Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 27 augusT 2019
Giraffes move closer to endangered species protection

By JAMEY KEATEN servation Society. "And in sources and Tourism. "Over
GENEVA (AP) — Nations Southern Africa, they may 50% of our giraffe popula-
around the world moved be doing OK, but giraffes tion is within the Serengeti
Thursday to protect giraffes are critically endangered." ecosystem, which is well
as an endangered species Lieberman said giraffes protected. Why should we
for the first time, drawing were particularly at risk in then go for this?"
praise from conservationists parts of West, Central and CITES says the population
and scowls from some sub- East Africa. of wild giraffes is actually
Saharan African nations. The Wildlife Conservation much smaller than that of
Thursday's vote by a key Society said it was con- wild African elephants.
committee at the World cerned about the multiple "We're talking about a few
Wildlife Conference known threats to giraffes that have tens of thousands of giraffes
as CITES paves the way already resulted in popula- and we're talking about a
for the measure's likely ap- tion decline, citing habitat few hundreds of thousands
proval by its plenary next loss, droughts worsened by In this Tuesday, March 20, 2018 file photo, giraffes and zebras of African elephants," said
week. climate change and the il- congregate under the shade of a tree in the afternoon in Mi- Tom De Meulenaar, chief
The plan would regulate legal killings and trade in kumi National Park, Tanzania. of scientific services at
world trade in giraffe parts, giraffe body parts. Associated Press CITES. He said the conven-
including hides, bone carv- The Natural Resources De- tion was intended to spe-
ings and meat, while stop- fense Council, an environ- would help better track Still, not all African countries cifically address the inter-
ping short of a full ban. It mental advocacy group, numbers of giraffes. supported the move. national trade in giraffes
passed 106-21 with seven hailed the move, noting "The giraffe has experi- "We see no reason as to why and their parts.
abstentions. that giraffes are a vulner- enced over 40% decline we should support this de- "With fewer giraffes than el-
"So many people are so fa- able species facing habitat in the last 30 years, said cision, because Tanzania ephants in Africa, it was a
miliar with giraffes that they loss and population de- Maina Philip Muruthi of the has a stable and increas- no-brainer to simply regu-
think they're abundant," cline. A key African conser- African Wildlife Foundation. ing population of giraffes," late giraffe exports," said
said Susan Lieberman, vice vationist said it could help "If that trend continues, it said Maurus Msuha, direc- Tanya Sanerib, internation-
president of international reverse drops in giraffe means that we are head- tor of wildlife at the Tanza- al legal director at the Cen-
policy for the Wildlife Con- populations, as the move ed toward extinction." nian Ministry of Natural Re- ter for Biological Diversity.q

Massive juniper tree-cutting project aims to aid sage grouse

By KEITH RIDLER for other western states as ect area contains numer-
Associated Press junipers have expanded ous leks, both active and
MURPHY, Idaho (AP) — The because of fire-suppression abandoned as junipers
largest-ever project in the efforts. Juniper-removal moved in.
U.S. to remove thousands projects have been carried Radio-telemetry on sage
of juniper trees to help im- out before, but not on this grouse has determined that
periled sage grouse has scale. leks ideally have no or few
started in Idaho. Environmental groups trees within a 6-mile (9.5-ki-
Junipers provide perch- fought the Idaho project lometer) radius, which gives
es for raptors that attack contending it was being nesting sage grouse hens
and kill sage grouse. Juni- driven by grazing interests. the best chance to raise
pers also force out sage- "When you remove veg- their chicks. That means
brush and other plants that etation and disturb the each lek needs about 115
produce bugs that sage ground, that's when inva- square miles (295 square
grouse eat. Sage grouse sive species come in," said kilometers) of treeless sage-
also feed on the sagebrush This Aug. 15, 2019 photo shows a juniper tree cut down as part Scott Lake of Western Wa- brush. The project aims to
during the winter. of a giant project to remove junipers encroaching on sagebrush tersheds Project, citing fire- cut down junipers within
Overall, sage grouse num- habitat needed by imperiled sage grouse in southwestern Idaho. prone cheatgrass in par- that distance of leks.
bers have dwindled from Associated Press ticular. Junipers are being cut
an estimated 16 million be- But federal officials gave where sagebrush still covers
fore European settlement square miles (2,500 square grouse into immediate, the final approval earlier most of the ground. Thicker
of the West to no more kilometers) of state and quality nesting habitat for this year. Some cutting was stands of junipers that have
than 500,000 today in 11 federal land. grouse," said Josh White done in the spring, and the pushed out sagebrush are
western states. "What we're doing here of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife pace picked up in the last being left as those areas
The project that began is turning the sagebrush Service. three weeks with crews of would take decades to be-
last spring in Idaho aims steppe habitat that's mar- Sage grouse are chicken- 50 to 60 workers with chain come suitable sage grouse
to remove junipers on 965 ginal nesting habitat for sized, ground-dwelling saws cutting down junipers. habitat. But those thicker
birds considered an indica- "Historically, fire would stands could be targeted
tor species for the health of have kept these trees in for a future project.
vast sagebrush landscapes check," said Ben Sitz of the Rancher and Owyhee
in the West that support U.S. Bureau of Land Man- County Commissioner Jerry
some 350 species of wild- agement. "We're trying to Hoagland said ranchers
life. Experts generally attri- preserve the diversity we want the junipers removed
bute their decline to road have." to improve cattle grazing.
construction, development The project is designed Ranchers have "been rec-
and oil and gas leasing. around sage grouse ognizing the effects of the
The project that is estimat- breeding grounds, called junipers over the years," he
ed to take 10 to 15 years leks, where males perform said, noting cut areas have
could become a template elaborate rituals. The proj- led to more water. q