Tag Archives: Arizona Wildlife

Status and trends of wildlife.

Mercury Contamination of Arizona Fish

Posted on by

#Mercury #Contamination of #Fish in Bartlett Lake, Arizona

Bass - Largemouth

Largemouth Bass

Channel cat

Channel Catfish

Here is another threat to Arizona wildlife. Because it threatens humans, the state government is acknowledging it publicly. According to an email sent this morning by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), “the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), in association with the AZGFD, has issued a fish consumption advisory recommending that people limit consumption of channel catfish and largemouth bass caught from Bartlett Lake [an artificial reservoir on the Verde River] in Maricopa County. ADEQ is issuing this advisory because recent fish tissue samples from Bartlett Lake contained elevated levels of mercury.”

“ADEQ recommends that adults limit consumption of channel catfish and largemouth bass to 2.4 ounces (uncooked weight) per week and children 12 years of age and under limit consumption to two ounces per month (uncooked weight). 
This advisory does not limit the use of this water body for fishing, bird watching, swimming, or other recreational uses. In general, the level of contaminants in fish is several folds higher than levels found in water.”

“Any health risks associated with eating fish from this advisory area are based on long term consumption and are not representative of risk from eating fish occasionally.  Fish are an excellent source of protein and can be an important part of a healthy, diverse diet as they are low in saturated fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids.  The American Heart Association recommends that individuals eat at least two fish or seafood meals weekly.”

Bald-Eagle-And-BabiesGR:  Unfortunately, wildlife eat these mercury-contaminated fish their whole lives. Unlike humans, they can’t “limit their consumption.” Mercury pollution is nothing new in Bartlett Lake or many other streams and lakes in Arizona.  It and the many other pollutants that wash into the State’s waters are helping destroy Arizona wildlife. The Bass and Catfish covered in the advisory are not native Arizona species, but they are often eaten by native amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, snakes, and turtles that live in around the lake. Thus, mercury works its way into the food chain and causes illness and shortened lives. Bald Eagles, for example have mercury in their eggs and tissues (Driscoll et al. 2006).  According to Robin Silver, Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, this mercury contamination is “worrisome.” You could also call it “harmful” or “deadly.”

What is the Origin of Mercury?

Mercury washes into streams and lakes after exposure by floods, mining, and construction.  Some probably comes from roads and urban wastes around and upstream from the lake.  And some comes from power plants in and around Arizona:  “Mercury is one of the most harmful pollutants faced by fish and wildlife. Toxic mercury is released from coal burning power plants across the country and accumulates in rivers, lakes, and forests.” — National Wildlife Federation.

Mercury is just one of many pollutants that humans feed into the Verde River and Bartlett Lake. Worldwide, human wastes are a major cause of wildlife disease and decline.  ADEQ makes little or no effort to regulate the sources of pollutants, but as wildlife declines and extinctions become public knowledge, the agency may have to step up and face the developers and . . . . Well, that’s not going to happen.  Not until private citizens force their political representatives to ignore their donors and future employers and direct the agency to say “enough is enough” without fear of retribution.

References

  • Driscoll, et al. 2006. Conservation assessment and strategy for the Bald Eagle in Arizona. Tech Rept 173, Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program, AZGFD, Phoenix, AZ, 69 p.
  • ADEQ. 2015. Arizona Fish Consumption Advisories – July 2015. Lists 15 waterbodies of concern.

Here’s More Proof Earth Is in Its 6th Mass Extinction

Posted on by

Diverse animals across the globe are slipping away and dying as Earth enters its sixth mass extinction, a new study finds.  Sourced through Scoop.it from: news.yahoo.com

Save Wildlife: Apply for a Hunting Permit

Posted on by

Arizona Wildlife Protection:  Gambling for Big Game

Young Mule Deer

Young Mule Deer

I am not a gambler, but as I watched five Mule Deer browsing in my yard this morning I decided to enter the Arizona Game and Fish Department drawing to win a deer hunting permit.  If I win, I will have blocked a real killer.  (The header image is from the Arizona Game and Fish Department website.)

You can enter drawings for Bighorn Sheep, Buffalo, Deer, Javelina, Pheasant, and Turkey.  Click here to enter.  Fees vary depending on your location and the species you are protecting.  For Arizona residents, the hunting license and the drawing entry fee total $50.  If you win, the toe tag will cost an extra $45.

The drawings for Elk and Pronghorn Antelope took place last month (25,932 killing permits issued).  There are a few Elk tags left.  If this is your special animal, click here to buy a chance to save one.

Arizona Wildlife Management

Some will argue that killing wild animals is necessary to prevent habitat-destroying population explosions.  Others will say that restoring and protecting habitat, removing domestic livestock, and protecting large predators will achieve natural populations and increase overall biodiversity.  Of course, selling licenses is big business; the Arizona Game and Fish Department, like many other governmental wildlife management agencies, depends on license sales for a substantial part of its annual budget.  Search my website for “Hunting,” “Livestock,” and “Predators” to find discussions and reports related to these subjects.

Here’s a tweet suggestion (you should have room to add a photo):

Protect wildlife: Apply for a big-game permit and keep a killer out of the woods.

If you decide to take a chance, you can let us know in a comment.  If you don’t want to publicize your gambling sins, send me a private email.

Go back

Your message has been sent

Eleven new species found in Madagascar

Posted on by

Madagascar is home to extraordinary biodiversity, but in the past few decades, the island’s forests and associated biodiversity have been under greater attack than ever.  Source: phys.org

GR:  The Wildlife Conservation Society and others such as those listed by the Lemur Conservation Network are working within Madagascar to preserve wildlife.  However, as elsewhere, those who wish to harvest the land have power and influence.  Perhaps we should all visit, spend a little money, and express our concern.

See on Scoop.it – GarryRogers NatCon News

Wild animals dying for a drink in drought-stricken West

Posted on by

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/wild-animals-dying-for-a-drink-in-drought-stricken-west/article_fa032acf-0c5e-5090-8cb5-91feae4747de.html

For the giant kangaroo rat, death by nature is normally swift and dramatic: a hopeless dash for safety followed by a blood-curdling squeak as their bellies are torn open by eagles, foxes, bobcats and owls.

They’re not supposed to die the way they are today — emaciated and starved, their once abundant population dwindling to near nothing on California’s sprawling Carrizo Plain about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, where the drought is turning hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland into desert.

Without grass, long-legged kangaroo rats can’t eat. And as they go, so go a variety of threatened animals that depend on the keystone species to live. “That whole ecosystem changes without the giant kangaroo rat,” said Justin Brasheres, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of California at Berkeley.

Endangered kangaroo rats are just one falling tile in the drought’s domino effect on wildlife in the lower Western states. Large fish kills are happening in several states as waters heated by higher temperatures drain and lose oxygen. In Northern California, salmon eggs have virtually disappeared as water levels fall. Thousands of migrating birds are crowding into wetland shrunk by drought, risking the spread of disease that can cause massive die-offs.  Source: exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com

GR:  Human-caused global warming is adding another force to the mindless human destruction of a billion years of slow uncertain evolution of life on Earth.

Space Station safari’s ultimate wildlife research vantage point

Posted on by

What do bats, birds, sea turtles and even primates have to do with the International Space Station? Scientists want to use the orbiting laboratory’s spectacular view to track creatures on our planet and learn more about their behavior.  Source: phys.org

GR:  Seems like cruel and unusual punishment for the animal bearing the tracker.  It’s a bad investment anyway.  We need to spend our millions for on-the-ground surveys to monitor wildlife and habitat–not for tracking a few poor animals from space.

Dear Future Generation: Sorry! A Message That Will Travel Through Time (VIDEO)

Posted on by

Dear Future Generation: Sorry! A Message That Will Travel Through Time (VIDEO) that is trying to raise awareness throughout the entire world!  Source: gipsy.ninja

GR:  The nature-conservation message in this video is clear.  See it and pass it on.  Thank you.

Evils of the Livestock Industry

Posted on by

The following is by Rosemary Lowe: Thinking Beyond the Animal Factories to Save This Planet    Those out there who are concerned about this planet, the wildlife, the wild places, really need to understand how very destructive the Livestock Industry… Source: exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com

GR:  Full acceptance of Leopold’s land ethic requires that we consume a fully vegan diet, release all imprisoned animals, and do what we can to preserve and protect wildlife and wildlife habitat.  Sometimes called biocentric ethics, Leopold’s land ethic, that I prefer to call the Earth Ethic, is the only sensible behavior for our species.  Anything else will lead to eventual decline and extinction of life on our planet.

Man Lives Alone in a Radioactive Town to Care for the Abandoned Animals

Posted on by

Source Ecorazzi
By Brianne Hogan

Naoto Matsumura has refused to leave the radioactive town of Fukushima, Japan in order to take care of its abandoned animal residents.

Fukushima was evacuated in 2011 after an earthquake and a tsunami caused a radioactive meltdown from its nuclear power plant.

Approximately 30,000 residents left the town, leaving behind their animals, including pets and livestock.

Matsumura, a farmer, had initially fled with his family, but because it was difficult finding adequate accommodations, he decided to return to Fukushima. It was upon his return when he realized the town’s animals had been abandoned and were in need of much-needed care. Animals had starved to death in their barns, or chained up without food or water.

“I had no choice but to stay,” Matsumura told Vice. “I couldn’t leave the animals behind. They needed to be fed.”

Source: our-compass.org

GR:  Wildlife surveys found that wild animal numbers increased after the Chernobyl accident.  Though individual animals may suffer radiation sickness, they have more resources and less disturbance now that humans are gone.  So, another answer to what would Earth be like without us is “increased biodiversity with a large proportion of sick animals.”