat allowance ordinances.  

tipped ear cat from CPAW NJ website.

If you have been particularly inspired to help with this message, please check out the CPAW NJ get involved page! The people here are kind, considerate, and willing to teach you. CPAW not only handles spay/neuter and TNR, they also handle surrender prevention by providing behavior advice, cat care for beginners, and even lost cat aid. CPAW NJ has taught me how important a cat can be to our human-made ecosystem. That, and gave me the important job of teaching about the tipped ear. 

Biggest species extinction since dinosaurs

Right now more species are becoming extinct since the mass elimination of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. And it's all because of human activity.



The Earth naturally goes through environmental cycles and species extinctions, yet the rate at which that occurs is generally one to five species a year, where as right now around a dozen are becoming extinct everyday! If this continues to happen, we could be looking at around 30-50% of all species becoming extinct by the mid-century.

Humans account for 99% of all activity threatening animals on this Earth, from habitat destruction, introduction of invasive species, and global warming. And because of the complex nature of ecosystems, one individual species could be a keystone species, causing a snowball affect of destruction on an area. Keystone species are organisms that greatly affect and are depended on in an ecosystem, where if removed cause dramatic change.

Species diversity is crucial towards successful ecosystems, and while certain terrains such as coral reefs and rain forests need genetic and species diversity,  less inhabited lands such as tundras, grasslands, etc could be completely devastated if a handful of species becomes extinct.

As humans, we must realize that we do not own this Earth, we are merely one species out of the millions of others. This human supremacy must be taken down and the realization that if actions aren't taken to preserve the multitude of living things, there will be a time with no elephants, red wood trees, killer whales, or the diversity that makes up our amazing Earth.

Why Quarantines Are Important to Australians

As some of us know, recently Johnny Depp and his wife, Amber Heard, smuggled their dogs into Australia without going through customs. As an Australian, I paid attention, as this is an important issue to me. They received very strong opposition from the Australian government, with the Deputy Prime Minister (Vice President) himself threatening to have the dogs put down and incinerated. This eventually culminated with Heard admitting to smuggling and being open to the punishment, part of which was the most awkward video ever made.

To many Americans, doggycide and jail sentences may seem an overreaction to simply bringing in two dogs without permission. However, as they so kindly put it in their apology: "Australia has a unique treasure trove of plants and animals" (may I even suggest that they are the best in the world). This is due to Australia's specific geographical history,  which has allowed only specific creatures to survive. Generally, placentals would die, while monotremes and marsupials would thrive. In other places in the world placentals would be the ones who would survive. The consequence of having such unique, isolated animals and plants, is the disease rates. Australia is and has always been free of many diseases the rest of the world has gone through, such as rabies, malaria, mad cow disease, plague, and lyme.

The lack of these diseases also means that a sudden introduction of said diseases would be a disaster, with the potential to infect humans and make native species, already endangered, extinct. To prevent this, all living things must go through strict screening processes that may take 2-6 months before being allowed in. As much as I love dogs, the death of two dogs is minimal compared to the extinction of animals such as the mountain pygmy possum or the bilby (look at how cute it is).

We've seen what happens when human stupidity damages wildlife, as was the case with the extinctions of the lesser bilby in the '50's and the Tasmanian tiger in the '30's. In my opinion, Depp got off pretty easy. If he wasn't a celebrity with mass media behind him, those dogs would be dead and him and his wife would be in gaol. Plus, would you really want them to be responsible for the death of this: