Two stories are great about animals. One is a success story, and one is a future plan.
First, there is a bird that was in danger of going extinct in England. It is the Stone-Curlew. The primary cause driving the numbers of birds and breeding pairs down was farming. Farms in England use the same land as the roosting place of Stone-Curlews.
Conservationists in England have convinced many farmers to keep some of their farmed land in a natural state. It has increased the population in raw numbers and breeding pairs. They don't have large broods, but 6 new fledglings have been found this year.
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| The stone-curlew is about as big as a crow. |
Then there is the fascinating story of Pygmy Asian Elephants. They are about two feet shorter than most Asian Elephants and are found only on the island of Borneo (a large island near Singapore shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei).
Well, as I have talked a lot about, the forests of Borneo have been decimated to plant Palm Oil Plantations, which are nature dead zones. Some parts of Borneo are dedicated to the elephant, but they cut the population into small, isolated habitats.
An Indonesian expert (female - if it makes a difference) has proposed a system similar to wildlife overpasses in the United States. She proposes habitat corridors through the plantations to make passage between isolated elephant populations to build and support diversity. She has major backing and it is a great idea.
Cool, right?
Anywho, here is a picture of the Borneo Pygmy Elephants.
