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magazine / dec08
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December 2008 issue |
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FEATURE
Wildlife stories of 2008 (Page 1 of 3)
We help wildlife return to its former habitat. We hunt it. We keep it captive for its own benefit. We fail to protect
it from our intrusions. We underestimate its numbers. We worry about the impending loss
of its diversity. We preserve places where it can thrive and where we can observe it. These
are just some of the ways in which we and the world’s wildlife get close to one another.
Each of these themes appeared in the most significant wildlife news stories of the past year. On
the following pages, we bring you the details of these stories and more.
The year of getting closer
All things considered, can conservation possibly trump destruction?
By Eric Harris
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Year of the frog ~
The North American bullfrog, named for its bovine-like bellow, is one of 2,000 amphibian species in decline
worldwide due to pollution, disease, habitat loss and overharvesting. Drawing attention to the amphibian-extinction crisis, zoos
and aquariums across the globe created Amphibian Ark, an initiative to keep the most-endangered species in captivity until they
are secure in the wild, and declared 2008 the Year of the Frog.
Photo: Fotolia.com/Tommy Brison
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“Shh! The turkeys are back!” In a voice best
described as a whispered shout, my wife Robyn, an avid —
no, obsessional — birdwatcher, lets me know that the
extended family of 20-odd wild turkeys that we’ve been
watching strut, peck and gobble in our back field since late
summer has returned after a three-week absence.
Thanksgiving is approaching, and we’ve been worried about
them. We’re relieved to have the flock back.
The species disappeared from Ontario in 1909, thanks
to overhunting and habitat loss, a non-existent term back
then. Beginning in 1984, wild turkeys were plucked from
the hinterlands of Michigan and Missouri, stuffed into
cages and dispatched into wooded areas at 275 sites across
Ontario. Today, there are 70,000 in the province, and
hunters took more than 10,000 last spring. The provincial
Ministry of Natural Resources, after consulting with the
public, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and
the National Wild Turkey Federation, announced in July
that the fall hunt was to be expanded.
On learning this, we upped the rations of seed at the
feeders, hoping to keep the bald-headed, red-wattled males,
their mates and their three-quarter-sized offspring from
straying too far into the surrounding hunter-infested woodlots
of eastern Ontario. It’s not that I oppose hunting.
It’s just that I’ve grown accustomed to these birds. They may appear, wraithlike, at any time from dawn to dusk.
When they show up, we hide or freeze, so as not to frighten
them. They move by tiptoeing in a loose assemblage from
one spot to another, always pecking. Occasionally, a stray
one breaks into a jog to catch up with the rafter. They stare.
Having them around makes us feel just a little closer to the
natural world.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Geographic Photo Club
Join us for an interview with photographer Stephen Krasemann and get
a behind-the-scenes look into a photo shoot for Canadian Geographic.
By Michela Rosano
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