Tag Archive | conservation

Eternally Jellified

Jul31

Do you want to live forever?  

Do you think it could be done?

Where might mortals find the magic

To ensure immortal fun?

 

Take a look deep in the ocean 

Where the jellyfishes form  

For one tiny bell-like jelly

Living backwards is the norm

 

One immortal little jelly

Can grow up and then grow down

It becomes once more a polyp

If it senses it might drown  

 

If you want to live life over

There’s one way to have your wish

Swim on back to your beginning 

And become a jellyfish

 

— Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud

 

The immortal jellyfish or “turritopsis dohrnii” as it is known by its scientific name, is the only living creature capable of transforming back into its infant or polyp state. Because it can reverse its life cycle in this way, it is essentially immortal. It is a tiny jelly, growing up to only 4.5 mm or .18 inches in width and height.

If the jelly, in its adult form, is threatened with death by starvation or dangerous change in its environment (a change in the saltiness of the ocean, for example) or even if its delicate bell-like body structure is cut or damaged, it can immediately start to change. The bell and tentacles of the adult jelly disintegrate and it becomes a tiny round polyp, a baby version of itself, again.

From the polyp stage, it can once more develop into a mature, free-swimming immortal jellyfish. This process can happen again and again. In fact, this tiny jelly can be reborn indefinitely.

These jellyfish are hard to raise in captivity, but there is one scientist who has succeeded in keeping a group of jellyfish alive for more than eleven cycles of rebirth. The scientist’s name is Shin Kubota from Kyoto University. He loves his jellyfish so much that he has even written several songs about them. Here is Shin singing one of his “Immortal Jellyfish” songs. — Listen —

Scientists are now looking into ways in which this unique creature might help humans heal from serious injuries or be able to regenerate healthy tissue. The tiny turritopsis dohrnii is, indeed, an amazing beloved beast.

 

Snubbed and Blue

Mar4

 

Don’t snub me ‘cause my face is blue

From: elelur.com

I’d rather look like me than you

I sport a golden, flowing cape

My long tail shows I’m not an ape

 

I live up high among the trees

If I could talk, I’d speak Chinese

I like tree lichen for a snack

My meals are plants; they don’t attack

 

My canines might be sharp and long

From: WildWondersofChina.com

They grow for show; don’t get me wrong

I’ll use my teeth for self defense

And show them off if I get tense

 

But mostly I just like to cuddle

To survive, we monkeys huddle

Days are short and nights are cold

It helps to have some friends to hold

 

My bluish face and lack of nose  

Is from the coldness, I suppose

And if you lived where my kind do

You’d probably have a blue face too

 

— Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud

 

The Snub-Nosed Sichuan monkey is a unique creature that lives in the remote and mountainous regions of central and southwestern China. It is also called the “Blue-Cheeked Monkey” and the “Chinese Golden Monkey.” No other primate can survive such extreme temperatures. Scientists are not sure why this monkey’s face is blue… it’s not really because of the cold. But the adaptation of no protruding nasal bone structures resulting in its snub-nosed appearance, might prevent this little guy from getting a frost-bitten nose. There’s no nose for the frost to bite!

The Snub-Nosed Golden Monkey also has thick fur for insulation, and it has a habit of cuddling in groups when it is cold or threatened by predators with the babies in the middle of the huddle for warmth and protection. They are usually gentle creatures who eat plants, including lichen which comprise a large portion of their diet. Those long canine teeth are for expressing bravado or fear; they do not mean that it is a carnivore. They will defend their territories against other bands of monkeys and can use their teeth to fight off predators such as wolves, foxes, weasels and raptors.

These fascinating beloved beasts are in danger of disappearing altogether as their habitat disappears and, despite protections, they are hunted illegally for their meat and fur. One group of these monkeys, the Hubei golden snub-nosed monkeys, have only 1,000 to 2,000 members left.

There is an old Chinese legend about a warrior monkey named Sun Wukong who had supernatural powers. If attacked, Sun Wukong could create an army by turning each of his long guard hairs into an powerful warrior, a clone of himself. Unfortunately, these little creatures cannot actually clone themselves and their numbers continue to dwindle. They need our help and protection.

The Nature Conservancy is one group that is working to save populations of the rare snub-nosed monkeys. A determined and dedicated biologist, Long Yongcheng, worked for many long years, with help from the Nature Conservancy, to save these monkeys. He succeeded in getting areas of forest set aside for habitat reserved for the snub-nosed monkeys. One person can make a difference in saving an entire species.

Humble Bee

Sep6

On Bee’s Knees  

Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee

Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee

 

Oh, I’m a humble bumble bee

A yellow-banded stumble bee

Our numbers tumble down so low

That crops will crumble as we go

 

My cousins fill up comb and hive  fig03

These busy buzzers work and strive

And honey is not all bees do

We pollinate the fruit trees too

 

But when you spray your pesticides

You kill the skill a bee provides

I’m begging you on bended knee

Don’t let this be the end of me

 

Save the bees! Please.  

– by Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud

 

 

The yellow banded bumble bee is in trouble. It used to be common in the United States and southern Canada, but now it is hard to find these busy little insects. These bees pollinate important plants like potatoes, tomatoes, alfalfa, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries and other edible crops. Because bumble bees can fly in lower temperatures than other types of bees, they are important pollinators in northern, cooler climates.

The wild lands that support the bees have been disappearing. Herbicides and pesticides (sprays that kill weeds and insects)  have been killing the bees by making them weak and susceptible to disease. People can help to reverse the disappearance of bee populations by helping to create gardens and open plots of land that provide flowers and habitat to please the bees. We can stop using harmful pesticides and petition governments and stores to ban pesticides.

Bees need us and we need bees. Let’s help each other…. Please!

Un-jinxing the Lynx

May3

Although domesticated cats are responsible, in part, for the decimation of many songbird populations, the wild cats, the “felids” are in desperate need of help. Almost half of the 36 wild cat populations around the world are in grave danger of disappearing off of the planet earth forever.

From Wikimedia Commons

From Wikimedia Commons

The most endangered of the felids is the Iberian Lynx. The last remaining pockets of this Lynx population exist in Portugal and central and southwestern Spain. The Iberian Lynx is generally crepuscular (active at twilight) and nocturnal, and rabbits are its favorite food.

The Iberian Lynx is a beautiful cat with impressive, tufted ears, bright spotted coat, magnificent whiskers and a neat bobbed tail. For all of its beauty, however, this Lynx’s luck is running out.

Here’s what you can do to help: Sign petitions that encourage the saving and reclamation of the Iberian Lynx’s habitat. Spread the word about this beautiful wild cat. Send the Lynx a care package full of rabbits. Read the poem below to your friends:

Ode to The Iberian Lynx

From Designbolts.com

From Designbolts.com

I told my friend, the Iberian Lynx

To travel to Egypt to go ask a sphinx

Why his whole family is in such a jinx

So he went, and then told me, “Here’s what the sphinx thinks:”

‘Two-leggeds push the wildcat to the brink

And then won’t acknowledge the obvious link

Between habitat loss and the humans who think

The space humans take up is not destined to shrink.”

“The solution is simple,” the savvy sphinx said,

“Work fast before every last Lynx winds up dead.”

“All these humans who think that they need so much room,

Must be packed up and sent off to live on the moon.”

Links to help the Lynx:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/335/438/593/?z00m=22956678&redirectID=1666123897

http://www.arkive.org/iberian-lynx/lynx-pardinus/

From Doñana Natl. Park, Spain

From Doñana Natl. Park, Spain