09 January 2012

Mekong Giant Salmon Carp, Bolivian Chinchilla Rat, Be’er Sheva Fringe-fingered Lizard, Rufous-headed Hornbill, New Caledonian Owlet-Nightjar, Annobon Lidless Skink, Santa Monica Shieldback Katydid, Oxapampa Poison Frog, Tiny Squeaker Frog, Long-billed Tailorbird, Rio Carauta Stubfoot Toad, Rancho Grande Harlequin Frog, Antioquia Brush-finch, Siamese Bala-shak, Red-crowned Roofed Turtle, Krabi Mouth Brooding Betta, Woylie, Namdapha Flying Squirrel, Queimada Island Bothrops, Cebu Small Worm Skink, Kittlitz's Murrelet,

Stone Mountain Fairy Shrimp, Namoroka Leaf Chameleon, Lampobatang Bunomys, Blond Titi Monkey, Bizarre-nosed Chameleon, Hell Creek Cave Crayfish, Kinglet Calyptura, Sumatran Ground-cuckoo, Giant Hispaniolan Galliwasp, Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle¸Hairy Marron, Black Bearded Saki, Southeast Asian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle, White-bellied Cinclodes, Coahuilix De Hubbs Snail, Dusky Starfrontle, Seychelles Sheath-tailed Bat, Sangihe Shrike-thrush, Cone-billed Tanager, Beautiful Nursery-frog, Reunion Cuckooshrike, Shortnose Cisco, Pygmy Sculpin, Blue-billed Curassow, Andaman White-toothed Shrew, De Winton's Golden Mole, Nelson's Small Eared Shrew, Social Tuco-tuco, Oaxaca Spiny-tailed Iguana, Rueck's Blue-Flycatcher, Thicklip Pupfish, Wondiwoi Tree-kangaroo, Mount Kahuzi African Climbing Mouse, Cebu Flowerpecker, Philippine Bare-backed Fruit Bat, Black Dorcopsis, Major Black Millipede, Merry Shadowdamsel, Dromedary Pearly Mussel, Rabb’s Fringe-limbed Treefrog, Tasmanian Torrent Midge, Smoky-winged Threadtail, Webbed-footed Coqui, Cumberlandian Combshell, Southern Acorn Riffle Shell, Eightgilled Hagfish, Transcaucasian Racerunner, Turquoise-throated Puffleg, Cerulean Paradise-Flycatcher, Finerayed Pigtoe, Rondo Dwarf Galago, Swan Galaxias, Negros Bleeding-heart, Widemouth Gambusia, Blue-crowned Laughingthrush, Chapultepec Splitfin, Pernambuco Pygmy-owl, Kudremukh Glyptothorax, Grenadines Clawed Gecko, Pygmy Hog Sucking Louse, Lake Alaotra Gentle Lemur, Table Mountain Ghost Frog, Morro Shoulderband, Middlekauf's Shieldback Katydid, Magazine Mountain Middle-toothed Snail, Colombian Woolly Monkey, Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat, Mountain Chicken, Short-crested Coquette, Cuatrocienegas Killifish, Handley's Slender Mouse Opossum, Atlantic Helicopter, Coosa Moccasinshell, Flying Earwig Hawaiian Damselfly, Stresemann's Bristlefront, Little Earth Hutia, Black Mogurnda, Mediterranean Monk Seal, Pondoland Cannibal Snail, Cuban Greater Funnel-eared Bat, Sao Tome Grosbeak, Smoky Madtom, Pink Velvet Worm, Fat Guam Partula, Moorean Viviparious Tree Snail, Dickey’s Deermouse, Alagoas Foliage-gleaner, Baw Baw Frog, Spiny Puddle Frog, Trinidad Piping-Guan, Montane Dancing-jewel, White Warty-back Pearly Mussel, Orange-footed Pimpleback Mussel, Broadspotted Molly, Rameshwaram Parachute Spider, Frigate Island Giant Tenebrionid Beetle.

These represent a small selection of animals on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. They come from the Critically Endangered category which contains 3879 species of plants and animals (full details are available on the website for each species). In addition to the Critically Endangered there are 5689 Endangered species, 10,002 Vulnerable species and 4389 Near Threatened species. I got the idea for this approach from an article (The addax to the sociable lapwing: all are in danger) in the Sunday Times (24 December 2011) by Simon Barnes who simply listed under the title (and with no further introduction) hundreds of endangered species, finished off with a short paragraph explaining that his examples all came from a recently published book Species on the Edge of Survival. As he says, “All are described and beautifully photographed. They cover every continent, every habitat, every taxonomic classification. And there are plenty more where these came from. For once, I think that comment from me would be superfluous”.

I will follow Simon Barnes example. But I wish to declare that I have not copied or selected from Barnes’ list. I have trawled through the 3879 examples on the IUCN website to bring Sustainable Scotland readers a unique and exclusive selection. Incidentally, if I had taken the bother of arranging this list into a poem, I could claim intellectual copyright in my creation, no matter that I was arranging names I had picked from a published list. As it is I have not done this, so you are perfectly free to quote the entire above list if you wish without any acknowledgement of my painstaking and laborious effort on your behalf to bring you the bestest selection I could. The book Species on the Edge of Survival is available for a very reasonable price of £14.99, or very much less if you shop around. For a review of the book, and the importance of its message, see The Ecologist.  

The red squirrel is not an endangered species, nor is the osprey nor the white-tailed sea eagle nor the European beaver. Might it be better if Scottish taxpayer’s money and the efforts of quangos and wildlife charities were directed to the preservation of species of plants and animals which are actually endangered, wherever they happen to live?

Note: The Mountain Chicken is a frog!

Can you spot the Giant Panda?  No, you cannot spot the Giant Panda on the above list because it is not Critically Endangered. Though it is Endangered. Which goes to show that, if one is not being speciesist, that there are at least 3,879 species that we should be endeavouring to preserve before bothering about these lazy, mega-defecating bears.

Further Note: The Quango is not an endangered species, despite promises by succcessive governments that a programme of serious culling would take place.

Animal Crackers is a song by the happy hippy folksy troubadour Melanie. She is best known for three songs: the bestest version of the Jagger-Richards number Ruby Tuesday;  What have they done to my song, Ma and the wonderful nine-minute long Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, otherwise remembered almost entirely for Oh Happy Day!

To whet your appetite for this song I append two comments on the You Tube video. Can you resist?

Oh let's give Melanie a great big cheer! She really had fun with this song and was cute as a button in this video. What a voice, and she's still going strong!

This is one of my favorite mildly obscure songs. Whenever I listen to it, I can't help but smiling, dancing, and giggling. She's absolutely gorgeous, physically and as a human being! I love you, Melanie!

 

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