Big eyes, Small Chance

One of the smallest animals, that has begun to go extinct is an animal in the remote part of Indonesia, the Spectral Tarsier. This little creature is a monkey like animal with big eyes and very sticky hands that give it the skill to climb tall trees and that way get its food. The tarsier had eyeballs that can be as big as 16 mm in diameter which make them as big as their brains. It is the only primate that has been classified as a carnivore. It likes to eat birds, snakes, lizards and insects which it gets from the tops of the trees and eats with small fangs.  Its fur in short and gray color, the tarsier uses its claws to brush it regularly making it a very clean animal.

The tarsier is animal who mates very little due to the fact that it is very primate and likes to be alone. When it does mate the tarsier can have one offspring, which learns how to climb after being a day old. Like many in the wild, the animal is going extinct due to human contamination and destruction of its habitat. The tarsier’s food supplies have decreased over the last few years which has decrease its population. The small animal is being helped by the IUCN/SCC Primate Specialist Group which is an organization that specializes on saving primates worldwide. Poor animals, those that have to endure the effects of human activity in the world. Pollution is an effect that is created by all people and if not stopped in time the rest of the animals will begin to disappear.

Crane Outbreak

            One of the many animals that faces extinction is the Hooded Crane. The Crane is a bird that is found in the Southeastern part of Russia and the Northern areas of China. The hooded crane can grow up to be about three feet tall and weigh around 8 lbs. The male and female cranes have unfeathered heads that are red and black, with white necks and rest of the body black. The male and female crane usually mate after what is called a unison calling, which is when both male and female birds give out coordinated calls to each other. Once the cranes have mated, the female can produce two eggs. The nests are made out of moss and leaves and are mostly located in forested wetlands. The first hooded crane nest was not found until 1974, which shows how isolated the nests are built from human society.

            The hooded crane’s biggest threat is the lost of winter grounds. During the winters the hooded crane migrates from China to the Japanese island of Kyushu. The grounds in which they flock during the winter have been taken over by human buildings and agricultural farms. The crane flocks are now more vulnerable to disease outbreaks due to the fact that many flocks are forced to share the same area with other migrating crane flocks. An outbreak can cause half of the hooded crane population to die. The International Crane Foundation (ICF) is an organization in Japan that is in charge of protecting all types of cranes that migrate to Japan during the winter. The ICF is now trying to pass a law that will help preserve winter grounds and create more of them in Asia so that all cranes migrate and breed without any danger.

God of the Air

           The Resplendent Quetzal is one of the most vivid animals in the wild. The quetzal is a bird that is native to both the southern part of Mexico and western Mexico. The bird is so alluring due to its colorful feathers and elongated tail.  Its body is green with bright red breast and a tail that can grow to be 25 inches in length. The males have longer tails than the female quetzal and have yellow beaks, the females have black ones. The diet of this great animal consists of mostly fruits and a few insects but if they are lucky to find they will also eat small frogs, which they can swallow whole.

            The reproduction of this animal is decreasing due to tree lost which it uses to nest its eggs. The male and female quetzals don’t live together until mating season which is around March to April. The couple will have from one to two eggs per season and each one will take turns incubating them. The male will take care of the eggs during the day and the female will during the night. The incubation period last for 18 days and once the birds hatch both parents will take care of them until they are grown. Another thing that makes The Resplendent Quetzal so great, is that in both Mayan and Aztec civilization, this animal was believe to be the god of the air. During this period it was a crime to kill a quetzal so in order to get its feather it was simply captured, its feathers plucked and then set free. Deforestation has caused this animal to become vulnerable to extinction. If forest aren’t preserved the world will lose, what once was considered to be a God to humans