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ENDANGERED ANIMALS! Are
ENDANGERED ANIMALS! Are there any (maybe one of the lesser known) endangered animals you want to raise awareness for? Or any tips you want to give on how to raise awareness? I love the vaquita, a porpoise endemic (lives only in) to the northern end of the Gulf of California in Baja California, Mexico. There's a documentary about them, called Sea of Shadows, but basically there are only about 9 vaquitas left in the world, bc of illegal gillnet fishing for the also critically endangered totoaba fish. I'll post a longer thing about them later when I have time. What I did to raise awareness was: made lots of slideshows, sent the slideshows out to everyone I knew, made sure people read them, took any chance I could to bombard anyone I could with information, got vaquita shirts, and told all my friends and told them to spread the word, and one of my friends got really into it too so then she also got a shirt (before me) and changed her profile picture to a vaquita (kinda like what Pangolin is doing), and at recess our school lets us play with chalk on the blacktop so we would write in big letters, HELP SAVE THE VAQUITA with some basic info and drawings every day at recess (they hosed stuff off after school every day) and hung around there the whole recess to answer any questions anyone had. Even some teachers asked us what a vaquita was. Some of my classmates started doing the same thing with endangered endangered animals THEY cared about! You pronounce vaquita vuh-KEE-tuh, and they're really shy and cute, sometimes called the Panda of the Seas. It's helpful to memorize basic information for wherever/whenever it's needed also. And to be a constant reminder about the animal, which you can do by, as I said, being there every recess and stuff. Does anyone have anything else to add?
submitted by Celine, age As Needed, The FireMist Sea
(June 28, 2023 - 2:42 pm)
(June 28, 2023 - 2:42 pm)
West lowland gorilla! There are only a couple thousand left because of poaching. The One and Only Ivan is a fascinating story of a real gorilla named, you guessed it, Ivan.
(June 28, 2023 - 4:10 pm)
(June 29, 2023 - 9:20 am)
Wow, I'd never even heard of the vaquitas until you mentioned them on CB Name Meanings thread. It's awesome that you and your friends are doing things to spread awareness about them!
I care about all endangered species, of course, but I'm especially passionate about the pangolin. I did several research projects for school on the pangolin. They're so cool but one of the most illegally trafficked animals.
I'll be back with more facts and tips for raising awareness later. :)
(June 29, 2023 - 10:14 am)
I was watching a nature documentary yesterday and now know about how endagered Asian elephants are. There was a group of 15 of them who left their home forest because of a horrible drought and walked hundreds and hundreds of miles through China only to run into a major city and being forced to turn around and go back. Luckily, the drought was over when they got back, but the overall population of the species keeps going down :(
(June 29, 2023 - 11:40 am)
@Silver Crystal, I also saw a documentry on Our Planet ll. It was about those same elephants.
(July 4, 2023 - 2:08 pm)
(June 29, 2023 - 1:50 pm)
Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla is pretty cool too, and I think the One and Only Ruby just came out! Here are my vaquita facts for anyone interested! And sorry admins bc this'll prob be long. I'll try to post it in shorter sections. I won't post any resources but I got all this info from research, so I'll put an * next to anything directly from the internet and not paraphrased. I'll put another asterisk when the source changes. If there's an Enter in between something with an * and something without, the former is quoted, the latter is paraphrased
HELP SAVE THE VAQUITA!! I made this in 2021 btw, but I try to do updates.
What is a vaquita and why does it need saving?
The vaquita is a critically endangered species of porpoise endemic to the northern end of the gulf of California in Baja California, Mexico. It is estimated that there are only 9 vaquitas left in the world. This is due to illegal gillnet fishing for the also critically endangered totoaba fish.
Why is the vaquita important?
Vaquitas exist as both predator and prey in their natural habitat. Preyed upon by members of the shark family, Vaquitas serve as important food sources for top predators.
How do you pronounce vaquita?
(vuh-KEE-tuh)
*Quick facts: population- less than 30, Size- 4-5 ft, Habitat- Northern Gulf of California, Weight- 120 lb, Feeds on- bony fish, squid
What's being done to save the vaquita?
*In April 2015, the Mexican Gov temporarily banned gillnet fishing in the vaquitas' home. *Mexico has done a few things to help the vaquita but none of it has been effective *While Crosta says the key to saving the vaquita is fighting against organized crime, other NGOs (non-government Officials) have focused their efforts on monitoring the Sea of Cortez (where the vaquita lives) for illegal gillnet use or placing international pressure on the Mexican government through seafood sanctions.
How do you help save the vaquita?
* 1. Tell all your friends (spread the word)! It is very important that everybody knows about the vaquita and what is happening in Mexico.
2. Sign the petition!
3. Shop for sustainable seafood!
4. Avoid Mexican shrimp!
5. Support the Gulf of California!
6. Tell the Mexican Government to step up its actions!
7. Donate to conservation efforts!
*You can help by making sustainable choices when buying seafood. There are programs to help you make that choice, such as _____________ in the United States or _________or ________in Canada. Avoid Mexican shrimp! Conservation organizations from around the world have issued a call to boycott shrimp caught in Mexico.
You can symbolically adopt a vaquita!
Vaquita fun facts:
. The vaquita is the smallest of all living cetaceans
. a female vaquita only gives birth to 1vaquita calf every 2 years
. a vaquita's lifespan is about 21 years
. vaquitas are very shy
. vaquitas make a sound like that of a pig snort like many other porpoises (porpoises used to be known as "puffing pigs" because of this
. Vaquitas are nicknamed the "smiling panda" and the "panda of the seas"
. Vaquita means "little cow" in Spanish
and you know how I said I'd post in sections? Yep, I still have more! But gtg so I'll do it later, not all about the vaquita, others too. And yes, this is the same Celine who created this thread, I have officially changed my name now!
(June 30, 2023 - 3:01 pm)
Wow, that's all so fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing this information! I'll definitely try to do some of the things you mentioned to help the vaquitas! <33
(June 30, 2023 - 6:26 pm)
ACK POOR YANGTZE GIANT SOFTSHELL TURTLES!!! I just read (in a kids newspaper I get) that the last female was found dead, but who knows how recent that is, as I think I might've read something like that 2 years ago, but I think that was when the female was still living. But still! I will try to hurry up giving all the info about the other animals I did, the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle was actually one of the ones I wanted to tell you guys about!
(July 3, 2023 - 9:08 pm)