Gray Wolf Slideshow

     The slideshow featured above includes photographs of the gray wolf, a common figure in the North American region. Gray wolves are an iconic animal to many. Find out about these fun facts regarding the legendary gray wolf and why we should help them survive.

1. Gray wolves are considered to be elegant predators and highly social animals that form tight, nuclear packs. A symbol of the wilderness and the predecessors to our domesticated dogs.

2. On average, gray wolves will eat 20 to 30 pounds of meat in one meal, but have also been known to go up to 14 days between meals with no ill effects.

3. There are five subspecies of gray wolves in North America. Their coat colors can range from pure white to brown, gray, cinnamon, and black.

4. Gray wolves travel in packs of four to seven, led by the alphas-the mother and father wolves that track, hunt, and choose dens for the pups or younger subordinate wolves.

5. Wolves often mate for life.

6. Wolf pups are born blind and deaf, and must be cared for until they mature at around ten months of age.

7. They have complex communication system that involves body language, barking, growling, "dancing," howling, and scent marking.

8. Gray wolves are carnivores that usually prey on animals much larger than themselves. Their heightened sense of smell and hearing makes them excellent hunters.

9. Wolves are frequently mentioned in human folklore. In Roman mythology, the Wolf-Goddess Lupa finds Romulus and Remus, future founders of Rome, as infants and nursed them until a shepherd took them in.

10. After the last wolf was killed in Yellowstone National Park in 1926, a wolf reintroduction program was implemented in 1995. The program is considered to be a great success-the wolves are reproducing at a rapid rate, and there are currently around 100 wolves in the park.

Locations of Endangered Animals within North America

This google map gives locations of endangered animals on all corners of North America. Take a look and see which animals live near you. Lend a hand to help support the suffering wildlife within North America. Together we can help save some of the most endangered animals.

Vaquita-Podcast

The vaquita, or porpoise, is the most endangered marine mammal within North America. They need our help to continue to live a prosperous life. Give my podcast a listen to learn fun facts about the Vaquita and how we can help them survive in the wild.

Download this episode (right click and save)

Stellar Sea Lion

Stellar Sea Lion and pup sitting together.

Photograph from zooborns.com

   
     Steller Sea Lions are the largest of the species in the world. The males can be as long as 11 feet and weigh 2,500 pounds. The females are much smaller with a length close to 9.5 feet and they don’t weigh more than 800 pounds.
     They also have a lighter color to them than the other species. Steller Sea Lions can be reddish brown or even a light tan color. You will also nice that they all have very bulky necks.
     You will find Steller Sea Lions living along the coast of Japan along the Pacific rim all the way to central California. It is due to them being along the California coast that they are sometimes mistaken for California Sea Lions. Many people just assume that this is what they are due to the location.
Since the Steller Sea Lions spend so much time in the water it is hard to learn about their behaviors.       
     They do live in large groups like other species. They also use a wide range of sounds to communicate with each other.
     Steller Sea Lions find a wide variety of food to consume in the water. What they will eat depends on the season and what part of their distribution area that they live in. Some of the common ones include all types of fish, various invertebrates, and even smaller Sea Lions of the same species or others if those food sources are scarce.
     It is estimated there are less than 100,000 Steller Sea Lions remain today. In the past 30 years they have lost a large percentage of their population. Efforts are in place to protect them from hunters and from accidents in a hope that they will be able to survive.
     Careful research also shows that a lack of food in many of their locations though has led to them dying as well. When they don’t get enough to eat they will have less blubber stored to keep them warm. Females are less likely to mate when they are stressed and not getting enough food. Many of the young can be born sick due to poor nutrition and their mother’s may not be able to produce enough milk for them to survive.

How to Help
    People can help by symbolically adopting a stellar sea lion to save one in the wild, contacting your local government leaders, explaining the situation of the sea lions to gain support, and stay alert on the news about the stellar sea lion

Pygmy Rabbit

Pygmy Rabbit sitting below a branch. Photograph by Betsy Demay             Pygmy rabbits are typically found in areas of tall, dense sagebrush cover, and are highly dependent on sagebrush to provide both food and shelter throughout the year. Their diet in the winter consists of up to 99 percent sagebrush.      The pygmy rabbit is believed to be one of only two in Northern America that digs its own burrows. Pygmy rabbit burrows are typically found in relatively deep, loose soils of wind-borne or water-born origin. They occasionally make use of burrows abandoned by other species and as a result, may occur in areas of shallower or more compact soils that support sufficient shrub cover.      The pygmy rabbit historical range includes portions of California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington. On March 5, 2003, the Columbia Basin Distinct Population Segment of the pygmy rabbit was listed as endangered in the state of Washington.      Habitat loss and fragmentation caused by conversion of sagebrush rangeland to agriculture, development, including oil and gas production, and wildfire frequency in some areas. How to Help:      Citizens can adopt a Pygmy Rabbit to save one in real life, reach out to their political leaders to spread the word about the state of the pygmy rabbit, and stay informed by following alerts about the pygmy rabbit's condition.

Red Wolf

Red Wolf walking

Photograph by John & Karen Hollingsworth / USFWS

       The red wolf is a smaller and a more slender cousin of the gray wolf. It is gray-black, with a reddish cast that gives it the color for which it is named.
       Historically, red wolves ranged throughout the southeastern U.S. from Pennsylvania to Florida and as far west as Texas. Today, wild populations roam more than 1.7 million acres throughout northeastern North Carolina, including Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
       Almost hunted to the brink of extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rounded up fewer than 20 pure red wolves to be bred in captivity in 1980. As of 2007, approximately 207 captive red wolves reside at 38 captive breeding facilities across the United States. Now, more than 50 red wolves currently live in the wild.
      Threats to the red wolf include habitat loss due to human development, negative attitudes that hinder restoration, severe weather, deaths by motor vehicles, and illegal killings. Interbreeding between coyote and red wolf populations has remained a constant threat to the recovery of this species.
      Given that the entire current range of the red wolf in the wild is located in a small coastal area at roughly three feet in elevation, the impacts of climate change, including storm surges and sea level rise, loom large as a threat to their future.

How to Help
     Support will help fight to protect red wolves and other threatened and endangered wildlife. To help endangered red wolves, citizens can symbolically adopt and help save real animals in the wild. They can take action by visiting the Wildlife Action Center to send a message to government leaders. Speak up for wildlife and learn how you can be a powerful advocate for wildlife. Stay informed and sign up to receive instant alerts and updates about important issues affecting wildlife.

Pronghorn

     

Pronghorn standing in tall grass

Photographed by Gary Kramer

     Pronghorns are one of North America’s most interesting mammals. Not only do pronghorns have the longest land migration in the continental United States, they also are the fastest land animal in North America.
     Pronghorns can run at speeds close to 60 miles per hour. Although pronghorns are not as fast as cheetahs, they maintain a fast speed for a longer period of time than cheetahs.  When a cheetah has run out of energy, the pronghorn is still going. 
     Pronghorns are ungulates (hoofed animals) and related to goats and antelope.  They have the body shape of a deer with long legs, short tail,and a long snout.
     The fur is a reddish-brown color, but it can also be tan or dark brown.  Pronghorns have white markings on the face, neck, stomach,and rump. The neck markings are white stripes. The rump has extra long white hairs that the pronghorn can stick up when scared. This also signals to other pronghorns that danger is nearby.
     The most noticeable characteristic of pronghorns is also the source of their common name.  Both males and females have a pair of short horns on the top of the head. The female’s horns are small, usually only a bump.  In contrast, the males’ horns are around 10-12 inches long.  They also have a unique shape, because unlike other ungulates, a pronghorn’s horns point backwards. The horns extend straight up and then curve towards the rump.  At the front of the horn is a small notch or prong that points forward. Hence the name, pronghorn.
     Pronghorns have large eyes and fantastic vision. Their large eyes can spot predators from very far away, which is helpful on the flat grassland habitat of the Red Desert and the Great Plains.
      Pronghorns are herbivores. They eat grasses, forbs, sagebrush and other prairie plants.
They seldom drink water, because they receive most of their water from the plants they eat.
     Some threats to Pronghorns include habitat loss due to fences and roads to make it difficult for pronghorns to migrate, human-wildlife conflicts, and overexploitation by historic hunting greatly reduced the population size.
     Two subspecies of pronghorn are on the Endangered Species List. Peninsular pronghorns and Sonoran pronghorns are both listed as Endangered. 

How to Help:
People can help increase Pronghorn population by donating to the cause via National Wildlife Federation, becoming a member of the National Wildlife Federation to help get alerts and raise awareness for their population, and by adopting a pronghorn to save one that is currently endangered.

Sources:
https://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help.aspx
https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/Pronghorn.aspx
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/antelope/