Bad at Goodbyes

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Greater Bermuda Land Snail

Species Information 02:05

The Greater Bermuda Land Snail is a critically endangered mollusk native to the island of Bermuda, in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 700 miles east of the North American continent.

The Greater Bermuda Land Snail is a relatively large land snail, with adult shells reaching up to one inch in diameter. So like the size of a bottlecap. Pretty small, but compare to the also endangered Lesser Bermuda Land Snail, whose shell is about 1/3 of an inch in diameter, or to the Bermudian microsnail Vertigo marki, at 1/16th of an inch, our Greater Bermuda Land Snail, earns its name.

The Greater Bermuda Land Snail’s shell is a flattened disc shape, with 5-6 whorls of varied coloration: pale yellows, ambers, greens, deep reds, browns, often with very darker brown streaks or speckles. The shell’s surface is smooth and glossy, with small visible growth lines. There is great variation and diversity between different individuals’ shells, and they are really beautiful, like tiny twirled galaxies.

Snails grow their shells. Shell material is secreted by a specialized organ in the mantle, a fold of skin that covers the snail’s internal organs. The mantle edge contains glands that produce a mixture of proteins and minerals, which are deposited in layers, gradually building up the shell over time.

Shell growth begins even before birth. The initial shell, called the protoconch, is formed within the egg and then once hatched, the snail continues to add new material to the shell’s opening, resulting in a spiral pattern, the characteristic whorls we see on the shell.

As the snail grows, the shell increases in size and thickness. The new shell material is added at the outer edge, resulting in visible growth rings that can be used to estimate the snail’s age.

The snail’s shell is shelter, armor, protection from predation, camouflage, and helps regulate water loss. Unlike other invertebrates that swap shells as they grow, the snail keeps its shell throughout its life and can even repair cracks and breaks, secreting calcium carbonate to mend an injury.

The safety of its hard shell is so vital, because its body is a little squishy blob. It is thin skinned, soft and moist. The land snail is an invertebrate, which most simply means it does not have a skeletal backbone. Invertebrate are a wildly expansive and diverse class of species including ants, bees, beetles, Butterflies, clams, Corals, crabs, Earthworms, Jellyfish, lobsters, octopuses, oysters, shrimp, Spiders, squid and of course snails.

Snails, again lacking a skeletal backbone, instead have a hydrostatic skeleton, which means their body is supported by fluid pressure. So like imagine a water balloon, the water inside pushes outward against the balloon’s walls, creating pressure that gives the balloon its form and firmness.

Inside the snail is a cavity called a coelom, which holds most of the internal organs, is filled with a pressurized fluid that provides a kind of internal support system. But of course this is an extremely flexible and dynamic support structure, which allows the snail to somewhat change shape and size, retract entirely into its shell when threatened, and it facilitates locomotion.

Snail locomotion is totally amazing. Their foot is a strong, flexible organ located on the underside of the body. It contains a network of muscles that contract in a wave-like pattern, pushing downward in like a series of ripples that propel the snail forward. The muscle action works in tandem with the hydrostatic skeleton, the coelom, which allows the foot to deform and reshape to generate this wave action and the necessary pressure for movement.

For many snail species including our Greater Bermuda Land Snail this muscle action needs a little lubrication. So they’ll also secrete a specialized mucus to reduce friction and enable smooth movement. The mucus, produced by glands in the foot, creates a slippery track on which the snail glides. The mucus has protective qualities and is both lubricating and semi-adhesive, allowing the snail to traverse a variety of surfaces, even rough and sharp textures, and the semi-adhesive qualities allows for vertical climbing.

————

In the dream,

me and Alice Coltrane, Albert Einstein, Mary Oliver, Stephen Jay Gould, are playing free jazz in my practice space. “Tempo is relative,” Al says and we all nod. And in the dream, I’m reminded of the privilege of inconveniences. To walk to a place, because you have the time. To be slow under moonlight, safely. To meander in the storm because I know my home is dry and warm. Sometimes when I’m walking him home, I say to my nephew, “take it easy bub, maybe we will be a few minutes late, but at my pace we’ll have longer together.”

In the dream.

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The Greater Bermuda Land Snail has a flattened cylindrical body that when extended is about 2 inches long. It is gray, blue-gray, brown-gray in color. It has a distinct head with two pairs of tentacles. These are the primary sense organs: Upper Tentacles, called ommatophores, “eye stalks”, are long, protruding from the top of the head and the very tip of each holds a simple eye, capable of detecting light and dark, movement, and basic shapes. 

The Lower Tentacles are shorter and generally downward facing, primarily used to sense touch and smell. All four tentacles can move independently, allowing the snail to gather information from different directions. And both sets are retractable. The snail can quickly withdraw the tentacles into its head for protection.

The snail’s mouth is located on the underside of its head. It feeds using its radula, this is a ribbon, a tongue-like structure, in the mouth, that’s covered in rows of tiny teeth. And so the snail extends its radula out of its mouth and scrapes its teeth against a food source. The teeth catch and hold food particles and then the radula is retracted, pulling the food bits into the snail’s mouth.

The Greater Bermuda Land Snail is an herbivore, and they are opportunistic feeders consuming available algae, palm nut, and decomposing plant matter, specifically dead palm fronds.

They are most active at night, to minimize water loss and avoid predators. During the day, to regulate body temperature and moisture, they shelter in cool, damp places, under rocks, logs, leaf litter, or in crevices. Their flattened shell shape is thought to be an adaptation to this behavior, allowing them to squeeze into smaller places.

The Greater Bermuda Land Snail is hermaphroditic, meaning they possess both male and female reproductive organs. That said, they do require a mate for viable reproduction. And we have observed some courtship behavior in which potential mates will circle one another gently touching their eyestalks, before copulation which is a like a mutual sperm transfer. Both individuals will release sperm within the other individual, which fertilizes eggs internally. The eggs are laid in clutches ranging from 10 to 50 eggs. And once hatched the young snails are born independent, immediately able to forage for food and seek shelter. And are believed to reach reproductive maturity in roughly 18 months. Lifespan is estimated at 2-3 years.

The fossil record suggests that the Land Snail has lived on the Bermuda Islands for over 1 million years.

The Greater Bermuda Land Snail was once widespread across the Bermuda archipelago, a group of islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean, roughly 700 miles east of the North American coast. Its native habitat is subtropical moist broadleaf forest, an ecosystem characterized by Bermuda palm and Baygrape with an understory of shrubs, ferns, and grasses, with the forest floor covered in leaf litter, stones, and decaying logs under which the snail shelters.

Bermuda’s climate is subtropical, with warm, humid summers and mild winters. Summer temperatures typically reach highs in upper 80s°F, while winter temperatures rarely drop below 50°F.

The snail shares these islands with Bermuda Skink, Jamaica Dogwood, Eastern Bluebird, Green Heron, Bermuda Cedar, Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly, American Coot, Olivewood, Fennel, Red Land Crab, Bermuda Rock Lizard, White-Eyed Vireo, Inkberry, Hurricane Spider, Bermuda Buckeye Butterfly, Land Hermit Crab, and many many more.

On Bad at Goodbyes we tend to want to give most attention to the species at hand, but I’d like to sidebar briefly because the Greater Bermuda Land Snail plays a vital supporting role in human scientific history. Bermuda Land Snails were the research subject of the doctoral dissertation of American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, educator, and public intellectual Stephen Jay Gould. Gould, studying the snail’s fossil record in Bermuda developed, with Niles Eldredge, the theory of punctuated equilibrium. The idea, first proposed in 1972, is that evolution sometimes occurs in bursts of rapid change between long periods of relative stability. So a species will exhibit minimal evolutionary differentiation, over a long time, that’s the equilibrium part. Which will be punctuated by brief periods, often driven by new natural selection pressures, of rapid evolutionary change and speciation.

This theory, which is now so widely accepted that you may have studied it in school, is not a replacement for Darwin’s gradualism, which suggests that evolution proceeds at a slow and steady pace. But instead a complement: evolution is both slow and steady, and also sometimes punctuated by periods of rapid change and speciation.

And so Gould’s study of the Greater Bermuda Land Snail has significantly widened our view and understanding of evolutionary history.

Lastly, uh, I really like Stephen Jay Gould, his profoundly well-argued and researched refutation of racist methodologies in the historic measurement of human intelligence had a big impact on me when I was a young learner. The book is called the “Mismeasure of Man” and it’s a reminder of how bias and toxic ideology can pollute even our most rigorous truth seeking like the scientific method. And also a reminder that science and justice can be in real conversation in ways that uplift both.

When Gould is studying the snail in the 1960s their population is widespread across the larger Bermuda Islands. When he returns in the 1990s he finds their population shockingly and significantly reduced. This is just like Human hubris and shortsightedness. In the time between Gould’s studies, the predatory Rosy Wolfsnail had been intentionally introduced to Bermuda in an effort to control the population of another introduced invasive snail, the Milk Snail. The Rosy Wolfsnail population exploded feeding on, as may have guessed, not the Milk Snail but instead on native snail species, like the Greater Bermuda Land Snail. In the 1990s the Greater Bermuda Land Snail was considered extinct in the wild.

Until the discovery of two small remaining um, wild populations. One on Port’s Island: a tiny, less than a 1/4 of square mile, relatively undeveloped island of second growth forest roughly a mile from the main island. The other population was found in 2014, unbelievably, in an alley behind an ice cream shop in the capital city of Hamilton. Like this is one of the most rare snails in the world and roughly 300 individuals are surviving in the concrete cracks of this overgrown alleyway in the middle of one of Bermuda’s largest cities.

Individuals collected from the Hamilton alley population became the basis of captive breeding programs at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, and the UK’s London Zoo and Chester Zoo. The Hamilton population was then relocated to an outer island when building developers wanted to power-wash the alley.

These captive breeding programs have had mixed sucess: From 2016-2022, over 100 thousand Greater Bermuda Land Snail have been reintroduced across 27 sites in Bermuda, 10 of which are small, woodland island nature reserves where predators are either absent or controlled. A 2022 report suggests that four of these sites appear to be thriving, with the introduced population reproducing and spreading out in the habitat. Two other sites have failed, for unknown reasons. Monitoring of the remaining sites is in process.

Captive breeding, reintroduction, and habit restoration programs continue, but nevertheless the Greater Bermuda Land Snail has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2019 and their population is considered to be in decline.

Counts estimate that less than 4000 Greater Bermuda Land Snail remain in the wild.

Citations 26:41

Information for today’s show about the Greater Bermuda Land Snail was compiled from:

“Bionic Snail Robot Enhanced by Poroelastic Foams Crawls Using Direct and Retrograde Waves.”. Ji, Qinjie & Song, Aiguo. (2023). Soft Robotics. Vol 11. – http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/soro.2023.0077 

Envirotalk v.87 no.1 Spring 2023. Dr. Mark Outerbridge – https://static1.squarespace.com/static/501134e9c4aa430673203999/t/64414a030dc7664ce91691bf/1682000388899/87.1+Spring+2023.pdf 

“An evolutionary microcosm: Pleistocene and recent history of the land snail P. (Poecilozonites) in Bermuda”. Stephen Jay Gould. Bulletin of The Museum of Comparative Zoology, volume 138, issue 7, pages 407-531. 1969 – https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4631797 

“‘Extinct’ Bermuda snail is found in city alleyway”. Simon Jones. The Royal Gazette. Oct 25, 2014 – 

https://www.royalgazette.com/other/news/article/20141025/extinct-bermuda-snail-is-found-in-city-alleyway/  

The Government of Bermuda Department of Environment and Natural Resources – https://environment.bm/ 

“Habitat preferences of the Critically Endangered greater Bermuda land snail Poecilozonites bermudensis in the wild.” Copeland A, Hesselberg T. Oryx. Vol 56 No.1 :34-37. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605320000836  

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/77145002/77145257 

PBS Evolution Library – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/5/l_035_01.html 

“Recovery plan for the endemic land snails of Bermuda; Poecilozonites bermudensis and Poecilozonites circumfirmatus.” Outerbridge, Mark & Sarkis, Samia. (May 2019). Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, Bermuda – http://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18957.79848 

“Reintroduction of the Bermudan snail.” Garcia, Gerardo & Jameson, Tom & Prince, Heather & Flewitt, Amber & Papp, Tamás & Richardson, Adam & Lopez, Javier & Outerbridge, Mark & Ovaska, Kristiina. (2020). BIAZA Field Conservation & Native Species Conference January 2020

“Tagging and location preferences to inform post-release monitoring of the Greater Bermuda land snail Poecilozonites bermudensis.” Flewitt, A., Williams, L., Preziosi, R., & Garcia, G. (2023). Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, Vol 11 No. 3, 345–349. https://doi.org/10.19227/jzar.v11i3.744 

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_land_snail 

For more information about the conservation and protection of the Greater Bermuda Land Snail please visit

the Bermuda Department of Environment and Natural Resources at https://environment.bm/

Music 28:44

Pledge 35:23

I honor the lifeforce of the Greater Bermuda Land Snail. I will commit its name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species. I grieve.

And so, in the name of the Greater Bermuda Land Snail I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the European Sturgeon

Species Information 02:05

The European Sturgeon is a critically endangered fish native to Western Europe, specifically the Gironde estuary on the west coast of France in the Gironde Department.

The European Sturgeon is enormous. It has a long torpedo-shaped body, which can reach lengths of over 15 feet, and weigh over 800 lbs.

It is an ancient species, fossil records indicate that sturgeons first appeared during the Late Cretaceous period, roughly 85 million years ago. So dinos, this is the era of T.Rex and Triceratops and Velociraptor.

Many basic attributes of the sturgeon have not changed much in the millenia of their slow evolution, giving us a kind of echo, or like a glimpse of prehistoric life. For example, the European Sturgeon does not have scales like we typically see on most contemporary fish. Instead, it grows five rows of bony plates called scutes that run along its body. The scutes are a protective armor, against scrapping injury and predation.

The European Sturgeon has a pointed, wedge-shaped snout and its mouth is located on the underside of the head. This mouth position is adapted for benthic feeding. Benthic just means the deepest zone of a body of water, like a river, lake or sea; so the European Sturgeon is a bottom-feeder.

Between its mouth and the tip of its snout, it grows four barbels. Barbels are tubular whisker-like sense organs, um, think catfish or carp. Barbels are sense organs with taste buds and highly adapted nerve endings. And so the sturgeon can “taste” the water and detect chemicals, and sense changes in water currents and pressure, helping them locate food, even in the murky dark depths of their habitat. There is muscle tissue in the barbels, allowing the sturgeon to move them and they’ll use their barbels to probe sand or mud, searching for prey.

The European Sturgeon’s tough hide ranges from greenish-brown to almost blackish on its dorsal side, its back. The flanks, or sides, are lighter, with silvery tints and its belly is typically white.

Its skeleton is cartilage, like a shark or ray. 

It has two spiracles, these are respiratory openings located behind each eye. These are like tiny gill slits, serving as a secondary supportive respiratory system. So like when the sturgeon is resting or feeding, its mouth might be closed, unable to draw in water for respiration. The spiracles allow the sturgeon to take in water, to breathe, even when its mouth is obstructed. That water then passes over the gills, where oxygen is extracted and transferred to the blood. 

Spiracles are considered like an ancient feature in fish evolution. The fossil record suggests that they were present in the earliest fish, but are super rare in modern fish species. As fish evolved, more efficient methods of respiration developed, and today, spiracles are just found in sturgeon, sharks, rays, and skates.

In my research, I found that the Sturgeon is sometimes referred to as a ‘living fossil’, so like a species alive today that closely resembles its ancient fossil record, suggesting they have undergone limited evolutionary change over vast time periods.

I also encountered some contemporary pushback on the ‘living fossil’ concept as a whole. Researchers suggest that it is a kind of misnomer that can lead to misunderstanding or faulty assumptions. So for example it might imply that evolution has stalled, or reached a kind of apex, neither of which are true. Evolution, at least prior to extinction, is ever ongoing, James Rosindell, Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London says “evolution cannot simply be ‘switched off’. Organisms will continue to mutate and not all will survive to reproduce, so evolution will occur.” Rosindell, convincingly to my mind, argues that an evolutionary heritage model offers richer understanding than the “living fossils” nomenclature. His suggested framework identifies species by the rarity of their evolutionary features rather than by their resemblance to ancient species. So like not for their lineage but for their special and sometimes singular contribution to our contemporary biodiversity.

There is also a related conservationist argument against the “living fossils” nomenclature. When we use terms like relic species or living fossils we imply that they are like not of our time, our language consigns that species to the past. But the Dawn Redwood, the Platypus, and the European Sturgeon are all contemporary species, they live in our world, in our time, and are vital contributors to their ecosystems. And so the concern is that calling a being a relic or a fossil, may undermine the urgency needed to preserve and protect it. In particular because in most cases the current threat to these species is not natural selection, it’s not evolutionary, it’s human-caused, anthropogenic.

The European Sturgeon is anadromous. This means they are born in freshwater riverbeds, then as young juveniles migrate downstream to coastal saltwaters, where they spend most of their lives, returning to their freshwater birthplace to mate and spawn.

They have adaptations that allow them to regulate the salt concentration in their bodies (a process called osmoregulation) and survive in waters with vastly different salinity levels. 

So adult European Sturgeon, who live near the coast in oceans, seas, and estuaries, estuaries are the brackish transition zone where river freshwater mixes with ocean saltwater. They leave their marine home, swim upstream, sometimes as far as 200-300 miles, to return to the site of their own birth to mate. Generally solitary, during this reproductive journey which takes place roughly every other year for males and every 3-4 years for females, the sturgeon gather in mass.

Mating is external. At the spawning grounds, female sturgeon release their eggs into the water, males release their sperm near the eggs, fertilization occuring outside the body. A single female can release hundreds of thousands of eggs during a spawning season. And the eggs have an adhesive coating that helps them stick to riverbottom muds or gravel, keeping them from being swept away by the current. And then after spawning, the adults go their separate ways, returning downstream to the sea; there is no like parental care of the eggs or young. The eggs gestate for about a week, hatch, and the young are independent from the moment of birth.

The young will spend between 2-6 years, migrating downstream as they slowly adapt to saltwater, sometimes moving back and forth between river and sea until eventually settling into their primary coastal saltwater habitat.

Female European Sturgeon reach sexual maturity between 10-20 years, males between 10-12 years. Their estimated lifespan is 50 years.

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In the dream, I cannot help myself, in the dream, I dream prehistoric. Of the 85 million years, of the 1 and half million generation of sturgeon, the unfathomable heritage, the long twisting story written in their DNA, in the dream, like an eons-long flipbook of swimming and evolving, in the same waters. That is the thing for me, each cycle, every generation to return over and over, ever and ever to their same birthplace to spawn, to renew, to begin again, ambassadors in a forevers-long renegotiation of the old treaty between water and life. In the dream.

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In both their fresh and saltwater habitats, the European Sturgeon feeds on Benthic Invertebrates, so these worms, crustaceans and small mollusks that live on or in the bottom sediments of the riverbed or sea floor.

The European Sturgeon has a protrusible mouth, meaning it can extend its mouth forward to create a kind of tube and they use a vacuum feeding technique, creating suction to draw prey into their mouths along with water and sediment.

They are seasonal opportunistic feeders, meaning their diet varies depending on the season and they will consume a variety of prey depending on what is available. They tend to be more active and feed more intensively at night.

Historically the European Sturgeon was found across the European Continent, in the North Sea, in the Black Sea, in the Danube, in the Rhine, in the Baltic Seas in the English Channel, in the Mediterranean, and across the Western European Atlantic coasts.

Today, the only remaining wild population is restricted to the Gironde estuary fed by the Garonne River on the southwestern coast of France near the city of Bordeaux. The mature sturgeon in the estuary and the nearby coastal atlantic waters, go upstream, up the Garonne River to spawn.

This is wild, the Garonne River runs right through the heart of the city of Bordeaux, so the sturgeon is swimming upstream, navigating bridges, water taxis, houseboats, tourist river cruises, and industrial and commercial waterway use. Past Bordeaux they still have another 80+ plus miles to reach their breeding site, deeper waters with a gravelly riverbed, further south toward the like Toulouse and the Pyrenees.

This whole bioregion is known as the Aquitaine Basin which includes coastal dunes, pine forests, wetlands, and river systems. The Gironde estuary itself is formed where the Garonne and Dordogne rivers meet the Atlantic, the estuary stretches over 45 miles inland.

The landscape of the estuary is marked by mudflats, sandbanks, and salt marshes and further inland the marshes give way to forests, vineyards and farmlands.

The climate in this region is temperate and oceanic, with warm summers and mild winters. Summer high temperatures typically average in the mid-70s °F, winter lows rarely dip below freezing. The annual rainfall is moderate, averaging around 35 inches per year.

The European Sturgeon shares the Garonne estuary with Northern Pintail, Snails, Common Cordgrass, European Otter, Gorse, Allis Shad, Red Deer, Sea Purslane, Grey Heron, Marine Bristle Worms, Mallard, European Eel, Sowbugs, Common Reed, Opossum Shrimp, Sea Lamprey, Maritime Pine, Wild Boar, European Flounder, Aquatic Earthworms, Great Egret, Sea Couch Grass, Mussels, Purple Heron, and many many more.

Population threats

Historically the European Sturgeon’s population was profoundly reduced by a range of anthropogenic, that’s human-caused, activities. So, habit encroachment and habit reduction through direct development of river systems, so like dams, locks, building canals, and bridges, and riverbed gravel dredging (which specifically affects spawning grounds). Commercial and industrial activities as well, so shipping and other waterway traffic and water pollution from industrial dumping and agricultural runoff. 

Today, most of these threats persist, with the additional threat of bycatch. So contemporary industrial fishing does not look like perhaps what we imagine or have seen on like reality tv. This is not a dozen folks on a skiff braving the high seas. These are massive 1000 ton, 400+ ft, industrial trawlers with like 100 crewmembers. They require powerful engines, guzzling diesel fuel and generating greenhouse gasses, and the bottom-trawlers that impact the sturgeon release these massive weighed nets that scrape the seabed over a roughly 300 ft area and ensnare everything in its path, catching hundreds of thousands of fish in a single haul.

Fishing of the European Sturgeon is globally prohibited but nevertheless bycatch occurs when the sturgeon is caught in these nets. And I don’t want to be too grim here, but bycatch means dead, this isn’t like your grandad in a yellow slicker on his dinghy pulling the hook out and tossing ‘em back. This is thousands of fish, out of water, writhing for breathe, caught in a mesh.

And complicating this is that industrial fisheries, concerns about penalties, are generally disincentivized from reporting bycatch so it is hard for conservationists to know how widespread the issue is.

And lastly, human-induced climate change may prove a nearterm threat to the European Sturgeon. Global warming means that Atlantic ocean undersea currents are changing. This will have broad impact on water temp, ocean salinity, sea level and weather patterns. All of which will likely affect the remaining European Sturgeon population

Management, protection and conservation of the European Sturgeon has been ongoing for over 100 years, for example in 1915, baited hook-lines were prohibited in the Eider River in Germany to protect juvenile sturgeon and in 1932 in Poland, fishing of the European Sturgeon was totally prohibited.

And yet, throughout the twentieth c, their population plummeted, leading to the initiation of captive breeding and artificial reproduction programs in France in the 1990s. Unfortunately, the success of these efforts was fairly limited with initial re-releases in the early 2000s resulting in a survival rate of only 3-5%.

These programs continue though and are expanding, with reintroduction of the species in Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltic sea and continued restock and monitoring of the Gironne population in France.

Conservation of the species is also complicated by like human behavior and bureaucracy and social and governmental systems. You’ll recall that it takes about a dozen years for juvenile sturgeon to reach reproductive age and then another half dozen years for the new spawn to return to the sea. So, evaluating the success of any reintroduction effort is like a 15-20 year process. And well, observations of my species seem to suggest we have a short memory and seem disinclined toward longterm planning and for funding things without immediate gratification.

As an example, a 1999 report indicated planned releases in over 10 European nations, and here 25 years later it appears that only three of those programs remain.

The European Sturgeon has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and their population is currently in decline. Counts estimate that less than 50 reproducing adult European Sturgeon remain in the wild.

Citations 30:47

Information for today’s show about the European Sturgeon was compiled from:

“Acipenser sturio Recovery Research Actions in France.” Williot, P., Rochard, E., Rouault, T., Kirschbaum, F. (2009). In: Carmona, R., Domezain, A., García-Gallego, M., Hernando, J.A., Rodríguez, F., Ruiz-Rejón, M. (eds) Biology, Conservation and Sustainable Development of Sturgeons. Fish & Fisheries Series, vol 29. Springer, Dordrecht – https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8437-9_15 

“Biological characteristics of European Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser sturio, as the basis for a restoration program in France.” Williot, P. et al. (1997). In: Birstein, V.J., Waldman, J.R., Bemis, W.E. (eds). Sturgeon Biodiversity and Conservation. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. – https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-46854-9_24 

“Biological Observations on the Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio)”. Borodin, N. (1925). Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, Vol. 55 No.1, p 184–190 – https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1925)55[184:BOOTAS]2.0.CO;2 

“Conservation Status and Effectiveness of the National and International Policies for the Protection and Conservation of Sturgeons in the Danube River and Black Sea Basin”. Strat, Daniela, and Iuliana Florentina Gheorghe. 2023. Diversity Vol. 15, no. 4: 568 – https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040568 

“Energy audit and carbon footprint in trawl fisheries.” Sala A, Damalas D, Labanchi L, Martinsohn J, Moro F, Sabatella R, Notti E. Scientific Data. 2022 Jul 20;9(1):428. – https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01478-0 

“The Evolution of the Spiracular Region From Jawless Fishes to Tetrapods”. Gai Zhikun, Zhu Min, Ahlberg Per E., Donoghue Philip C. J. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 10. 2022 – https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.887172 

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/230/242530547

“Meristic and morphological features of the Baltic sturgeon (Acipenser sturio L.)”. Debus, L. (1999). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, Vol. 15: 38-45. – https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0426.1999.tb00203.x 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries. Species Directory: European Sturgeon – https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/european-sturgeon/overview 

“Phylogenetic Biodiversity Metrics Should Account for Both Accumulation and Attrition of Evolutionary Heritage”. James Rosindell, Kerry Manson, Rikki Gumbs, William D Pearse, Mike Steel. Systematic Biology, Volume 73, Issue 1, January 2024, Pages 158–182 – https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syad072 

“Phylogeography of the European Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio): A critically endangered species”. Olivier Chassaing, Nathalie Desse-Berset, Catherine Hänni, Sandrine Hughes, Patrick Berrebi. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 94, Part A, 2016, Pages 346-357 – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.020

“Reasons for the decline of Acipenser sturio L., 1758 in central Europe, and attempts at its restoration”. J. Gessner. Bulletin of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography Vol. 16 no. 1-4. 2000 pp 117-126 – https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/71764893.pdf

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_sea_sturgeon

For more information about the conservation and protection of the Sturgeon please visit the World Sturgeon Conservation Society at https://www.wscs.info 

Music 32:58

Pledge 37:59

I honor the lifeforce of the European Sturgeon. I will commit its name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the European Sturgeon I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Kapitia Skink

Species Information 02:05

The Kapitia Skink is a critically endangered reptile native to the west coast of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, roughly 100 miles west of the city of Christchurch.

Kapitia Skink are quite small, measuring roughly 2-4 inches in length. They are lightweight, generally weighing less than half an ounce. Their bodies are long and slender. Roughly the size of an adult human pointer finger.

They have a slight rounded snout, with large, dark eyes set on each side of their flat, pyramid shaped head. Their torso is slender and cylindrical, with four limbs, each tipped with five clawed digits.

Their tail is often longer than their torso, it’s flexible, muscular and tapers to its tip. The tail plays a crucial role in balance, locomotion, and defense from predation.The Kapitia Skink’s tail is prehensile, meaning that it can curl around objects, gripping branches for example to aid in climbing. It can also shed its tail as a defense mechanism. 

Here’s how this works: The skink’s tail has what are called fracture planes, areas of cellular weakness designed to break easily. If a predator grabs the skink’s tail, muscles contract around a fracture plane, causing the tail to detach, a bit like a plug from a socket. The detached tail will continue to writhe and wriggle, ideally temporarily distracting the predator, which allows the skink to escape. And then over time the skink will regrow a new tail, though some observations on skink in captivity suggest that the regenerated tail may not end up being as long and or as strong as the original.

Skink have scaled skin, that is smooth, patterned and a little reflective. Their dorsal scales, on their back are a rich red-brown, with lighter and darker flecks. Their sides are marked by light and dark brown and black lateral stripes. Their ventral scales, the underside, their belly are yellow, speckled with black flecks. The underside of their tail transitions from yellow to a blue-gray pocked with pinkish specks. Their specks and scale patterns are camouflage in their habitat and the patterning is unique to each skink, and has been used by researchers to identify distinct individuals.

Skink are cold blooded. They rely on external factors to regulate their body temperature, specifically they’re heliothermic, meaning they rely on warmth from the sun. And as such they are diurnal meaning they are active during the day, in the sunlit hours seeking food, and basking in the sunshine to gather heat energy.

Kapitia Skink are like shy, a 2024 study observed that the skink spend roughly 90% of their time out-of-sight, hidden. Of that remaining 10%, generally between 10am and 4pm, they were observed in the open, spending roughly half that time basking in the sun and the other half active, climbing, walking, foraging for food.

Kapitia Skink are insectivorous, meaning they feed on a diet of insects. Flies, Moths, Beetles, Crickets and their larvae. Kapitia Skink are active predators, they actively seek prey. Likely relying on their eyesight (they are believed to have keen, color vision), and use of tongue flicking to detect chemical cues in the air. The Kapitia Skink have a vomeronasal system. We covered the vomeronasal system on a recent episode, so brief recap here, basically this is a secondary scent sense system located in the roof of the mouth, that can detect airborne pheromones and chemical cues. So the skink flicks its tongue, to pull air molecules into its mouth and to vomeronasal tubes, whose sense receptors help it locate prey.

Scientists believed that Kapitia Skinks may also have previously included fruit in their diet. Researchers at Auckland Zoo have observed a preference for berries among captive skink.

We have limited information about Kapitia Skink communication and social behavior. In part because they spend so much time hidden. They’ve been observed employing a wide variety of hiding places, called retreats, like high grasses, leaf litter, logs, and even human debris, like wooden planks, fenceposts and metal sheets to hide from predators and the elements.

They seem to be generally solitary, only coming together to mate. Males have demonstrated some territorial behavior, using visual displays, like head bobs and raised posture to communicate defense of their home range. Given their vomeronasal system, they likely also communicate using pheromonal signals. And because their scales are sensitive to touch, it is likely that tactile communication and physical contact play a role in mating behavior.

Skink do not form long-term pair bonds. After mating the male and female part. The pregnant female gestates for roughly 3-4 months with birthing generally occurring in Jan-Mar, late summer here in the southern hemisphere. Unlike most reptile, who lay eggs, Kapitia Skinks are viviparous, meaning they give birth to live young. The embryos develop inside the female, and she gives birth to roughly 2-5 offspring who are born well developed and fully independent, able to fend for themselves immediately.

Though born independent, Kapitia Skink are relatively slow-growing and juveniles are estimated to reach sexual maturity around 4 years of age. They live to roughly 10 years of age.

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In the dream, the cold night is a threshold, more than just sleep, a stillness profound and encompassing and threatening, muscles loose and useless, thoughts muted, a slowed heart, the scent of menace on my tongue. Hidden. The moon takes its wander. And then, the dawn. Glorious. It too is a portal, from the first sliver of orangelight an awakening, a reanimating, a kind of resurrection. A tiny firework spins its sparkles on the sidewalk and then goes out. And then is lit again and then goes out and lit again; void and phoenix every solar cycle. 

And to truly start each day anew, in the dream.

————

The Kapitia Skink is native to a tiny habitat on the West Coast of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. This is a thin strip of tall dense grasses, roughly half a mile long and 50 ft wide nestled between the coastal sand dune beach of the Tasman Sea to the west and private agricultural pasturelands to the east.

The landscape is generally flat, with occasional small hills, and scattered clumps of denser vegetation, driftwood, logs, and human debris.

The Aotearoa New Zealand coast has a temperate oceanic climate with high rainfall and moderate temperatures, with summer highs in the mid 70s°F and winter lows in the low 40s°F and abundant rainfall, typically exceeding 100 inches per year.

Before human encroachment and agricultural development this region was once a coastal forest. Which is reflected in the Kapitia Skink’s anatomy. Its prehensile tail (not unlike a monkeys) is adapted for climbing, clinging and hanging from branches. But today no native vegetation remains in its habitat and recent research suggests no evidence of the skink climbing in the wild.

The population trends and conservation of the Kapitia Skink have taken a wildly winding path over the last 40 years.

Though we do no have population data from this time, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a majority of their habitat was entirely lost to farm development. Then a 2009 field survey found no Kapitia Skink in the wild. A 2013 survey found two. Then a more extensive trapping and surveying effort across four studies in 2015 resulted in the capture and identification of roughly 40 skinks, and at that time scientists estimated the total population to be between 40-50 skinks.

Then in 2018, Cyclone Fehi struck the region, causing massive tidal surges that submerged the Kapitia Skink’s entire habitat over two tidal cycles. Lynn Adams, of the Aotearoa New Zealand Department of Conservation explains “There were these massive waves…The whole entire population was overwashed over a couple of tides…And I actually thought that we’d lost the whole species. So that was my worst day. There were a few tears. But it turned out that most of them … survived.”

And so immediately, this is like March 2018, the Department of Conservation initiated an emergency captive breeding program. They captured 50 Kapitia Skink and sent them to the Auckland Zoo.

The captive breeding program has been a huge success, nearly doubling the population.

In the meantime though, the remaining wild skink faced increasing threat from further habit encroachment by human development, and predation by non-native human introduced mammal species, like rats, feral cats, and particularly mice.

So, in 2020 the Department of Conservation purchased roughly 3 acres of skink habitat and established the Kapitia Scientific Reserve. In the last 4 years they have built a fence to keep out rodent predators; Jade Angel Christiansen’s 2023 study suggests the fence is working. From 2021 through 2023, the Department of Conservation has been releasing captive skink back into the wild; three successful releases have placed 96 Kapitia Skink back into their now protected habitat.

Nevertheless the Kapitia Skink has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2021 and their population is generally in decline.

Our most recent counts estimate there are less than 200 Kapitia Skink in the wild.

Citations 22:12

“Arboreal behaviour and habitat use in the Nationally Critical Kapitia Skink (Oligosoma salmo)”. Marcel Kerrigan, Sarah Brill,  Marleen Baling. Perspectives in Biodiversity, Volume 2, pp 11–20. 2024 – https://doi.org/10.34074/pibdiv.002103 

“Biomimetic fracture model of lizard tail autotomy” Navajit S Baban et al. Science Vol. 375, 770-774 (2022) – https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh1614 

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/156730274/156730436 

“Habitat use and translocation techniques for the critically endangered Kapitia Skink, Oligosoma salmo” Jade Angel Christiansen. Master of Science Thesis, University of Otago 2023 – https://hdl.handle.net/10523/15198 

New Zealand Threat Classification System 2021 Report – https://nztcs.org.nz/assessments/123980 

“Origin, diversification, and systematics of the New Zealand skink fauna (Reptilia: Scincidae)” David G. Chapple, Peter A. Ritchie, Charles H. Daughert. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 52, Issue 2, August 2009, Pages 470-487 – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.03.021 

“Rare skinks return to southern home” New Zealand Department of Conservation Media Release. April 2023 – https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-releases/2023-media-releases/rare-skinks-return-to-southern-home/ 

“Sounds of Science” Podcast, Episode 3 with Lynn Adams, May 2019, from the New Zealand Department of Conservation – https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/podcast/sounds-of-science-archive/ 

“Lost and Found: Taxonomic revision of the speckled skink (Oligosoma infrapunctatum; Reptilia; Scincidae) species complex from New Zealand reveals a potential cryptic extinction, resurrection of two species, and description of three new species.” Zootaxa. 4623. 441-484. 2019. http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4623.3.2

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligosoma_salmo 

Music 23:55

Pledge 27:31

I honor the lifeforce of the Kapitia Skink. I will commit its name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Kapitia Skink I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Dama Gazelle

Species Information 02:05

The Dama Gazelle is a critically endangered mammal native to North Africa, specifically Chad, Mali, and Niger.

The Dama Gazelle is the largest of all gazelles, standing roughly 3 feet in height measured at the shoulder; it’s roughly 5 feet long and weighs roughly 80-150 lbs. It has a slender build with very long and skinny legs and a slight shoulder hump, housing powerful muscles.

Their fur coloration is reddish-brown on their necks and backs, fading to a creamy tan-ish white on the belly, rump and legs. Their muzzle is creamy white but often speckled with grey, red and brown patches around the eyes, nose, and ears. 

They have thin long heads, large black eyes, a whiskered u-shaped nose, and large ears.

Both males and females have two ‘S’ shaped deep black horns that curve back and up from their heads, about a foot and half in length, roughly 1 inch in diameter, and ringed with distinct ridges at the base that smooth to pointed tips at the tops. These are ‘true horns’, a bone core covered in a sheath of keratin (like human fingernails). They’re permanent and don’t shed. The horns grow continuously throughout a gazelle’s life, growing rapidly in youth, slowing as the gazelle reaches maturity, and continuing into old age, getting longer and thicker, but at a much reduced pace.

Dama Gazelle are just like really beautiful. Like noble-looking, with wise and tender faces and lovely markings.

Dama Gazelle have strong eyesight, with large eyes on each side of their head, providing a wide field of view with minimal head movement. They also have highly developed hearing with large, nimble ears that can swivel independently, allowing them to pinpoint the location of what they hear with precision. 

Dama Gazelle, like many mammal and reptile, have two scent sensing systems. The main olfactory system and the vomeronasal system. Their main olfactory system works much like it does in the human species, this is big oversimplification but basically airborne molecules enter the nostrils gazelle nostrils/human nostrils, in which their are like millions of olfactory receptor neurons, when odor molecules bind with these receptors it sends a signal to the brain, resulting in a “sense of smell”.

And then the gazelle’s vomeronasal system is a supplemental specialized scent system adapted for detecting pheromones. The Dama Gazelle’s vomeronasal organ is located in the roof of the mouth, behind the incisor teeth. These are two small tubes lined with sensory cells that also connect to the nasal cavity through a narrow duct. So when pheromones enter the vomeronasal organ through the mouth or the nasal cavity, sensory cells detect these chemicals and send signals to the gazelle’s brain.

Interestingly, the vomeronasal system sends signals to the accessory olfactory bulb, amygdala and hypothalamus, brain regions associated with emotions and instinctive behaviors. Whereas the main Olfactory System, sends signals to the main olfactory bulb, then to the olfactory cortex, which is involved in the perception of smells. So these two different scent systems are also interpreted differently through distinct pathways through the brain.

Gazelles release pheromones in their urine, feces, and from glands near their eyes, coding information about sex, reproductive status, and even social hierarchy. These pheromones are foundational for gazelle communication, courtship, and mating. Males use the vomeronasal system to detect fertile females, while females use it to assess the suitability of these potential mates. Pheromones also help gazelles recognize individuals within their herd, mark territory, and detect predators.

So, we can think of the main olfactory system as like general purpose, providing a broad awareness of their environment through airborne scents. And the vomeronasal system is like a specialized “chemical communication” channel, focused on detecting pheromones. For example, the main olfactory system might alert a gazelle to the presence of another gazelle, and then the vomeronasal system would provide more specific information about that individual’s sex and identity.

Dama Gazelle also communicate through vocalization and body language. Scientists have observed snorts and bleats used as alarm calls, and higher pitched bleats that mothers use to communicate with their fawns. And grunts, low-pitched vocalizations used by males during aggressive interactions or sometimes during courtship.

Non-verbal communication through behavior, gesture and body posture also conveys information between individuals and publicly among the herd. Some examples include: Displays of dominance and aggression, like standing in a tense erect posture with nose and horns raised high, or repeated lowering of the horns in a symbolic gesture suggesting head-butting and combat.

We’ve also documented greeting and friendly and familial behaviors like nose-to-nose touching and close sniffing. Also social grooming, the licking and gentle nibbling of the face and neck. And play behavior like running, circling, chasing, high-jumping, and play fighting.

In juvenile play, and also in the presence of predator threat, Dama Gazelle will hop high into the air, stiff leggedly lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously, in a behavior called by actual scientists pronking. And it is so funny and totally adorable. And pronking serves a vital purpose, evolutionary biologists believe it is a signal, a demonstration to the predator, of the gazelle’s health, agility and speed and an indication to the predator that it has been spotted, that it does not have the element of surprise. A kind of non-verbal communication to discourage the predator from even giving chase.

In the case of the Dama Gazelle those predators include: golden jackal, black-backed jackal, cheetah, spotted hyena, African lion, and homo sapiens.

Dama Gazelle are social animals, living in herds that once ranged in size from a hundred plus individuals, down to small groups of a few family units. During the wet season, when resources are abundant they will gather in larger herds that will sometimes even include other species of gazelle. Then based on food and water availability they migrate for the dry season, forming smaller groups.

Unlike most desert dwellers, Dama Gazelles are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day, foraging for food and water. They are highly mobile, often traveling long distances in search of grazing areas and water sources. They can go without drinking for extended periods, relying on the moisture content of their food to meet their water needs.

The Dama Gazelle is an herbivore, and opportunistic grazer, feeding on shrubs, desert grasses, and Acacia tree leaves. They are able to stand on their hind legs to reach upper branches.

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In the dream, just to see it. In my waking life, it is unlikely i will ever safari, and so, in the dream to see a herd of Dama Gazelle crest a dune, to a wadi soaked in new rain. The speed and grace and communal movement, a dance of life, of living, to hear hoof thud in the barrens, to imagine the impossible beauty of a being thriving. In the dream.

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The breeding season for Dama Gazelle generally takes place between August and October, during which males become increasingly assertive, establishing dominance and claiming and marking territory.

They adopt aggressive postures, give chase, vocalize and clash horns with other males, in an effort to ward off competitors and convince females to be willing to mate. A receptive female might receive a mating dance or a demonstration of strength or speed and the male may approach the female with gentle licking or nibbling of the female’s flanks.

Dama Gazelles do not forge long-term breeding pairs. After mating, the male and female typically part ways, the male continuing his pursuit of other mating opportunities, while the female begins to gestate her new fawn.

Gestation takes roughly 6 months, and they give birth in the open, usually within the relative safety of the herd, generally to a single fawn. The mother carries the responsibility of raising her offspring, nursing for the first 3-4 months of life. Within days of birth, the new fawn can stand and take their first steps and their agility and swiftness quickly develop, allowing them to keep pace with the herd in the early weeks of their life.

Mother and fawn form the core of the Dama Gazelle family unit with fawns remaining under their mother’s care for up to a year, learning essential survival skills and finding their place, socially in their herd.

The young reach reproductive age around one to two years, but young males often face a delay in their reproductive success, as they must first develop the strength and experience necessary to compete effectively for mates.

In the wild, Dama Gazelle can live up to roughly 12 years.

The Dama Gazelle is native to arid and semi-arid landscapes of North Africa, from the southern edges of the Sahara Desert to the Sahel region, in Mali, Chad and Niger. 

These are vast, open brushlands, with sparse vegetation, grasses, dry riverbeds, sandy soils and sporadic trees. The climate is intense, with summer temperatures soaring into the 100s °F and winter nights dropping into the low 40s °F. Rainfall is scarce, averaging less than 16 inches per year, concentrated in the rainy season.

This is a transitional zone, with the harsh desert to the north and more humid savannas to the south, with a flat topography and plains that extend for miles, occasionally interrupted by low, rocky hills, weathered plateaus and sandy dunes. Riverbeds and low valleys, called wadis, carve the landscape. Dry for much of the year, during the rainy season, wadis channel the rainfall, supporting pockets of vegetation and attracting animals seeking fresh water and sustenance.

The Dama Gazelle shares its arid habitat with Lalob tree, cheetah, Gecko, Aristida grass, vulture, red-fronted gazelle, addax, Acacia tree, Sand Boa, leopard, lion, Ziziphus, panicgrass, eagle, African myrrh, dorcas gazelle, hyenas, Desert Monitor and many many more.

There has been a steep decline in the Dama Gazelle population over the second half of the 20th c. to the present due to domestic livestock overgrazing, and human predation. 

Non-native domesticated livestock, like cattle, sheep, and goats, compete with the Dama Gazelle for the limited resources of their habitat. Livestock directly consume significant amounts of the vegetation vital to the gazelle’s diet, potentially leading to malnutrition but more frequently resulting in displacement. The Dama Gazelle has to seek farther afield food sources in less-hospitable environments.

Overgrazing also generally degrades overall habitat quality. Damaging plant roots, compacting the soil, and promoting erosion, making it difficult for native plants to reproduce. So it’s not just direct plant consumption but also these less-obvious longterm impacts further reduce food availability and can disrupt the balance of the ecosystem.

Here in the 21st C, the Dama Gazelle’s top predator is humans, who hunt the gazelle for their meat. For millennia, Saharan nomads have relied on the gazelle bushmeat as a protein stable in their diet. But the more recent use of modern firearms, 4x4 vehicles, and organized hunting parties using contemporary communication technology, has tipped the scales, leading to a precipitous drop in the gazelle population.

And though it is illegal, Dama Gazelles are still sometimes poached for their beautiful horns.

Human induced climate change also poses an immediate threat. Desertification, the expansion of the Sahara Desert, driven by global warming, is further shrinking the Dama Gazelle’s already reduced habitat. Changing weather patterns are expected to exacerbate drought conditions in the region, further reducing the availability of water and food for the gazelle.

The Dama Gazelle has international legal protection and trade of the species is monitored. Three of the current wild populations occur in designated wilderness areas.

There is an extensive international captive breeding program that has been in place for over 30 years. Zoos and sanctuaries in Africa, Europe, and the US have successfully breed and retained thriving population of the gazelle in captivity. This has led to an odd imbalance, there are currently more Dama Gazelle in captivity than in the wild, in fact, there are more Dama Gazelle in Texas, than there are in North Africa.

This is partly because reintroduction efforts have had limited success. For example, a 2015 reintroduction project in Morocco, released 24 Dama Gazelle into the Safia Natural Reserve which resulted in the deaths of three individuals by poaching and seven others killed by domestic dogs from a nearby military outpost. This suggests that the captive-breed animals may not be responding appropriately to potential predators.

Reintroduction efforts continue across North Africa in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Niger and Chad, and the recent successful reintroduction of the scimitar-horned oryx into it native saharan habitat provides a model and some hope for the Dama Gazelle programs.

Nevertheless the Dama Gazelle has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2016 and their population is currently in decline. Our most recent counts estimate that less than 200 Dama Gazelle remain in the wild.

Citations 28:52

Animal Diversity Web at the University of Michigan – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nanger_dama/ 

“Evolution of horn shape and sex dimorphism in subspecies of the Dama Gazelle”. Schreiber, Arnd. Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy Vol. 33 No. 2 (2022): 173-186. – https://doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-00561-2022 

“Exploring the vomeronasal organ in an endangered antelope species”. Mateo V. Torres, Irene Ortiz-Leal, Andrea Ferreiro, José Luis Rois, Pablo Sanchez-Quinteiro. bioRxiv (bio-archive March 2023) 2023.03.09.531847 – https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.09.531847 

“Hormonal characterization of the reproductive cycle and pregnancy in the female Mohor gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr)”. Pickard, A. R., Abáigar, T., Green, D. I., Holt, W. V., & Cano, M. Reproduction vol. 122 no. 4, 571–580. – https://doi.org/10.1530/rep.0.1220571 

IUCN – https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T8968A50186128.en

The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates. Estes, Richard D. United States: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999. – https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Safari_Companion/Xqp7poFviNcC 

The Mammals of Africa. Vol. 6. Pigs, Hippopotamuses, Chevrotain, Giraffes, Deer and Bovids. Scholte, Paul. Nanger dama Dama Gazelle. pp.382-387. Bloomsbury Publishing 2013 – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262684087_Nanger_dama_Dama_Gazelle 

“Pheromone Sensing in Mammals: A Review of the Vomeronasal System”. Torres, Mateo V., Irene Ortiz-Leal, and Pablo Sanchez-Quinteiro. ANA-TOMI-UH Anatomia Vol 2, no. 4: 346-413. 2023 – https://doi.org/10.3390/anatomia2040031 

Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute – https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/dama-gazelle 

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dama_gazelle

If you are interested in learning more about current Dama Gazelle conservation efforts, please look in to Sahara Conservation at saharaconservation.org

https://saharaconservation.org/

Music 30:52

Pledge 35:20

I honor the lifeforce of the Dama Gazelle. I will commit its name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Dama Gazelle I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Bahama Nuthatch

Species Information 02:05

The Bahama Nuthatch is a critically endangered avian native to the island of Grand Bahama in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 60 miles east of the North American mainland off the southern Florida coast.

The Bahama nuthatch is one of the smallest nuthatches in the world, measuring about 4 inches in length, with a wingspan of about 8 inches and weighing roughly a quarter of an ounce. So tiny, like about the size of teacup and weighing about the same as like 3 pennies.

The Bahama Nuthatch has a brownish cap that extends down to its nape, with a dark brown eye stripe. Its upperparts are predominantly bluish-gray that shift into a chocolate brown at the wingtips. Its chest and belly are a pale white specked with blue gray.

Its black bill is long, pointed and slightly upturned, adapted for probing bark and crevices for insects. 

Its tail is short and square.

Its legs and feet are dark gray and its clawed toes are adapted for gripping bark. They’re arranged in a zygodactyl pattern, with two toes facing forward and two facing backward, meaning they can grip and climb up, down, sideways on tree trunks, even gripping and moving upside down.

The Bahama Nuthatch is native to Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas, specifically the pineyards, a region of Caribbean Pine forests. This is a tropical and subtropical coniferous forest biome, populated with pine trees in the overstory in a warm, humid climate. 

The landscape is relatively flat, with occasional limestone outcrops and depressions that create variations in the terrain which may hold seasonal ponds or wetlands during the rainy season. The climate on Grand Bahama Island is subtropical, with warm temperatures and high humidity year-round. Summer temperatures typically reach highs in the 90s °F, while winter temperatures rarely drop below the mid-60s. 

The Bahama Nuthatch shares its habitat with Bahama Oriole, Bahama Woodstar, Poisonwood, Bahama Trumpet Tree, Florida Clover Ash, Bahama Warbler, Cuban Emerald Hummingbird, Boas, West Indian Woodpecker, Bahama Pine, Thatch Palm, Buffy Flower Bat, Devil’s Gut, Bahama Yellowthroat, West Indian Snowberry, Rock Iguanas, Southern Bracken Fern, Bushy Beard Grass, Bahama Swallow and many many more.

The Bahama Nuthatch is an obligate resident of these pine woodlands. Obligate resident means that the Bahama Nuthatch is totally dependent on the Caribbean pine and these Caribbean pine forests for its survival, for food, safety from predation, and for reproduction and nesting. It cannot live anywhere else. 

The Bahama Nuthatch forages for insects and seeds on all sections of the Caribbean pine, trunk, branches, twigs, and cones, spending most of its time feeding in the upper parts of the tree, roughly 40ft above the forest floor. Methodically moving up and down the trunk (using it’s zygodactyl claws), it peels off loose bark, and probes bark crevices, needle clusters and open cones for seeds and for arthropods like spiders, beetles, roaches, ants, and moths. With harder foods, like hardshelled insects and pine seeds, the nuthatch will hammer repeatedly with its bill until the food is safe for consumption. 

It is this behavior that gives the nuthatch family its common name. It opens, or ‘hatches’ nuts, to eat the kernel inside.

Though it has not been directly observed in the Bahama Nuthatch, its two closest relatives, the Pygmy and the Brown-headed Nuthatch are both documented tool-users. They will use twigs, held in their beaks, as a kind of crowbar to pry up bark to search for insects beneath, dropping the twig to feed, when prey is found. Given their close taxonomy and that the Bahama Nuthatch was thought to be a subspecies of the Brown-headed Nuthatch until 2021 we can confidently hypothesize that the Bahama Nuthatch is a tool user too.

Interestingly, one of the key studies that led the establishment of the Bahama Nuthatch as a distinct species was based on their vocalizations. The Bahama Nuthatch communicates using a range of calls, charming described by ornithologists (scientists who study birds) as Chitters, Twitters, Pits, Tinks, Trills and Skew-doos. In two separate 2020 studies, researchers played-back recorded Bahama Nuthatch calls to Brown-headed Nuthatch, and then vice versa. In both cases, acknowledgement and recognition of the calls was very low. And of course acknowledgement and recognition was when the calls were played to their own species was very high. So this behavioral difference along with evidence from genetic studies led the American Ornithological Society to declare the Bahama Nuthatch a distinct species in 2021, believing it diverged roughly half a million years ago.

Researcher David Pereira, in 2018, recorded some of the Bahama Nuthatch’s vocalizations. Let’s drop the music out and take a listen.

SOUND RECORDING

Communication is of course key for avian species and research suggests that nuthatches in particular have really nuanced vocalizations. From a 2020 study of the Red Breasted Nuthatch, Nora Carlson, Erick Greene, and Christopher Templeton found that the nuthatch use distinct alarm calls based on the source and quality of their information. They write:

“Inappropriate responses to a predator threat can be costly either by overestimating the degree of threat leading to wasted time and energy … or by underestimating the degree of threat leading to injury or death from the predator. Thus, natural selection should favour alarm calling systems in which signals reliably reflect the threat level a potential predator poses and receivers assess the quality of the source of the information and base their responses on this information quality.”

So, here’s what that looks like: if a nuthatch observed an approaching predator, they would vocalize a particular alarm call. Alternatively, if they heard another nuthatch’s alarm call, but did not see the threat, they would vocalize a slightly different call indicating that they were like passing along information, that it is not a direct observation. And also the nuthatch will eavesdrop (that is the scientific term) on other birds in their habitat. So, if another species raises an alarm call, a nuthatch that hears it will like translate it, I know that is not the right word but that’s the idea, translate it and vocalize its own alarm but indicating that the concern originated indirectly. So we’re learning that species are encoding substantive information in their vocalization and also that they are assessing what’s called public information from other species, to protect one another from predator threat.

————

In the dream, at the end. The memory of sweet downy fledgingings chittering for food. Of the Kirtland’s Warbler visiting every wintertime. And thinking back far now, the mainland, the pines, the home stretching far past where we might ever adventure. Then the storms, the world-enders, the first, the next, the last, sheltering against the impossible wind, alarm muted in the swirling howl. An anxious goodbye, lost, in the dream.

————

Bahama Nuthatch mate and lay eggs from November to May. Each breeding season they form monogamous breeding pairs, and it seems likely these bonds last for multiple years, though we do not have enough evidence to say for certain.

They are cavity nesters, excavating holes in dead or decaying Caribbean pine. The female typically selects the nest site, and both partners participate in excavating and modifying the cavity. They line the nest with soft materials like bark fibers, feathers, and pine needles. The female lays a clutch of 3-5 eggs. Incubation lasts about two weeks, and the female does most of the incubating. And the male brings her food during this time.

Upon hatching both parents feed the newborns. The young fledge (means leave the nest) after about three weeks, though continuing to rely on their family for protection and food for roughly another 2-3 weeks.

The Bahama Nuthatch demonstrate cooperative breeding, so like the family unit consists of a breeding pair, their offspring, and potentially one or more helpers, usually male offspring from previous broods. These helpers assist with all aspects of raising the young, from feeding to protection to teaching foraging.

Juvenile Bahama Nuthatch reach reproductive maturity within about a year. But may stay with their parents in this helper role for one or more years before breeding themselves.

We do not have enough information to determine average lifespan, but their close relatives in the nuthatch family live roughly 5 years.

Over the 20th century the Bahama Nuthatch suffered a dramatic population decline due to habitat destruction and introduced predators. Extensive logging of the Caribbean Pine in the mid-20th century, that was then followed by land clearing for development, significantly reduced their habitat. The anthropogenic introduction of invasive predators like corn snakes, house cats, raccoons, and black rats exacerbated the decline.

More recently, human induced climate changed, in the form of more frequent and severe hurricanes, has pushed the Bahama nuthatch population to the very brink. In 2004, there were approximately 1,800 individuals on Grand Bahama Island. Then a series of hurricanes struck the island, felling the caribbean pine and sending saltwater storm surges inland, further damaging the pineyards the nuthatch relies on for food and nesting. Only 23 individuals were spotted in 2007. 

Surveys in 2016 in the wake of Hurricane Matthew found no Bahama Nuthatches. But then in 2018, a team of researchers led by Matthew Gardner and David Pereira, who’s recording we heard earlier, over 3 months trekked over 400 miles through the Island’s pine forests and observed 6 individuals.

Then island was hit by Hurricane Dorian in late summer 2019, a Category 5 hurricane causing further damage to the species habitat. We do not know if the Bahama Nuthatch survived.

As far as I could tell from my internet research, no recent large scale observational survey has been initiated, and the bird is tiny, shy, its habitat is relatively remote, so, a very small population could still remain. But it’s been like 5 years, and the birder blogs and recent posts from local naturalists and national park volunteers suggest that the Bahama Nuthatch may be extinct.

The Bahama Nuthatch was first placed on the IUCN Critically Endangered Red List in 2018. Our most recent counts estimate its population is under 10 individuals and it may be extinct.

I’d like to play another of David Pereira’s recordings, as this could be the very last audio capture of the Bahama Nuthatch.

SOUND RECORDING

Citations 24:36

“Abundance and distribution of breeding birds in the pine forests of Grand Bahama, Bahamas” Journal of Caribbean Ornithology; Vol. 24 No. 1 – https://jco.birdscaribbean.org/index.php/jco/article/view/107

Bahamas National Trust – https://bnt.bs/explore/grand-bahama/lucayan-national-park/

Birds of the World from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology – https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bnhnut2.01 

“Further vocal evidence for treating the Bahama Nuthatch Sitta (pusilla) insularis as a species. ” Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club; Vol. 140, No. 4 – https://doi.org/10.25226/bboc.v140i4.2020.a4

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103881687/181353443

“Land Bird Communities of Grand Bahama Island.” Ornithological Monographs No. 24 – https://doi.org/10.2307/40166704

“Nuthatches vary their alarm calls based upon the source of the eavesdropped signals.” Nature Communication Vol. 11, No. 526 – https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14414-w 

Sound Recording. David Pereira: XC614665 and XC615085, From Xeno-Canto. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/614665  and www.xeno-canto.org/615085 

“Variation in responses to interspecific vocalizations among sister taxa of the Sittidae.” Avian Conservation and Ecology Vol. 15. Issue 2. Article 15 – http://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01646-150215 

2018 video footage of the Bahama Nuthatch – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eiy6yWxeqA

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahama_nuthatch 

Music 27:21

Pledge 34:49

I honor the lifeforce of the Bahama Nuthatch. I will commit its name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Bahama Nuthatch I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Vancouver Island Marmot

Species Information 02:05

The Vancouver Island Marmot is a critically endangered mammal native to western North American, specifically to Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

And it is so cute. It’s so fuzzy, and it’s got a little white snout. These furballs are so charming.

The Vancouver Island Marmot is a large rodent belonging to the Sciuridae family, which includes squirrels, chipmunks, and woodchucks.

Adult Vancouver Island Marmot typically reach a length of about two feet from nose to tail. About the size of a housecat. Average weight ranges from 7 to 15 lbs, with their weight peaking just before hibernation in the fall.

They have a rounded body with short, powerful legs. Their forelimbs are strong, equipped with long, curved claws adapted for digging, for excavating burrows. The hind limbs are also clawed, though less pronounced, adapted for traction and stability when navigating rocky terrain.

Their fur is dense, a mix of rich chocolate brown on the back and shoulders, fading to a lighter reddish-brown on their sides and underbelly, with a white patch on their snout. The fur is composed of a thick undercoat overlaid with longer guard hairs, the undercoat provides insulation and the guard hairs help to keep their fur relatively dry.

Their small dark brown eyes are positioned on both sides of their head, providing them with a wide field of view, able to discern movement at a distance. Their color vision is believed to be limited, better adapted for the lowlight environment of their underground burrows

Their rounded (and adorable) ears are adept at sensing a range of sounds, including the subtle rustle of a predator approaching or the distant alarm calls of other marmot. Studies suggest they are particularly sensitive to sounds in the higher frequency range, which helps them detect airborne predators like eagles or hawks, so tuned in to like the sound of wind across feather.

The Vancouver Island Marmot’s snout is white-furred and its nose is flat and black with prominent nostrils. Their olfactory sense, their sense of smell, is particularly keen. They use scent to mark territory, identify other marmot, to detect the presence of potential mates and potential predators, and to find food sources. Marmots have sensitive vibrissae, or whiskers, pocking their snout. These are specialized touch-sensitive hairs that aid in navigation through burrows and crevices, and can detect changes in air currents.

Vancouver Island Marmot are herbivores, with a dental structure adapted to their plant diet. They have a single large incisor in both the upper and lower jaws. Kind of like a beaver. These chisel-like teeth grow continuously throughout the marmot’s life as they are worn down from gnawing through tough vegetation. Their molars have broad, flat surfaces adapted for grinding and crushing plant matter.

Vancouver Island Marmot are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day and sleep at night. They typically foraging for food in the early morning and late afternoon.

They have a widely varied diet, based on season and plant species availability. They are known to eat over 40 different kinds of grasses, herbs and wildflowers. When available they prefer flowers, fruits, fresh buds, and the fresh fiddleheads of the bracken fern.

I just want to highlight this. Marmots eat flowers. And so you don’t have to do this right now, but maybe when you’re having a rough day, image-search “marmots eating flowers.” It helps.

In the spring, they primarily eat grasses: oatgrass, woodrush and sedge. In the summer, their diet consists of meadowrue, cow parsnip, woolly sunflower, Broadleaf Lupine and peavine. In the early fall, they focus on consuming high-calorie foods, actively seeking energy-rich plant parts like seeds and fruits to build up fat reserves for hibernation.

The Vancouver Island Marmot hibernates, on average for 210 days of the year. Um, that’s a lot! Like 7 months of the year, little fuzz is sleeping it off. Compare that to bear for example, who hibernate about 4 months and other marmot species about 5. 7 is a lot.

So what does that look like?

Hibernation is a survival adaptation to endure winters when food is scarce and temperatures drop. It is a physiological state of reduced metabolic activity, so like slowing digestion and waste production, slowing heartrate and breathing and lowering body temperature. This enables the marmot to conserve energy and survive on stored fat reserves.

In October, as the days shorten and temperatures drop, the Vancouver Island Marmot retreat to their burrows. They close up the entrances with soil and vegetation, creating an insulated underground chamber.

During hibernation, their body temperature drops dramatically, hovering just above freezing. Their heart rate slows to a few beats per minute, and their breathing becomes shallow and infrequent. They remain in this state for weeks at a time, punctuated by brief periods of wakefulness where they may shift positions or expunge waste.

As spring approaches and outdoor temperatures rise, the marmots emerge from their burrows, and their metabolism gradually returns to normal function. And they again begin this cycle of spending the warm months building up internal fat reserves, to weather the winter hibernation, relying entirely on those reserves for sustenance.

This is, as you might imagine, a vital adaptation to their habitat.

The Vancouver Island Marmot is native to Vancouver Island, located off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. Their habitat lies within the Vancouver Island Ranges, this is a mountainous region that stretches along the island’s center. This bioregion is called the Coastal Western Hemlock zone. 

The Vancouver Island Marmot live in high-altitude meadows in the subalpine and alpine zones of these mountains, roughly 3 thousand to 4 feet above sea level. Subalpine and Alpine refers to the treeline, the ecological zone, above which trees cannot grow due to harsh environmental conditions; subalpine is below the treeline and has trees, alpine is above the treeline, so no trees.

The Vancouver Island Marmot meadow habitats are often south or west-facing, maximizing the sun exposure that is crucial for early snowmelt and the early new growth of the vegetation they feed on.

I should have mentioned this earlier, but the marmot emerge from hibernation hungry, like super hungry, and so timing here is crucial - needing to leave hibernation into a landscape that is generally clear of snow in which new plant growth, their food source, has already begun.

The winters are cool and wet, with snowfalls exceeding 80 inches (that’s like nearly seven feet) and temperatures that regularly dip below zero. Summer is mild and relatively dry, with temperatures reaching into the upper 70s.. And the flora responds, to soils damp with snowmelt and a few months of warm temperatures. Summer is a landscape of rolling rocky meadows interspersed with vibrant color patches of wildflowers blooming, backdropped by ragged peaks, clothed in mist and green forest.

And into this rich soil of their meadow habitat, the Vancouver Island Marmot, digs. Their homes are extensive burrow systems dug deep to serve as shelter from predators, a refuge for hibernation, and a haven for raising young. A typical burrow system will have multiple entrances, interconnecting tunnels, and internal chambers for sleep, birthing and social interaction. Marmots share their burrows, it is a communal living space for family groups or colonies that are reused year-over-year. Scientists have observed several burrow systems have been occupied for over 30 years by generations of the same family groups or colonies.

A family group typically consists of a single adult male, one or two adult females, and their offspring. Colonies are generally made up of two to three family units. Within a colony, social hierarchies are established through displays of dominance like lunging, chasing, and tail raising. And Vancouver Island Marmots can be territorial, using scent glands to mark their boundaries.

Scientists have also observed socially cohesive behaviors like nose-touching as a greeting, grooming one another, playfighting and chase games.

The Vancouver Island Marmot also exhibits sentinel behavior, where one or a few individuals will position themselves in a location with a good vantage point, and scan the surroundings for predators, like Cougar, Grey Wolf, or Golden Eagle. If a threat is detected, the sentinel will sound an alarm call, alerting the rest of the colony to return to the safety of the burrow.

The alarm call of the Vancouver Island Marmot is a very loud, high-pitched whistle. Researchers have documented five distinct whistles or trills that seem to be used by the marmot for different purposes.

Vancouver Island Marmots have a monogamous mating system, and pairings will last over multiple breeding seasons, though males have been recorded siring more than one litter in a single breeding season.

Because mating occurs within their burrows, we have limited knowledge of specific mating behavior. We do know that mating generally occurs once a year in the early spring after hibernation. Gestation lasts about a month and the female gives birth, in the burrow, to litters of 3 to 4 pups, who are nursed for about a month and then emerge from the burrow. Juveniles reach reproductive maturity at about 3 years old at which point young males will leave the colony, often traveling 10 to 30 miles to establish new families and colonies on their own new territory.

Vancouver Island Marmot’s average lifespan is 10 years, though they can live up to 15 years of age.

————

In the dream, I too, know winterrest, in the dream I know the sweet kiss of the son of night, kin of death, and the snow falls and the light wanes and the breath slows and I am safe, in the dream, safe among my kin blood and chosen, safe enough to sleep and trust the springtime’s promise. In the dream.

————

Historically, habitat loss due to overlogging and forest clear-cutting, and then resultant over abundance of predators drove the Vancouver Island Marmot to the very brink of extinction. So human resource overuse reshapes the habitat in ways that temporarily favor predator species, who decimate the marmot population. But with a reduced prey population, the predator species is then threatened by lack of available food. An ecosystem that was slowly balanced over millennia, is subjected to rapid untenable and unsustainable fluctuation due to human intrusion.

Relatedly, human induced climate change poses a forthcoming threat. As mentioned early, the annual hibernation cycles of the Vancouver Island Marmot have very tight margins. So changes in weather patterns, caused by human induced climate change, that affect snowmelt and spring plant growth, could result in hibernation mortality.

And yet, humans have helped pull the Vancouver Island Marmot back from extinction. In 2003, there were less than 30 Vancouver Island Marmot in the wild, with scientists observing that the population was so small that some reproductively mature marmots could not even find mates. Since then, regional and federal Canadian captive breeding programs, at the Toronto Zoo, the Calgary Zoo, and at the Marmot Recovery Foundation on Vancouver Island have successfully released captive bred marmot back into the wild. And those marmot have mated with wild individuals to form new family groups and colonies.

Nevertheless the Vancouver Island Marmot has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008 and their population is currently in decline.

Most recent counts estimate that less than 250 Vancouver Island Marmot remain in the wild.

Citations 27:02

Animal Diversity Web at the University of Michigan – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Marmota_vancouverensis/ 

Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol 100, Issue 2 – http://doi.org/10.5962/p.355598 

Canadian Journal of Zoology vol 74 issue 4 – http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z96-076 

Canadian Journal of Zoology vol 83 issue 5 – http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z05-056 

Canadian government’s Species at Risk Assessments and Status Reports – https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/cosewic-assessments-status-reports/vancouver-island-marmot-2019.html 

Canada’s National Observer’s State of the Animal Special Report – https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/11/23/news/endangered-vancouver-island-marmot-conservation-comeback 

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/12828/22259184

Mammalian Species, Issue 270 – https://doi.org/10.2307/3503862 

The Marmot Recovery Foundation – https://marmots.org 

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Island_marmot 

Music 28:58

Pledge 34:45

I honor the lifeforce of the Vancouver Island Marmot. I will carry its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Vancouver Island Marmot I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Cuban Crocodile

Species Information 02:05

The Cuban Crocodile is a critically endangered reptile native to southern Cuba.

The Cuban Crocodile is considered a small-to-medium-sized crocodile, with adults typically reaching lengths of about 7 feet, weighing roughly 170 pounds though the very largest cuban crocs reach 11ft in length, weighing over 450 pounds. Their body is covered in hard, raised scutes, arranged in regular rows along the back and sides. These scutes are made of bone, embedded beneath the outer skin, the epidermis, and provide flexible armored protection.

Adults are typically a dull olive-brown or gray, often blending well with their surroundings. The underside is paler, generally a creamy yellow or white.

Their limbs are strong and muscular, adapted for both terrestrial locomotion and aquatic propulsion. The forelimbs have five semi-webbed clawed digits, while the hind limbs have four, also webbed and clawed. The webbing aids in  swimming and maneuverability in water. The clawed digits help the croc navigate slippery terrain or for climbing obstacles and can be used to build burrows for nesting. And of course they are powerful weapons for defense and for capturing, holding, and tearing apart prey.

They are strong swimmers. Their streamlined bodies slice through the water and their tail is long and powerful, more tall than wide, like say an oar or a rudder, and it serves as their primary means of propulsion in the water in which they can reach speeds of 20 miles an hour. They are even able to quickly leap from the water, using their tails to launch themselves several feet in the air to snatch birds or small mammals from the riverbanks or from overhanging branches.

On land, Cuban Crocodiles are also fast and athletic. Unlike most crocodiles that have a low posture with their bellies close to the ground, Cuban Crocodiles have a semi-erect posture, a more upright stance. They are able to, what scientists call, “high walk,” lifting their belly and tail entirely off the ground, allowing for quicker motion.

Cuban Crocodiles are one of the few crocs observed galloping. Gallop is in fact a technical term to describe a kind of quadrupedal locomotion (quadrupedal means four legs).  A gallop is a gait where the hind legs provide the primary propulsive force, and includes a suspension phase, a moment in the stride where all four feet are off the ground simultaneously. Perhaps you can picture this like a horse, like a galloping horse. Um, now picture this movement in a clawed, armored reptile, who can reach speeds of 22 miles an hour on land, with a massive jaw and unbelievable teeth.

The Cuban Crocodile’s head has a short, broad, kind-of diamond-shaped snout that tapers towards the nostrils. The nostrils point upward allowing them to breathe while keeping most of their body submerged underwater. The lower jaw is hinged far back on the skull, allowing for a wide gape and its jaw muscles are incredibly strong, with a bite force of over 2000 newtons, newtons are the units we use to describe force. As an analogy, this is like the weight of a baby grand piano, but concentrated into a ten times smaller space, their roughly 3sq ft toothed mouth.

Cuban Crocodiles typically possess 68 teeth. The front teeth are conical and sharp, designed for seizing and holding prey, while the back teeth are broader, ideal for crushing bone. Their teeth grow continuously throughout their life, new teeth are constantly growing beneath the existing ones, ready to take their place when the old ones fall out. The mouth itself is lined with a tough membrane to withstand injury from struggling prey. At the back of their throat, they have a palatal valve, a flap of skin that prevents water from entering the lungs when submerged for hunting.

The Cuban Crocodile’s diet shifts and adapts throughout its life, reflecting changing energy needs, habitat, and prey availability. As small juveniles, their primary foods are insects, crustaceans, and small fish; an easily available diet to fuel their growth and development.

As they mature into adulthood, their diet expands significantly, reflecting increased size and strength and nutrition needs. Fish remain a staple. They also actively hunt turtles, employing those powerful jaws to crush the turtle’s protective shells. They also hunt on land, preying on white-tailed deer, wild pigs and feral dogs, and rodents including the hutia, a muskrat-ish mammal native to Cuba. And they hunt in the air, able to leap from the water, the crocs have been observed preying upon birds and bats.

Cuban Crocodile employ multiple hunting strategies. Ambush: quietly submerged with only their eyes and nostrils exposed, waiting and then quickly striking when prey nears. Also patrolling: actively ranging their territory in search of prey, on both land and in the water. Distraction: the Cuban Croc will wave its tail to confuse prey, before pouncing. Tool use: using sticks and branches to lure birds; researchers have observed crocodile strategically positioning sticks and branches on their snouts while basking near the water’s edge, attracting birds seeking out nesting materials.

And there is scientific documentation of Cuban Croc engaging in cooperative hunting. So, like pack hunting, multiple individuals working together in coordinated and cooperative ways to corral and capture larger prey, such as deer or wild pigs. Tool and pack hunting are extremely rare behavior among reptile species, and are indicative of the Cuban Crocodile’s intelligence, social behaviors, and communication abilities.

Scientific observation and research suggest they are social, and capable of learning, and problem-solving. While generally solitary and can be aggressively territorial, they will participate in group behaviors, during mating season, when sharing basking sites, and (as mentioned) on the hunt. They demonstrate established social hierarchies forged through displays of aggression and dominance, and a complex of visual and auditory signals.

Vocalizations include roars, bellows, and hisses, and non-verbal communication like water slaps, bubbling and body language to express status, emotions, and intentions. For instance, males bellow to attract mates, and will bubble the water near their breeding pair in a kind of playful intimacy. They’ll use hisses and roars to warn off others from their territory. Females will bellow in defense of their nest at both male and other female crocodiles, and use specific vocalizations to communicate with their offspring. Mother crocodiles have been observed using gentle water slaps to communicate with their young, guiding them or signaling them to keep close.

During mating season, Cuban Crocodile males become particularly territorial and engage in demonstrative displays like head and tail water slapping, body inflation, and tail-arching, aimed at showcasing their size and strength to attract females.

If a female is receptive, the further courtship will include nuzzling, snout to snout water bubbling, like the crocs will use their nostrils to gently blow bubble to each other, and in captivity scientists have observed male croc, giving females rides on their back in a kind of play behavior that preceded mating.

Copulation is brief and takes place underwater, with the male on top and the female almost entirely submerged. Long thought to be polygynous, meaning that a male had multiple female mates during a single breeding season, recent observations suggest the Cuban Croc may be polygamous, meaning both males and females take multiple mates.

While we’ve no evidence of true longterm breeding pairs, crocodiles do exhibit preferences for specific individuals in subsequent breeding seasons, suggesting familiarity and recognition over time.

After mating, the female constructs a nest by building small mounds of peat, often near the water’s edge. She then lays a clutch of 30-40 1-2 inch sized eggs, although nests have been observed with as many as 60 eggs. This comparatively large number of eggs is due to predation pressure on both the eggs and young hatchling crocodiles from raccoons, heron, introduced mongoose, introduced Monitor Lizards, and the predation of young by other Cuban Crocodile has also been recorded. 

The eggs incubate for around 2 months, during which the female remains close to the nest, guarding it against these threats.

Once hatched, baby crocodiles are about 11 inches long and have an “egg tooth” on their snout that helps them break out of the egg. The “egg tooth” is shed soon after hatching.

Once fully hatched, the mother gently carries her offspring to the water in her mouth. She continues to provide protection and guidance for up to a year as the young crocodile stay within their mother’s territory, growing, learning essential survival and hunting skills and becoming independent.

It takes roughly 6 years for Cuban Crocodile to reach reproductive maturity. They can live up to 75 years old in the wild.

————

In the dream, we make our song submerged, in the dream, water-tongued, a sonorous rippling, a bubbling, a melody of swish and impact, an aquatic gesturing of muted lyric, of current through riversoak, inscribed over seasons, drenched notes flowing, entreating wet and curious and low. It is of course a love song, in the dream.

————

The Cuban Crocodile is native to the island of Cuba, located in the northern Caribbean Sea. Their only remaining habitat is approximately 150 sq miles in the Zapata Swamp, in the southwestern part of the island roughly 60 miles south of Havana.

Zapata Swamp is a Cuban wetlands bioregion, characterized by a blend of freshwater streams and marshes, mangrove forests, peat bogs, and coastal lagoons. The Cuban Croc is a freshwater species, hunting and breeding in the rivers and swamps, rarely venturing into the brackish estuaries near the sea.

Zapata Swamp has a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. Summers are wet, hot and humid, with high temperatures reaching into the 90s. Winters are mild, with average low temperatures dipping into the mid 60s. Annual rainfall is substantial, averaging roughly 55 inches, with the majority falling during the summertime.

The Cuban Crocodile shares this swampland with Apple Snail, Sawgrass, Cuban Kite Swallowtail, Cuban Boa, Royal Palm, Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Parakeet, Mangrove, Hutia, American Crocodile, Woodpecker, Turtle, Palmetto, Water Lily, Cuban Tody, Buttonwood, Land Crab, Cuban Gar, Seagrape, Cuban Treefrog and many many more.

Historically, overhunting has played a significant role in the decline of the Cuban Crocodile population. In the early 1900s, over 90,000 crocodile were slaughtered for the exotic leather industry. And though it’s been illegal to hunt the Cuban Crocodile since 1967, illegal poaching has continued to the present day. For example, researchers found video evidence on YouTube in 2017 of boatloads of slaughtered crocodile being transported out of Zapata Swamp. And in the past decade there have been observations of Cuban Crocodile meat on the menus of local restaurants catering exotic meals to international tourists.

Historic habitat loss and fragmentation has also posed a significant threat. The expansion of human agriculture and infrastructure development has encroached upon the crocodile’s habitat, which once ranged across Cuba, on the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, and in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Relatedly, current habitats have been affected by water pollution from agricultural run-off.

Human introduced species, like feral cats, mongoose, and monitor lizards prey on Crocodile eggs and young.

And climate change poses a long-term threat. Predicted rise in sea level, threatens the near coast freshwater habitat of the Cuban Crocodile. The introduction of saltwater into these marshlands will not only affect the crocodile itself but also the prey species on which it feeds, further imperiling its survival.

There are extensive Cuban Crocodile captive breeding programs in place in Cuba, the US, Europe and Asia. The Zapata Crocodile Farm in Cuba manages roughly 4000 Cuban Crocodiles, raising offspring for reintroduction. As mentioned earlier, the Cuban Crocodile is legally protected and most of its current habitat is protected within the Zapata Swamp National Park.

Nevertheless the Cuban Crocodile has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008 and their population is currently in decline.

Our most recent counts estimate that less than 2400 Cuban Crocodile remain in the wild.

Citations 27:57

Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Third Edition – http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/19_C-bc83b749.pdf 

Encyclopedia Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/animal/Cuban-crocodile 

Ethology, Ecology & Evolution Vol 27 Issue 2 – https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2014.915432 

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/5670/130856048

Herpetological Review Vol 42, Issue 2; Vol 46, Issue 2; Vol 47 Issue 2; Vol 48 issue 1 – https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/

PLoS One. vol 7 issue 3 – https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031781

Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute – https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/cuban-crocodile

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_crocodile

Music 29:47

Pledge 35:32

I honor the lifeforce of the Cuban Crocodile. I will carry its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Cuban Crocodile I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Orange-bellied Parrot

Species Information 02:05

The Orange-bellied Parrot is a critically endangered avian native to the Australian island of Tasmania.

The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small, compact parrot, typically measuring about 8 inches beak to tailfeather, with a wingspan of roughly 14 inches. They are among the smaller species of the parrot family, weighing about a tenth of a pound, with a rounded body, a short tail and a tiny hooked beak.

The Parrot’s beak is, of course, used for feeding and particularly for food prep. The beak is strong and its curved shape is adapted to crack seeds, specifically buttongrass and sedge seeds, which are staples in the parrots diet.

The beak also aids in traversal, nest building, and self-maintenance. The parrot will use its beak to grip, climb and maneuver through vegetation, using it like a third limb. And for excavating nesting sites and gathering and carrying nesting materials.

The Orange-bellied Parrot, like other parrots, also uses its beak for extensive grooming vital to maintaining the health and functionality of its feathers. The parrot works through its plumage, nibbling and preening each feather individually, removing dirt, debris, and parasites. The uropygial gland, located at the base of their tail, produces an oily secretion that the parrot spreads onto its feathers which acts as a waterproofing agent and helps maintain the feathers aerodynamic shape, essential for efficient flight.

The parrot’s plumage is a vibrant array of colors. The upperparts, including the head, back, and wings, are a bright key lime green. The underparts are primarily yellow, with the namesake orange patch present on the lower belly. The longer flight feathers are a mix of blue and deeper green. 

Bright and well-groomed plumage plays a role in mate attraction, signaling good health and genetic fitness. Their colorations are also camouflage, surprisingly, what reads as 90s neon highlighter to humans, in fact blends surprisingly well with the foliage of the parrot’s habitat. And parrots have exceptional eyesight, allowing them to see a wider range of colors than humans do and perceive ultraviolet light, meaning their experience of each other’s plumage likely has nuances and subtle details and variations invisible to our eyes.

Which is like a little wild. To imagine that this already stunning being displays even more saturate brightness to its kin!

And of course, the parrot’s feathers also, are vital for flight. The primary and secondary feathers, arranged in overlapping layers, form the main flight surface of the wing; the upper surface wing is curved, while the lower surface is flatter. And so as air flows over the wing, it travels faster over the curved upper surface than the lower one, creating a pressure difference. This difference in pressure results in an upward force known as lift, which counteracts the downward force of gravity.

To move forward, birds need thrust, which is generated by flapping their wings.

Their powerful chest muscles, the pectoralis major, uh, bird pects, and the supracoracoideus muscles contract producing downtrokes and upstrokes. So the bird pects downstroke the wings pushing air downwards and backwards, creating a reaction force (physics: equal and opposite reaction) propelling the bird forward. The upstroke then is a recovery movement, where the wing comes back up, partially folded to reduce air resistance, called drag.

Birds generally have streamlined bodies, flight adapted physiology and well-oiled feathers (from their grooming) that minimize drag, allowing them to fly more efficiently.

The shape of a bird’s wings influences its flight behavior. Long, narrow wings, like those of sea gull or eagle, are ideal for gliding and soaring over long distances. Shorter, broader wings, like those of parrots, provide greater maneuverability for navigating through foliage and making quick takeoffs and landings and sharp turns, midflight.

In part, because of its rarity, scientists have not specifically measured the thrust and flightspeed of Orange-bellied Parrots, but based on its size, anatomy and on studies of other species in the parrot family we can guesstimate that it is able to fly at roughly 20-30 miles per hour. So little pip is nonchalantly cruising at like twice the speed of me riding a bike, or like 5 times the speed of me jogging in the 1990s which is the last time I went jogging.

The Orange-bellied Parrot is one of only three migratory parrot species, undertaking an annual journey across the Bass Strait between Tasmania and mainland Australia, motivated by the seasonal availability of food sources and suitable breeding conditions.

During the summer (October to March, in the southern hemisphere), they breed and raise young on the southwestern Tasmania coast, with plentiful buttongrass seeds, which is their primary food source. But as winter approaches, seed availability diminishes, and the parrots migrate northward.

In February, March and April, Orange-bellied Parrots migrate across the Bass Strait to mainland Australia, a journey of approximately 150 miles. On the mainland, they spend the winter months (April to October) along the southwestern Australia coast. Here, they foraging for food in the coastal salt marshes, like seeds from salt-tolerant succulents like Beaded Glasswort & Shrubby Glasswort and from perennial grasses like the Coast Fescue. And then, with the arrival of spring, they return to their breeding grounds in Tasmania, completing the annual cycle.

Migration is perilous. The parrots traverse a considerable distance, roughly 150 miles across the Bass Strait, exposing them to harsh weather conditions, strong winds and storms, which can exhaust or disorient them.

During migration, they are more vulnerable to predators like falcons and hawks, particularly when crossing open water or resting on exposed landmasses. Additionally the more recent loss and degradation, in the 20th C, of suitable stopover habitats due to human development, agriculture, and climate change pose significant challenges for the parrots, limiting their access to food and shelter over the course of the journey.

Orange-bellied Parrots exhibit a remarkable degree of site fidelity, meaning they return to the same or very similar areas in both their breeding and wintering grounds each year. This behavior is observed in both adult birds and juveniles who successfully complete their first migration.

Their nesting and breeding grounds in Tasmania, is about 75 square miles, located in the Southwestern corner of the island in the Melaleuca valley. This is a temperate maritime climate of coastal heathlands and button grass plains, dotted with low-lying shrubs, grasses, and sedges. The landscape is open and windswept, with patches of bare ground interspersed with dense clumps of flora. The coastline is dotted with lagoons, estuaries, and sandy beaches.

The Melaleuca valley has mild summers and cool winters, with summer highs in the upper 70s and winter lows dipping to right around freezing. The region receives an average annual rainfall of around 50 inches.

It shares this habitat with Swift Parrot, She-oak Skink, Tasmanian Dragonfly, Dusky Robin, Tasmanian Leafhopper, Blackwood, Bennett’s Wallaby, Soft Tree Fern, Carpenter Bee, Giant Grass Tree, Scented Paperbark, Yellow Wattlebird, Ground Parrot, Tasmanian Grasshopper, Swamp Paperbark, Common Wombat, Tiger Snake, Smithton Peppermint, Tasmanian Cicada, Brushtail Possum, Tasmanian Blue Gum, Common Heath, Lowland Copperhead, Silver Banksia, Southern Brown Bandicoot, Myrtle Beech and many many more.

The Orange Bellied Parrrot’s winter habitat spans Coastal Victoria, on the southern Australian coast, near Melbourne. This is the Victorian Coastal Plains bioregion characterized by sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, estuaries, saltmarshes, and coastal scrublands and heathlands. The climate is temperate, with summer temperatures reaching highs in the mid 80s, with winter lows in the 40s. This region receives an average annual rainfall of 30 inches.

The Orange-bellied Parrot shares its winter home with Eastern Brown Snake, Austral Bracken, Swamp Wallaby, Australasian Bittern, River Red Gum, Fairy Tern, Seaberry Saltbush, Coast Beard-heath, Lewin’s Rail, Hooded Plover, Blue-tongued Lizard, Coast Wattle, Coast Banksia, Common Tussock-grass, Coastal Saltbush, Sugar Glider and many more.

Orange-bellied Parrots are highly social birds, typically found in flocks ranging from a few individuals to several dozen. They engage in social interactions, like foraging together, preening each other, playful chases, and demonstrate extensive communication strategies.

Non-verbally: body postures, feather displays, and subtle head movements can signal intention and emotion to fellow parrots. They also employ a range of vocalizations to convey messages within the flock. These include contact calls to maintain cohesion, alarm calls to warn of danger, and courtship calls to attract mates. 

Courtship displays have also been observed where the male stretches high, squares the shoulders of the wing, and then extends the feathers of the orange belly-patch, which accentuates the bright orange feathers, to attract the female. Once a pair forms, they engage in mutual preening and feeding of one another.

Breeding pairs tend to form monogamous bonds for the duration of the breeding season, working together to raise their young. In some cases, these bonds may persist across multiple seasons, showcasing a degree of long-term pair fidelity.

Nesting sites are typically in tree hollows of the Smithton Peppermint, a kind of eucalyptus, hollows created by fire or decay. Though studies in 2022 and 2023 determined that most wild Orange-bellied Parrots are using human constructed nest-boxes, built by conservation scientists, to lay their eggs.

The female takes the lead in preparing the nest, lining the cavity with plant material. She lays a clutch of 4-6 small eggs, each about 1-2 inches in diameter, which she incubates for roughly three weeks. The male provides food for the female during this period.

Once the chicks hatch, both parents share the responsibility of feeding and caring for them. The young parrots are altricial, meaning they are born blind, featherless, and entirely dependent on their parents. The family unit consists of the breeding pair and their offspring, working together to ensure the chicks’ survival.

After about 4-5 weeks, the chicks fledge, leaving the nest to explore their surroundings. However, they remain dependent on their parents for food and guidance for several more weeks. It takes 1-2 years for juvenile Orange-bellied Parrots to reach reproductive maturity. And multiple generations of parrot will often flock together. They can live up to 10 years old, though average lifespan is more like 2-4 years.

————

In the dream, the green is green like a lime, and also green like sea grass, green like a ginkgo leaf, like pistachio, like pistachio ice cream, like Mexican soda, like mint, clover, seaweed salad, like text on old monitors, like oxidized copper on very old pennies, like the kiwi I’m peeling to share with a child. In the dream each green is many greens, soft gradients beyond words.

And the blues, each blue is blueberry, and also Lake Huron, and cornflower and iris, and your eyes in the morning, and grapes in a bowl on the counter, in a Renaissance painting, and indigo and forget-me-nots, and always the sky.

And the yellow is dusk light, and a wet floor sign, and daffodils, and tickseed, and movie popcorn and a highlighter passed back-and-forth between kids in a library, and daylily and dragonfruit and pineapple juice.

And orange, orange is the color of love, in the dream.

————

Historically, habitat loss has played a significant role in the decline of the Orange-bellied Parrot population. Clearing of native vegetation for agriculture and development on both mainland Australia and Tasmania reduced the availability of suitable wintering and breeding grounds. Additionally, the human introduction of predators like cats and foxes increased predation pressure on the parrots, impacting their survival.

Currently, habitat degradation and fragmentation continues to be a major threat. The loss of coastal saltmarshes and the encroachment of invasive plant species have limited the availability of food resources and nesting sites. Human induced climate change also poses a significant threat, as it alters the availability of suitable habitat, increases the frequency of severe weather during the parrot’s migration, and affects the Smithton Peppermint on which the parrot relies for nesting.

Several governmental and non-governmental organizations in Australia maintain captive populations of Orange-bellied Parrots, carefully breeding them and releasing some birds into the wild to bolster the wild population.

Efforts are also underway to restore and protect critical habitat areas for the Orange-bellied Parrot, particularly coastal saltmarshes and buttongrass moorlands. This includes controlling invasive plant species, managing fire regimes, and promoting the growth of native vegetation.

Predator Control programs, including trapping of introduced feral cats, have been implemented to reduce predation pressure and improve the survival rates of both wild and captive breed parrots.

Nest-box building programs, to supplement the loss of native nesting sites have proven successful.

Nevertheless the Orange-bellied Parrot has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000 and their population is currently in decline.

Most recent counts estimate that less than 75 Orange-bellied Parrot remain in the wild.

Citations 28:12

Birds of the World at Cornell Lab of Ornithology – https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.orbpar1.01 

Conservation Science and Practice. Volume 3, Issue 9 – https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.483

Emu - Austral Ornithology. Volume 118, Issue 1 – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01584197.2017.1394165 

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22685203/130894893

NRM South a natural resource management organisation in Tasmania – https://nrmsouth.org.au/obp-tree-hollow-study/

State-wide Integrated Flora and Fauna Teams of Victoria Australia – https://www.swifft.net.au/cb_pages/sp_orange-bellied_parrot.php

Tasmanian Department of Natural Resources and Environment – https://nre.tas.gov.au/conservation/threatened-species-and-communities/lists-of-threatened-species/threatened-species-vertebrates/orange-bellied-parrot/about-orange-bellied-parrots 

US Fish and Wildlife Service – https://www.fws.gov/story/migration-its-risky-journey

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange-bellied_parrot

Music 30:05

Pledge 37:13

I honor the lifeforce of the Orange-bellied Parrot. I will carry its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Orange-bellied Parrot I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Palma Stick Grasshopper

Species Information 02:05

Palma Stick Grasshopper are among the largest in the world, with males as large as 3.5 inches long and females reaching lengths up to 5 inches long. Their cylindrical bodies resemble twigs or sticks, which lends them their common name.

Their coloration is a mottled blend of brown, gray, and green, which also camouflages them in the vegetation of their habitat. It is pretty uncanny, I encourage listeners to look up images of the Palma Stick Grasshopper, the camouflage is super effective.

Their strong exoskeleton, a kind of segmented protective armor, is covered in sensitive hairs for detecting sound vibrations and air currents, alerting the grasshopper to the rustle of leaves by a predator or the calls of other insects.

Their body is divided into three main sections: the head, thorax, and abdomen. 

The head is relatively small and round, seamlessly blending into the thorax. A pair of compound eyes protrude from the upper sides of its head, allowing for nearly 360 degree vision. Between the eyes is a pair of very long spire-like antennae which are covered in thousands of tiny sensory receptors to detect chemical cues in the air, like the pheromones released by potential mates, and for identifying suitable food sources and detecting predators. At the bottom front of the head is the grasshopper’s mouthparts, which to my layperson’s eye look like a pair of lips, and pretty kissable lips at that. But there’s a lot more going here than looking cute.

Palma Stick Grasshopper mouths have four main parts the Mandibles, Maxillae, Labrum and Labium

The mandibles are paired, strong, sharp scissor-like structures, one on each side of the mouth. Each mandible is attached to the head by a multi-flex joint, allowing for precise manipulation of food and opening and closing horizontally (unilke our jaws which move vertically). The inner edges of the mandibles have sharp incisors for cutting and tearing the shoots and leaves that the herbivorous grasshopper eats. The molar region, located further back, has a ridged surface for crushing and grinding the plant material.

The maxillae are paired structures located behind the mandibles that aid in holding and tearing food and guiding food toward the mouth. The Maxillae palps are like mini-antenna equipped with taste receptors. The maxillae work in tandem with the mandibles; while the mandibles perform the primary cutting and grinding, the maxillae hold the food steady, and taste it for flavor and viability.

And then Labrum and labium can be thought of as the top and bottom of the grasshopper’s mouth. They both help guide food into the mouth and the labium can close upward, preventing food from falling out when chewing. Labial palps, like the maxillary palps are two tiny curve appendages used for tasting.

The Palma Stick Grasshopper is a very specialized feeder, consuming only three total species of plant. Less than a quarter of its diet is split between the Canary Island Pine and the Canary Island Broom. And then the remaining three-quarters plus, consists of the new leaves and tender shoots of the Canary Island Spurge.

It’s worth noting that the Canary Island Spurge contains a toxic sap. But the Palma Stick Grasshopper has evolved a tolerance to these toxins, allowing it to consume this otherwise unpalatable food source.

It eats poison with its scissor-mouth, so like: Don’t kiss the grasshopper.

So that’s the head, onward to the thorax, the middle section of the grasshopper’s body. All six legs, three on each side, grow from the thorax. The forelegs and midlegs are short-ish and thin, and the hind legs are thicker, longer and powerful. Those are the jumping legs though the Palma Stick Grasshopper’s jumping ability is limited compared to other grasshopper species due to their large body size. And unlike many grasshopper species, the Palma Stick do not have wings, so though they can jump short distances, their primary mode of transportation is walking and climbing.

Okay, that’s the head, thorax, and now lastly, the abdomen. The abdomen is the widest and longest section of the body and contains the digestive, respiratory and reproductive systems. In female Palma Stick, the abdomen is notably larger, holding the large number of eggs they produce and the ovipositor, a specialized structure used for laying those eggs. Palma Stick Grasshopper are sexually dimorphic, meaning there are distinct physical differences between females and males beyond just the reproductive organs. In this case it is size. Females are generally roughly twice the size of the males.

Female Palma Stick Grasshopper sound to attract mates. The grasshopper has a tiny, hard plate connected to the side of its thorax by a flexible membrane. When it contracts this section of its thorax, the plate rotates, bumping against a ridge on its underside, creating a clicking sound. When the grasshopper relaxes its thorax the plate spins back creating another click. In repetition it creates a rhythmic mating call to attract males.

It sounds like this.

[Palma Stick Grasshopper clicking sounds]

Males will follow the song and if receptive, the female will allow the male to mount her back and initiate copulation. During mating, the male transfers a sperm packet, or spermatophore, to the female’s reproductive tract.

After mating, the female Palma Stick Grasshopper lays her eggs in the soil beneath the Canary Island Spurge. She carefully selects a suitable location, often near the base of the plant, where the eggs will be protected and the emerging nymphs will have access to their food source. The eggs are encased in a protective frothy substance that helps to maintain moisture and safeguard them from predators and environmental fluctuations. 

Embryonic development within the buried eggs can take up to several months and then once the nymphs hatch, they emerge from the soil and begin feeding on the spurge leaves. As they develop they undergo a series of molts, shedding their exoskeleton as they grow. It’s estimated that they undergo around six molts before reaching adulthood. Each molt represents a significant step in their development, allowing them to increase in size until they reach adulthood and are ready to reproduce themselves. This process takes about two years.

————

In the dream grasshopper

Hides behind the branch, my lover

Dresses for the day

In the dream.

————

Adult Palma Stick Grasshopper have not been observed exhibiting robust social behavior and are generally solitary outside of mating. They are primarily diurnal, meaning they are most active during the daytime. And they are ectothermic, meaning they rely on external sources of heat, like the sun, to regulate their body temperature. So they spend the warm daylight hours foraging and feeding and then at night, they shelter among the foliage, reducing their exposure to predators and conserving warmth.

They exhibit a kind of shyness, and a deliberate, slow pace; they rely on their camouflage and subtle movements to avoid detection by predators. And detection by scientific observers. Grasshopper expert and entomologist Heriberto López who has studied the Palma Stick extensively writes

Quote:

”this species … moves very slowly, [and] rotates around the branch on which it stands when it perceives some near activity, interposing the branch between itself and the subject of the movement; In this way it hides from the sight of any stranger. In order to increase the success of detecting specimens, we used two observers per plant at the same time, which allows detecting the individuals that moved, hiding of one of the observers”

So Dr. Lopez’s field team would go in pairs, and one observer would wait quietly near a Canary Island Spurge plant and the other would make a bunch of noise on the other side. And the quiet observer could then more easily see the grasshopper and do field counts as it turned to hide from the noisy scientist.

The Palma Stick Grasshopper, is native to the island of La Palma, one of the westernmost islands in the Spanish Canary Archipelago, located off the northwestern coast of Africa.

The Canary Islands were formed through volcanic activity over millions of years. The islands are the result of a hotspot, a plume of hot magma rising from deep within the Earth’s mantle, building up layers of lava on the ocean floor, eventually emerging above sea level to create the islands. This process began 70 million years ago and the island of La Palma began to emerge above the ocean’s surface about 2 million years ago.

So like the island, layer of cooled lava, upon layer of cooled lava, over and over for 68 million years, like impossible paper mache, builds up from the ocean floor, finally crests the ocean waves. And then because we live on a miraculous earth, life, plant and animal life blossoms there and evolve particular adaptations to this unlikely landscape.

The Palma Stick specifically is found only in roughly 12 square miles, on the southwestern edge of La Palma. This is an arid scrubland biome, characterized by sparse vegetation, volcanic rock formations, and dry, dusty slopes, with expanses of lava fields, cinder cones, severe coastline cliffs and black sand beaches. Plant life is primarily drought-tolerant shrubs and succulents, with scattered patches of grasses and herbs.

This is a climate with warm, dry summers and mild, marginally wetter winters. Summer temperatures will reach highs in the 90s, while winter lows rarely dip below 50. The annual rainfall is relatively low, averaging between 12-16 inches, with most of that precipitation occurring during the winter months.

The Palma Stick Grasshopper shares its island home with Canary Island White Butterfly, Laurel Pigeon, Sweet Tabaiba, Ladybug, Thymelaea, Wild Madder, Canary Big-eared Bat, Common Kestrel, Canary Island Gecko, Canary Island pine, Incense Plant, Blue Chaffinch, West Canary Lizard, Cory’s Shearwater, Canary Island Sorrel, Dragonfly, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Honey Bee, East Canary Skink, African Blue Tit, Red Admiral Butterfly, Canary (from which the islands get their name), of course Canary Island Spurge, and many many more. 

Habitat loss and fragmentation pose the most significant challenge to the grasshopper’s survival. Its dependence on the Canary Island Spurge makes it highly vulnerable to changes in the ecosystem. Historically, land clearance for development or agriculture have significantly reduced the availability of suitable habitat, drastically reducing and fragmenting the grasshopper population.

Today, continued development, illegal logging in order to expand grazing areas, and overgrazing by introduced domestic species, further threaten the grasshopper’s scrubland. Introduced invasive plant species also pose a risk of outcompeting the Canary Island Spurge, reducing available food and shelter for the grasshopper.

Relatedly, human induced climate change is altering both temperature and rainfall patterns, impacting both the Palma Stick and the Spurge plant it relies upon.

The Palma Stick Grasshopper is legally protected, included as “Endangered” in both the Spanish National and the Canary Regional official lists of threatened species and most of the population is in protected natural areas, the Tamanca Protected Landscape, and the Cumbre Vieja Reserve.

Nevertheless the Palma Stick Grasshopper has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2012 and their population is currently in decline.

Our most recent counts estimate that less than 200 Palma Stick Grasshopper remain in the wild.

Citations 22:59

Sound recordings by Heriberto López from the Orthoptera Species File Online – http://orthoptera.archive.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1116906 

American Museum of Natural History – https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/arthropod-identification/arthropod-morphology/front-view-of-an-insect-grasshopper-head 

Bulletin of Entomological Research, Volume 97, Issue 2 – https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485307004828 

Conservation Genetics vol 8, issue 3 – https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-006-9199-5 

Group of Entomological Research from Tenerife – https://www.speciesconservation.org/case-studies-projects/la-palma-stick-grasshopper/10202 

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15038553/175765678

Journal of Zoology. Volume 275 issue 1– https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00394.x 

Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales of Spain – https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/174040 

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamphagidae

Music 24:28

Pledge 29:04

I honor the lifeforce of the Palma Stick Grasshopper. I will carry its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Palma Stick Grasshopper I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Principe Scops Owl.

Species Information 02:05

The Principe Scops Owl, is a critically endangered avian, native to Principe Island of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe roughly 150 miles off the Western Coast of Africa near Equatorial Guinea.

The Principe Scops Owl is a newly described species, just added to our scientific taxonomy in 2018. Scientists use the word described to mean the process of studying flora and fauna with enough depth to make the case that a living being is distinct from all other species. And by distinct we mean that the species cannot viably reproduce with any other species, so for example, the Principe Scops Owl cannot breed with the nearby African scops owl to produce fertile offspring.

Going back to the word “describe” we use this in place of words like discovery, in service of accuracy and I would argue respect for indigeneity. There are reports of a Scops Owl on Principe by local inhabitants dating back to 1928 and it was surely quote-unquote discovered even well before that. So we use the nomenclature “describe” to note when a species entered, via scientific consensus, the taxonomic record of our tree of life.

It is pretty exciting to have a newly described avian species so recently and to me is a rich reminder of the breadth of our blue pebble’s biodiversity and how much more we have to learn and that there need be some urgency to this as we risk biodiversity loss, not even knowing what we are losing.

Okay back to our owl:

The Principe Scops Owl is small, measuring 6-8 inches in height with feathers that are reddish, gray, and very dark brown. Their eyes are yellow, and their beaks range from beige to nearly black. It has small ear tufts and soft light down on its chest.

Its primary habitat is old-growth, undisturbed native rainforest, primarily in the lower elevations of the southern part of the island. Principe Island is located 100 miles north of the equator is small, roughly only 55 sq miles with a population of less than 10,000 humans. In 2012 it was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in acknowledgement of its rich biodiversity and the Parque Natural Obô do Príncipe protects nearly half of its landmass. The Park includes all of the owl’s known habitat.

Príncipe is a volcanic island, with its oldest rocks dated to 31 million years ago. Its climate is tropical with very mild variation in temperature across the year; coolest lows in the mid 70s, warmest highs in the low 80s. It has two wet seasons – in March, April, May and in October, November.

The Principe Scops Owl shares its rainforest with kingfisher, mahogany tree, gecko, ibis, ebony, starling, oil palm, tree frog and puddle frog.

Though it has not been thoroughly studied, scientists suspect the owl feeds on insects like grasshoppers, beetles, moths and crickets. They hunt perched on tree branches, swooping quickly and quietly to the ground to seize their prey. They will also hunt flying insects, in flight.

The Principe Scops Owl’s main call is a quick sequence of identical short medium to low frequency notes. And it’s vocally active throughout the nighttime, rarely sounding during daylight. Both male and female vocalize both individually and in duet with one another. Females are thought to sing at a higher frequency, which is like other species of scops-owls.

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In the dream, the owl calls its singular question and I wonder of naming and the old spellmaking and of course curse-making of a name spoke aloud. To risk mine with this bold Scops owl its dark walnut feathers rustle in the leaf-mottled sunlight. Perhaps he is an archivist, the recordkeeper of his parliament, holding the memory of: Moa, Dodo, Bay Thrush, Painted Vulture, Great Auk, Labrador Duck, Passenger pigeon, and all lost kin who can no longer answer his question. keeping safe their names, in the dream.

————

Little is known about Principe Scops Owl reproduction though they likely form monogamous pairs for breeding and we do know that breeding takes place in December–January. They are Secondary Cavity Nesters meaning they use already existing holes in trees or will repurpose Gray Parrot nests as their own. They do not build their own nests.

Beginning as long ago as the 1600s, Principe’s forests were cleared for sugar plantations which have more recently been converted for growing coconuts or coffee and palm oil. However, deforestation is now rare in the owls habitat as it is protected both locally and internationally.

As such, illegal logging is rare, though any loss of large trees in its native forest is likely to impact its population size.

Small areas of the forest have been lost to development. And a particular concern is the proposal for a hydroelectric dam along a river which flows northeast through the protected area. The impact of the development is unclear, but might affect a small but significant section of suitable habitat. When population sizes are small, any habitat changes are more troubling.

The owl is also threatened by one native species, the Mona Monkey and two introduced species, the Black Rat and feral cats.

The Principe Scops Owl needs further research in general and warrants a single species conservation plan or to be added to ongoing conservation actions for Principe’s other threatened bird species.

The Principe Scops Owl was placed on the Critically Endangered Red List in 2023, their population is currently in decline.

It is estimated there are only 1600 Principe Scops Owl left in the wild.

Citations 14:09

IUCN - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/230025085/231652448 

Birds of the World, Macaulay Library at Cornell University - https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.prisco1.01 

The Conversation - https://theconversation.com/we-discovered-a-new-species-of-owl-but-we-already-think-its-in-danger-193996

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principe_scops_owl

Music 15:55

Pledge 29:10

I honor the lifeforce of the Principe Scops Owl. Though I know only one word of its language, I endeavor to hold its name, in awe and remembrance, gently on my lips. I am grateful to have shared time on our small bright planet with this amazing little being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Principe Scops Owl I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to name and resist the harm of any kin or their habitat, by corporations and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Beard’s Mallee.

Species Information 02:05

The Mariana Crow is a critically endangered avian in the Corvus family native to the western Pacific Ocean, to the island of Rota, in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Mariana Crow is considered a small crow, measuring approximately 15 inches in length, and weighing roughly half a pound, with a wingspan up to 40 inches. Its anatomy is typical of the Corvus (crow) family, warm blooded with a sturdy build, strong legs, and a large brain size in relation to its body mass.

The Mariana Crow’s plumage is predominantly black, with suggestions of different colored sheen across its body: a slight greenish gloss on the head; a deep blue gloss on its back, wings, and tail and dull green-ish sheen on its lower belly. The base of the feathers are a light grayish color, sometimes appearing almost white on the neck.

Their wings are broad and powerful, allowing for agile flight and maneuverability.

The Mariana Crow’s black legs are strong and adapted for perching and walking. Each foot has four toes – three facing forward and one backward – equipped with sharp claws for gripping branches and prey.

Their beak is black and proportionally large, with a slightly hooked tip designed for foraging and manipulating food.

Their eyes are large and dark, and are set on the sides of the head, providing a wide field of vision for spotting food and potential threats. Their vision is particularly keen, allowing them to detect subtle movements and discern fine details in their environment aiding in hunting and foraging for food, spotting predators, and navigating their habitat.

They possess excellent hearing, enabling them to locate prey, such as insects hidden beneath leaves or in crevices.

While their sense of smell is not as well-developed as their sight and hearing, Mariana Crows may use olfactory cues to detect the scent of carrion or rotting fruit, for finding potential food sources.

They are opportunistic omnivores, consuming a range of foods, based on seasonality and availability.

Their diet includes a variety of invertebrates, like insects, spiders, and larvae, which they extract from crevices and foliage. Reflecting their island home, hermit crabs make up a substantial portion of their diet and they also hunt small vertebrates like gecko.

Mariana Crow also occasionally consume plants, feeding on fruits and seeds, again based on seasonality and lack of abundance of other foodstuffs.

Mariana Crow, like other corvus species, are highly social, highly intelligent beings.

They are very vocal communicators. They employ locational calls which are a high-pitched caw used while perching, foraging, or flying to announce and triangulate location with other crows. 

Mated crows use a more nasally locational call only with one another, for example when a mate is arriving at the nest or when the two are collaborating during nest building. Breeding pairs caw in a unique way specific only to their partner.

Both adult and young will “monologue” which is a series of quiet guttural and squalling sounds usually made at the nest, often accompanied by playful behaviors like ripping leaves or hammering branches. 

Mariana Crow have also been recorded making alarm calls, a series of sharp, rapid caws used to signal danger.

Mariana Crow form small family groups, generally consisting of a breeding pair and their most recent offspring, who all stay together until the young mature and disperse, these juveniles leave to seek their own mate and begin their own new family group.

The breeding season usually begins in August, but can occur throughout the year. Both parents play an active role in building the nest which is a sturdy structure made of various natural materials, including twigs, rootlets, vines, and fibers. Mariana Crow are territorial and will defend their nesting area vocally, physically, and with trickery.

In her field notes, Dr. Sarah Faegre, who has studied the Mariana Crow for over ten years, describes being cawed at, divebombed, and pecked by parents protecting their nest. She also recounts observing a fledgling fall, nearly right at her feet, and hop off awkwardly into the forest. Worried for the fledglings safely, she quickly followed, led on a winding path deeper into the woods, as the bird scrambled along the forest floor. As she got close the crow suddenly spread to full wingspan and took flight. It was in fact an adult male crow that had convincingly mimicked the physical behavior of a fledgling, to lead Dr. Faegre away from the actual nest.

So though the Mariana Crow have a range of strategies to protect their young, on average one clutch per year fails. Usually due to weather damaging the nest and eggs, or a successful predator, like the monitor lizard eating the eggs or small chicks. When a nesting attempt fails, the breeding pair will quickly rebuild and mate again. Pairs may nest multiple times each year based on initial nest failures.

The female typically incubates the eggs, usually between one and four per clutch, while the male provides protection and forges for food. Mariana Crow chicks are altricial, meaning they hatch helpless, born with closed eyes, very few feathers, and are unable to feed themselves. Both parents then share the responsibility of feeding and protecting and nurturing the young chicks. This biparental care is exhibited by the Mariana Crow throughout all stages of offspring rearing.

The chicks start to develop feathers within a few days of hatching, but it takes several weeks for their full plumage to come in, and a bit more than a month before they leave the nest at all. They are still not strong flyers at this point and continue to rely on their parents for food. They gradually learn social behaviors, speech, and how to forage for themselves under the guidance of their parents. This rearing period, during which the initial breeding pair does not breed again and the family flocks together while the young mature and learn, can last multiple years.

Young crows have been observed interacting with objects in a playful and exploratory manner like manipulating twigs and seeds, tearing leaves, hammering on branches, and repeatedly placing and removing objects from hollows. These behaviors do not seem to be related to feeding, but rather appear to be a form of exploration and play.

Relatedly, Mariana Crow demonstrate cultural transmission of generational knowledge. Adult crow have been observed teaching their young how to extract hermit crab from their shells. Adult crow do this in a consistent sequence: placing the shell, pecking at specific structural weaknesses in the shell, and skillful crab extraction, that includes snipping a weak bit of the crab abdomen and shaking from its shell. Young crow learn this by observing and then mimicking their parents, initially displaying errors in sequence and targeting. Adults will repeat their demonstration, over many months, until the young have mastered the process. Observations of captive crow have shown that this is not innate behavior, it is learned and transmitted, from parent to young, across generations.

Mariana Crow also have an unusually altruistic relationship with young who have disabilities. For example, breeding pairs have been observed extending their care for fledglings with birth abnormalities – like crossed bills or missing toes – who otherwise would struggle to feed or walk. The breeding pair were observed forgoing mating cycles for multiple years in order to nurture these young to independence.

Mariana Crow can live up to 25 years in the wild.

The earliest fossils we’ve found for the Corvid family date to the middle Miocene period, roughly 17 million years ago.

————

In the dream, I walk the streets at night, in the dream I am unworried by the late hour, by the darkness. I am, as ever, thinking about doors closing, and things I wish I’d said. A streetlamp flickers like the end of a flimstrip. And then, in the dream, a caw from the charcoal shadows. I do not look, I know not to catch the crow gaze with my own. But I slow my steps and deliver my whisper. I say “Please tell your mistress I seek her.”

A low rustle and then the game, to follow the crow caw in the blackness, 20 feet ahead to right, I follow, its voicing then around the next corner, I follow. And the city is getting less concrete now and I feel the brush of leaves in a deepening dark. And perhaps I’m learning crow song, at least getting better at guessing crow intention, I draw closer through full woods now and then into a place with little light, warm and black and undefined but for a bridge of dim constellations. I have imagined this path, this journey, my whole life.

I hear a far off fluttering of wing and offer my own foolish caw, a kind of thanks. And then step to the starlit bridge, to finally plead my case. In the dream.

————

The Mariana Crow is native to the island of Rota, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands located in the western Pacific Ocean, approximately 1500 miles east of the Philippines. 

The island’s bioregion is classified as tropical rainforest, characterized by lush vegetation, high biodiversity, and a warm, humid climate. Rota’s landscape is diverse, featuring rugged limestone cliffs along the coast, rolling hills in the interior, and dense forests covering much of the island. These limestone forests are their nesting site and provide foraging opportunities for the Mariana Crow.

Rota’s climate is tropical, with high temperatures reaching into the 90s °F in the summer. Winter lows rarely dip below 75 degrees. The island receives an average annual rainfall of roughly 90 inches, mainly during the wet season from July to November.

The Mariana Crow, shares its island with Rufous Fantail, Beach Morning Glory, Island Blind Snake, Swordgrass, White-throated Ground Dove, Sword Fern, Yoga Tree, Monarch Fern, Paipai, Micronesian Starling, Perfume Tree, Monitor Lizard, False Elder, Micronesian Gecko, Fruit Bat, Fig Trees and many many others.

Historically, the Mariana Crow population on nearby Guam was decimated by the human introduction of the Brown Tree Snake, an invasive predator. These snakes are not currently present on Rota, and rigorous efforts are in place to insure the snake does not migrate to the island (they have been known to hide in airplane wheelwell, accidentally hitching a ride throughout the Micronesian islands).

In the early 2000s predation by feral cats, introduced to Rota by humans, posed a threat. But recent cat control programs and human educational outreach has successfully reduced that risk.

In the mid-2010s, scientists observed the emergence of a possibly infectious syndrome known as AEX causing inflammation, anemia, and pneumonia in the Crow, leading to long illness and sometimes death. Research into the disease is ongoing.

Local human activities continue to negatively impact the Mariana Crow population. Agricultural and urban development contribute to habitat loss and degradation, and there is past evidence of crow persecution. Biologists use this term persecution to describe deliberate and targeted acts by humans to harm native species. With the Mariana Crow, for example, scientists found a breeding pair dead beneath their nest. Killed by gunshot.

And lastly typhoons, with destructive winds and torrential rain, cause nest failures, increase adult bird mortality, and can shorten breeding seasons. Human induced climate change is expected to further exacerbate the frequency and impact of these extreme weather events.

I love when I can close these episodes with a bit of good news.

Conservation of the Mariana Crow has been ongoing since the 1990s, to middling success, until, in the early 2010s researcher Dr Sarah Faegre made a breakthrough observation. She and her team found unusually high fledgling mortality rates. So, the crows were breeding successfully, young were hatching successfully, and juveniles were successfully growing into adults and forming new breeding pairs. But there was a significant drop-off with the 1-2 year olds, so the very young fledglings were not surviving into their early adulthood.

Based on that information Faegre and her team devised a totally wild conservation plan. They started stealing eggs!

You’ll recall that when a breeding pair of Mariana Crow loses a nest, like to predation or weather damage, they quickly breed again, renest, lay another round of eggs and try for a second brood. That behavior proved true in the case of egg removal. So the biologists carefully monitor wild nests and early in the breeding season collect a limited number of eggs (I believe it is up to 15 per year). The collected eggs are incubated and hatched and the chicks are hand-reared in captivity. Once past that critical 1-2 year mark, they are released back into their natural habitat. Meanwhile, our original breeding pair will have hatched another clutch of eggs, some of which will likely survive into adulthood too.

To date, 85 Mariana Crow from this captive-rear-and-release program have been reintroduced to the wild, with 61 individuals surviving. And thriving: the released crow have begun breeding themselves, producing four fledglings so far.

Nevertheless the Mariana Crow was added to the IUCN red list of critically endangered species in 1994, and their population is in decline.

Our most recent counts estimate that less than 250 Mariana Crow remain in the wild.

Citations 27:58

Dr. Sarah K. Faegre’s doctoral dissertation from the University of Washington’s entitled “Behavioral Ecology of the Mariana Crow” – https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/items/1ba5ba23-dfe4-4fb1-ab54-d02428388d61

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – https://www.fws.gov/species/mariana-crow-corvus-kubaryi

Birds of the World; Cornell Lab of Ornithology – https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.marcro1.01

Dr. John Morton’s “Ode to crows ravens jays and magpies” – https://www.peninsulaclarion.com/life/refuge-notebook-ode-to-crows-ravens-jays-and-magpies/

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management Vol 6 issue 2 – https://doi.org/10.3996/112014-JFWM-085 

“Observations On The Behavior And Ecology Of The Mariana Crow” – The Condor, the Journal of The Cooper Ornithological Society issue 88 – http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1368898 

“Population status and nest success of the Critically Endangered Mariana Crow” from Bird Conservation International vol.25 issue 2 – http://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270914000045 

Saipan Tribune July 15, 2024 – https://www.saipantribune.com/news/local/ga-population-increasing-through-rear-and-release-program/article_71a30c4e-41ae-11ef-b3c3-a3b3d9a99163.html 

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22705959/129626293 

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_crow

Music 29:55

Pledge 42:20

I honor the lifeforce of the Mariana Crow. I will endeavor to learn its name, in its language, and until then I will carry its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Mariana Crow I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee.

Species Information 02:05

The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, is a critically endangered insect, native to North America, mainly in the midwestern United States.

The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee is a medium-sized bee, with six legs, two pairs of wings, a pair of antennae, and a three-part body consisting of a head, thorax, and abdomen. The reddish-brown patch of fur located on the second abdominal segment of worker and males inspires the bees common name.

Rusty Patched Bumble Bees range in size from 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch.

They have five eyes: two large compound eyes, situated on either side of the head, and three simple eyes arranged in a triangle on the top of their head.

A compound eye is composed of numerous light-sensitive units, each a separate visual receptor, with its own lens, cornea, and photoreceptor cells. That results in a kind of mosaic, kaleidoscopic seeing adapted for motion detection, light sensitivity and a wide field of vision.

The bee’s three simple eyes are thought to be used for light detection and lateral orientation.

The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, is covered in dense fur that aids in thermoregulation, helping the coldblooded insect maintain a stable body temperature. Their fur is electrostatically charged, which aids in pollen collection, the charged hairs attracting pollen. And some hair on the bee is adapted for sensory input, detect vibrations, airflow, and even electrical fields.

Historically, Rusty Patched Bumble Bees thrived in a variety of habitats across Eastern and Midwestern North America, including prairies, woodlands, marshes, farmlands, and even urban residential parks and gardens. Places with a temperate climate, diverse and abundant flowers, as well as safe nesting sites near their food source.

Their historical range extended from Quebec and Maine in the north and east, to Minnesota to the west and to Georgia in the south. Today its population and range is fractured, and much smaller, with the largest concentrations of bees found in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois.

Rusty Patched Bumble Bees live in colonies and are eusocial, meaning they demonstrate an advanced and complex social structure that includes cooperative care of young, overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and nonreproductive groups. For the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, those groupings typically involve one egg-laying queen, many non-reproductive female workers, and a caste of reproductive males (called drones) and females (called gynes).

The queen, of course, is responsible for initial reproduction and colony management, workers gather pollen and nectar and protect and maintain the nest, and the drones and gynes are responsible for expanding the colony and the next generation of bees.

A colony can include as many as 1000 individuals with a single queen and her colony typically sharing one nest, usually found 1 to 4 feet underground, often in the abandoned burrows of small mammals such as chipmunks, squirrels, mice, and voles. 

The nest consists of a cluster of irregularly shaped wax cells, are used to store pollen, nectar, and to rear developing young. Bumblebees do not make honey, and so unlike the rigid hexagonal combs of honeybee hives, bumble bee nests are less structured, not perfectly uniform, and the overall shape of the nest varies based on the hole it’s in.

The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee has a seasonal, annual life cycle. In the spring, a queen emerges from hibernation and starts a new colony, building the nest, laying eggs, and raising the first batch of worker bees. These workers then take over the tasks of foraging for food, caring for the young, and maintaining the nest.

Through the year, the colony grows as the queen continues to lay eggs and raise workers. In late summer, new gynes and drones are born. These reproductive bees leave the nest forever to mate and launch new colonies. 

Bumblebees mate sexually, the drone inserting his reproductive organs into the gynes abdomen. The gyne stores the sperm in her body and uses it to fertilize eggs throughout her life. This single mating event is sufficient for her to produce all the offspring she needs to establish and maintain a new colony. The drones, having fulfilled their reproductive role, typically die shortly after mating. While the new queen finds a safe place to hibernate for the winter. The following spring, the cycle begins again with the new queens emerging from hibernation to establish their own colonies.

Rusty Patched Bumble Bees typically live a year, or less.

Rusty Patched Bumble Bees primarily communicate through pheromones, chemical signals conveying information. Queens use pheromones to control worker behavior, while workers use them to mark visited flowers and signal the nest’s location.

Tactile communication through antennae sensing and physical interaction has been observed. Buzzing and vibrations also convey information, with louder buzzes thought to indicate excitement and threat.

Unlike honeybees, bumblebees cannot communicate the precise location of food sources but can indicate general direction and quality. As such workers tend to forage nearby, within a few square miles of the nest.

Rusty Patched Bumble Bees rely on pollen and nectar for all their nutrients. Pollen supplies lipids and proteins while nectar provides carbohydrates. They quickly starve without nectar and so often seek out flowers with high sugar content. Pollen is equally important, providing the bees with all the amino acids they need to survive. It also provides organic compounds that aid the bees in hormone production, communication, and disease protection. Different flowers offer different pollen types, each with varying protein and lipid ratios. And so the Rusty Patched Bumble Bees have a diverse diet, feeding on numerous species, including nightshade, milkweed, clover, bleeding heart, sunflower, willow, asters, and peas. They also play a crucial role in pollinating many important crops like tomatoes, currants, cranberries, blueberries, peppers, and squashes.

————

In the dream, the flowers sing and speak and dance and draw me to them uncanny and it is pleasure and purpose to feel petal against skin, pollen in my hair, to drink from their sweet basket. To be held and nourished and trusted, I want for little else in my life. Except of course to fly. In the dream, to fly.

————

Rusty Patched Bumble Bee behavior and activity is influenced by air temperature and weather. They do not fly in rainy, foggy, or freezing conditions, though they are able to tolerate colder temperatures compared to other pollinators due to their thick, furry bodies. They tend to be most active around dawn and dusk.

Rusty Patched Bumble Bees are generally docile and less aggressive compared to honeybees, or wasps, and only defend the territory immediately surrounding their nests and only when provoked by predators or other disturbances.

Researchers have observed evidence of play in bumblebees, seeming to interact with objects just for the fun of it. Scientists at Queen Mary University in London placed a group of 45 bumblebees in a container where they could follow a straight path to a tasty sugar solution, or take a detour to a space filled with small wooden balls. The bees repeatedly chose to go out of their way to roll the balls around seeming to play, sometimes for 30 seconds or more. There was no obvious incentive for the bumblebee’s to even go to the wooden balls, let alone roll them about. But the behavior was even repeated after initial curiosity was satisfied. The researchers can offer no other explanation other than that the bees somehow found the game rewarding.

Human encroachment leading to habitat degradation and loss pose a major threat to the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee. The conversion of prairies and grasslands across the u.s. into monoculture farms, and sprawling suburbs has drastically reduced their natural habitat. 

Other invasive farming practices like the widespread use of pesticides disrupts their foraging and reproduction. And the industrial agriculture practice of importing other pollinators leads to the spread of disease, pathogens and parasites that weaken bee populations and make them more susceptible to other threats.

Human induced climate change compounds existing and presents additional challenges. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events can affect the availability of flowering plants, nesting sites, and foraging opportunities.

It is hard to overstate the fundamental and vital role that bumblebee play in their native ecosystem. In the course of their own pollen gathering, they also spread pollen, fertilizing flowers and trees, contributing to the reproduction and diversity of local plant species, ensuring the growth and longterm health and viability of plantlife in their ecosystem. This, in turn, supports other wildlife that depends on those plants for food and shelter. Bumblebee species loss has a substantive ripple effect throughout its habitat.

With many of the species we discuss on our show, it can feel like there is little immediate day-to-day impact we can have on that species’ wellbeing. Though in the case of the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, for many of us, some relatively small efforts can help encourage their rebound. Maintaining a garden, even just adding a flowering tree or shrub to our yards, can make a difference. At the most basic, Rusty Patched Bumble Bees need nectar and pollen to survive, and plants native to their habitat like asters, milkweed, and local wildflowers are excellent sources of food. We can avoid planting invasive and non-native plants and also create untouched areas in our yards, leaving sections unmowed and brushy which can help provide safe nesting sites. While of course avoiding pesticides and chemical fertilizers that harm bees and other pollinators. And lastly, when possible we can try to avoid purchasing produce grown using the monoculture and industrial farming techniques that have undermined the bee’s habitat, that overuse pesticides, and spread disease.

The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee population is currently in decline and was added to the IUCN Red List of Critically endangered species in 2014.

Though we do not have precise individual counts, it is estimated that the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee population has declined by 92% in the last 40 years.

In a moment I would like to perform some music, in hopes of opening a space to be in contemplation of the other lives with whom we share this earth. But first I want to try to clarify a nuanced idea. This music is not like for the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, I don’t think of the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee as like a vessel from which I extract meaning or put meaning upon. It is a living being who’s wisdom and desire is unknowable to me. And so I want this music to express my very human awe, and be a means to consider my own relationship to other life, in particular as that life nears extinction. I will sit in this space of sound, awe, contemplation, reflection. I warmly invite you to join me.

Citations 22:07

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/44937399/46440196

US FIsh and Wildlife Service – https://www.fws.gov/species/rusty-patched-bumble-bee-bombus-affinis

Animal Diversity Web at the University of Michigan – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Bombus_affinis/ 

BBC Wildlife Magazine – https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/insects-invertebrates/facts-about-bumblebees 

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_affinis

Music 23:40

Pledge 35:10

I honor the lifeforce of the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee. I endeavor to hold its name, in awe and remembrance, gently on my tongue. I am grateful to have shared time on our small bright planet with this amazing little being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to address the costs of my actions and inactions. I pledge to plant something flowering here in the springtime. And I pledge to name and resist the harm of any kin or their habitat, by corporations and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Axolotl.

Species Information 02:05

The Axolotl is a critically endangered amphibian native to southern North America, in Mexico, Mexico City.

Adults can range in size from 6 to 18 inches in length, with an average size of 9 inches. Their bodies are cylindrical and elongated, with a broad, flat head. Wild axolotls are typically a mottled brown or black color with gold speckles.

One of their most distinctive features is the three pairs of feathery external gills stalks that protrude from the sides of their head. These gills allow them to breathe underwater while their underdeveloped lungs, which are also functional, allow them to take occasional gulps of air at the surface.

They have barely visible vestigial teeth. The primary method of feeding is by suction.

They have four short, underdeveloped legs with four toes on their front feet and five toes on their hind feet; these digits are long and thin. Their tail is long and narrow with a fin that extends from behind their head to the tip of that tail. This is an anatomy built for speed and when threatened, the axolotl can swim up to 10 miles per hour.

The axolotl has a highly specialized adaptation: it does not heal by scarring and is capable of the regeneration of entire lost appendages regrowing limbs in a matter of months. And can even regenerate more complex structures, such as parts of their central nervous system, and tissues of the eye and heart and brain.

Axolotls have relatively simple eyes compared to other animals. They do not have eyelids, meaning their eyes are constantly exposed, making them sensitive to light and primarily adapted for detecting movement and changes in light intensity rather than forming sharp images.

Instead they rely on other senses, like their lateral line system which is a network, common to many salamander, of specialized sense receptors along their head and body, that is highly attuned to vibration, specifically water movement; they can sense changes in water currents. Their lateral line receptors also can perceive low-frequency sound. And sense the weak electrical fields generated by other organisms.

And so, between their eyes, ears, sense of smell and lateral line system, the Axolotl is able to navigate, hunt, communicate, mate, and escape predation in the dim murkiest waters of its habitat.

The axolotl is native only to the freshwater of Lake Xochimilco and and previously Lake Chalco both in Mexico City. Lake Chalco no longer exists, having been drained as a flood control measure over the first 70 years or so of the 20th century.

Lake Xochimilco persists, but only as a remnant of its ancient self, existing mainly as canals and a few developed and urbanized bodies of water in the middle of the Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco which includes playgrounds, soccer fields and spaces for wedding receptions.

Summer temps in their habit average in the low 80s °F and winter lows in the mid 40s °F. The region experiences moderate annual rainfall, averaging around 27 inches, with the majority falling between June and October.

The region is historically characterized by chinampas, an ancient agricultural technique that involved interweaving reeds and mud to create artificial islands, raised beds of fertile soil, floating gardens used to cultivate crops. They were first constructed at Xochimilco at least 600 years ago. This land has been shaped by our species for a long time.

————

In the dream, I visit. New York to Mexico City, and in the dream, because it is a dream, I am there suddenly, without the long journey and any of the trifling complexities that keep us apart. Our days together are unworried, talking and cooking small meals, we stoll revolucion, we sing in the evenings, we walk in the park. We walk in Parque Xochimilco, never knowing how close we were, how close we are, to something so precious. In the dream.

————

The actual lake bed Xochimilco is primarily composed of volcanic rock and sediment, with varying depths and a mix of submerged vegetation and open water areas that support aquatic plants, like: Water lilies, Elodea, Duckweed, and common Reeds and Rushes. As well as fauna like frog and heron and squirrel and snail and egret and fish like the Charales and the Mexclapique, alongside introduced species like tilapia and carp. A variety of invertebrates: insects, crustaceans, and mollusks live in and near the waters.

Axolotls are carnivorous and their diet mainly consists of small invertebrates, like mosquito larvae, water fleas and brine shrimp; Mollusks like snail and small clams; and small fish.

Axolotls are ambush predators, meaning they lie in wait for their prey rather than actively chasing it. They use their specialized senses to detect, and their suction feeding, to capture their prey. Once detected, they create a suction force that draws the prey into their mouth along with water. Their mouths are lined with small, backward-facing teeth that help prevent the prey from escaping. So after capturing the prey, they close their mouths and swallow it whole. They cannot chew, so they rely on digestive enzymes to break down the food in their stomachs.

They typically hunt at night when their prey is more active. They are opportunistic feeders and will consume any available food within their size range.

Axolotls are solitary and do not exhibit complex social structures. However, they do coexist peacefully in groups as long as there’s enough space and food. While occasional interspecies interactions occur, they are brief and mainly related to courtship and mating.

During breeding season, axolotls use pheromones to attract mates and communicate. During courtship, males perform a dance by vigorously fanning their tail to waft pheromones towards the prospective female. And females have been observed performing subtle body movements that seem to indicate receptivity. The male then deposits small, cone-shaped packets of sperm on the bottom of the lake. The female intakes that sperm into her reproductive organ and her eggs are fertilized internally.

Within 1-3 days after mating, the female lays hundreds of eggs, attaching them to aquatic plants or other lake bottom surfaces. The eggs hatch within two to three weeks, and the young, though vulnerable, are capable of surviving on their own. They primarily absorb their yolk sacs and develop their external gills, starting to swim and explore their environment. After a few days, they will begin to actively seek food and will gradually start to develop their limbs. By around 6-8 weeks of age, they will resemble miniature versions of adult axolotls. They reach reproductive adulthood after about one year. 

Most amphibian begin their lives as aquatic animals, unable to live on dry land: tadpoles. To reach adulthood, they go through metamorphosis, in which they lose their gills and leave the water, generally only returning to breed. Axolotl are unusual, they rarely metamorphose, retain certain larval characteristics, including keeping their gills into their reproductive adulthood and live their entire lives underwater.

The estimated average lifespan of the axolotl is 6 years.

Human encroachment, due to development and urbanization has substantially shrunk the axolotls native habitat.

And what remains is threatened by multiple stressors. Pollution, stemming from agricultural runoff and untreated wastewater, has degraded water quality. The introduction of non-native species, the tilapia and carp, has disrupted the ecosystem, creating new competition for resources and the larger fish prey upon axolotl eggs and larvae.

The small size of the wild population has also resulted in a loss of genetic diversity, a genetic bottleneck, that makes the species more susceptible to disease and less adaptable to environmental changes, such as the effects of human induced climate change.

The axolotl is protected by the Mexican government, who prohibit the capture, possession, or trade of wild axolotls without proper permits.

Conservation efforts are focused on captive breeding programs, habitat restoration, and public awareness campaigns. Researchers are also exploring the potential of reintroducing captive-bred individuals into suitable habitats, both within and outside of Lake Xochimilco, a strategy called translocation.

The Axolotl was added to the IUCN Red List of Critically endangered species in 2020 and its population is currently in decline.

It is estimated that less than 1000 Axolotl remain in the wild.

Citations 20:01

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/1095/53947343 

San Diego Zoo - https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/axolotl

Animal Diversity Web at the University of Michigan – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ambystoma_mexicanum/

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl

Music 21:29

Pledge 32:12

I honor the lifeforce of the Axolotl. I will endeavor to hold its name, a seed of awe and remembrance, gently on my lips. I am grateful to have shared time on our small bright planet with this amazing little being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Axolotl I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of any kin or their habitat, by corporations and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Sumatran Rhinoceros.

Species Information 02:05

The Sumatran Rhinoceros is a critically endangered mammal native to Southeast Asia, specifically Indonesia.

The Sumatran Rhino is of course a rhinoceros, a species that the fossil record suggests originated 55 million years ago. Then believed to have arrived in Asia about 20 million years ago and then the Sumatran Rhino diverged from its immediate ancestor the long extinct ice age era Wooly Rhino in the Miocene period. So, as a unique species the Sumatran Rhino is roughly 9 million years old. For context, modern humans, homosapiens are only 300,000 years old.

An adult Sumatran Rhinoceros typically stands about 5 feet high, with a head to tail length of about 9 feet. Their weight averages roughly fifteen hundred pounds. The body is stocky and robust, characterized by a long head, a short neck, a thick torso, and a rounded rear with a thin short tail covered in bristly hairs that ends in a thick tuft.

They have short, stout, well-muscled legs, each ending in three toes. Each toe is tipped with a broad, hoof-like nail.

They have a long muzzle. Their eyes are small and dark, surrounded by wrinkly skin. Their ears are relatively large and fringed with hair, they can move and turn and perk them up, aiding in detecting sounds. Their nose is broad with nostrils spread far to each side of the face. They have a prehensile upper lip, prehensile means adapted for holding, seizing, grasping, that they use to grab vegetation. They are herbivores, so they pull greenery into their mouths and then their premolars and molars are specialized for grinding vegetation. They have two horns. The frontmost horn is significantly larger, typically 10 to 30 inches in length. The second horn is smaller, rarely exceeding 4 inches. Both horns are made of keratin, the same protein that makes up human nails and hair.

Though we think of rhinos as having a kind of specialized armored skin, theirs is the same as other mammals, just thicker. It’s primarily composed of three layers: the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis.

The outermost layer, the epidermis, provides a waterproof barrier and creates skin tone. In the Sumatran Rhinoceros, the epidermis is quite thick and covered in a sparse coat of bristly hair. This hair, though not nearly as thick as like the fur coat of other mammals, still provides some insulation and protection from the elements.

The dermis, the thick layer beneath the epidermis, contains tough connective tissue, hair follicles, sweat glands, and blood vessels that help regulate body temperature. This layer gives the skin its strength and flexibility.

The deepest layer, the hypodermis, is made mostly of fat and connective tissue. It acts as an insulator, conserving body heat.

Across all three layers the skin of the Sumatran Rhinoceros is adapted to a substantive thickness, three times what would be expected of a mammal of its size. It is believed that this adaptation is in response to now extinct predators, and to the density of the forest in its native habitat protecting it from puncture on branch or volcanic rocks.

Sumatran Rhinos are native to Southeast Asia, specifically the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Historically, they were found in a wider range, including China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia.

They are adapted to diverse terrains, ranging from lowland swamps and coastal areas to mountainous rainforests characterized by high biodiversity with ample precipitation and vegetation.

The climate is tropical, characterized by high humidity, abundant rainfall, and warm temperatures in the 80s year round. This region receives over 200 inches of rain on average.

Plant life includes dipterocarp trees, palms, Torchwood trees, Laurels, ferns, and orchids. Fauna includes fire-tufted barbet, tiger, tapir, graceful pitta, elephant, gibbon, Sumatran treepie and many many more.

The Sumatran Rhino shares its rainforest home with a remarkable and expansive biodiversity.

The Sumatran Rhino itself is a primarily solitary animal, living independently except for mothers with their calves, and brief in heterosexual pairs during the mating season. They establish home ranges, with males (called bulls) having territories up to 20 square miles, while females (called cows) occupy smaller ranges of 4 to 6 square miles. These ranges are spaced out for females with little overlap and interaction, but often do overlap for males.

Sumatran Rhinos are most active during dawn and dusk, primarily for feeding. During the day, they retreat to mud baths; scientists have named this behavior wallowing. It plays a vital role in regulating their body temperature and protecting their skin from parasites and insects. If no natural mud holes are available, they create new mudholes or deepen existing puddles with their feet and horns.

Research suggests that Sumatran Rhinos rotate between a few preferred wallows, using each for several weeks before moving on. They typically wallow in the middle of the day for two to four hours, and then venture out again to forage.

Sumatran Rhinos are herbivores with a diverse diet. Their preferred food sources include small trees, shrubs, and herbs. They are considered browsers, meaning they prefer foliage, rather than grazing on grasses like some other herbivores.

They are generalist herbivores and will sample a wide array of plants, but most feeding on leaves and twigs from saplings and small trees.

Using their prehensile upper lip, Sumatran Rhinos will grasp and pull vegetation into their mouths. They have specialized adaptations in their digestive tract to even break down woody branch fibers.

Although they have never been observed mating in the wild, Sumatran Rhinos are considered to be polyandrous, meaning the female will mate with several males during the breeding season. Females will indicate their fertility by vocalizing, scent marking, and raising their tails near males. Males will nudge the females and if she is receptive, they will mate. 

Pregnancy lasts 15 to 16 months, one of the longest among mammals. They birthing a single, reddish-haired approx 100 lbs calf. The new calf is entirely reliant on its mother who singularly provides food and protection for the first year and half of life and continues to nurture their offspring until they reach independence at roughly 3 years old.

Females reach sexual maturity around 6 to 7 years old, and males reach sexual maturity around 10 years old. Females give birth only once every 3 to 4 years, seeing their young to independence before mating again.

It is estimated that the Sumatran Rhino can live up to 45 years in the wild.

Though they are generally solitary animals, they demonstrate intricate social behaviors and communication within their species. They use a variety of vocalizations, including whistles, eeps, and whale-calls, so-named by scientists because it sounds a bit like a higher pitched whale song.

Let me drop the music out for a second and share a brief recording of Delilah, a 3 year old sumatran rhino calf at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia, she’s singing.

In that recording, Delilah is receiving a bath from her human caretakers, an event they report that she seems to truly relish; it’s hard not to imagine that she sings in her delight?

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In the dream I bask in unspecified pleasure, it is barely containable, it is big and childlike, in the dream I am a child, and yet in the dream I still know that not all children have the privilege of joy and I so hold a bit of my wishings for you, that you too may have once known, or one day might know an abundant heartbloooming celebration that has no cause, no origin but that I am and I live, we are and we live and we sing it, in our own tongue for ourselves when we need, and for anyone willing to listen. In the dream.

————

Scientists believe vocalizations may serve to attract potential mates, warn others of danger and establish territorial boundaries.

They also mark territory by scraping the soil with their feet and leaving excrement. Scent marking through urine and dung also provides other rhino information about that individual’s sex, reproductive status, and individual identity.

They also communicate at a distance by bending saplings that they do not eat into distinct patterns. Scientists believe these are landmarks, to indicate a junction in a trail.

When in proximity, Sumatran Rhino appear to use body language like posture, facial expression, and ear movement to convey intentions and emotions.

This diversity and complexity of communication is significant because they are not aggressive about defending their territory; though often males will have ranges that overlap with other males they have never been observed fighting, they use non-violent behaviors to resolve resource and reproductive disputes.

In their interactions in the wild with other species, Sumatran Rhinos exhibit shyness and predator avoidance, particularly from tigers who occasionally prey on their young. Their keen sense of smell and hearing detect threats and help them evade encounters.

They share their habitat peacefully with other large herbivores like elephants and tapirs, with whom they may indirectly communicate through scent marking and vocalizations to avoid competition for resources.

The Sumatran Rhinoceros play a pivotal role in sustaining their ecosystem through habitat modification, nutrient cycling, and seed dispersal, which supports overall biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

As they range for food they create and maintain trails, forging corridors through inhospitable terrain. These trails are used by generations of rhino and also by elephant, deer, boar, and wild dog.

Their ability to dig for water leads to the creation of new waterholes, helping other fauna in their habitat by creating additional access to underground water supply.

Their wallowing behavior also contributes to nutrient cycling. When they roll about in the mud, the rhinos extract enriched sections of fertile soil that coats their skin and they carry these essential nutrients to other areas stimulating plant growth there.

Additionally, they act as seed dispersal agents. Which I love considering. We’ve discussed plant reproduction adapted for wind and water and gravity seed dispersals. Now, rhino dispersal. Their substantial daily dietary intake results in a lot of nutrient-rich dung containing a diverse array of seeds facilitating the propagation of plant species over considerable distances.

All of which directly and indirectly supports both flora and fauna in their habitat. I feel like we are learning this again and again each week: Everyone is vital in every ecosystem.

Threats to the Sumatran Rhino include immediate human encroachment on their habitat, the long term effects of human induced climate change, historical overhunting, and current poaching.

Human encroachment includes forest conversion into commodities and plantations, road development, and natural resource collection, like logging and fishing, all of which reduce the rhino available habitat and increase competition for the resources therein.

Human induced climate change is affecting weather patterns in Sumatra, including unfamiliar shifts in the jet stream El Nino, resulting in decreased rainfall, increased wildfires, and increased risk of extreme damaging weather events.

Historical overhunting has led to a dire population bottleneck, resulting in inbreeding which affects the longterm genetic viability of the species.

Poaching is driven by the demand for the supposed medicinal properties of rhino horns and their male reproductive organs. Petty narcissistic idiot human men, think they will become better sexual partners though ingesting rhino parts, and there is lucrative international blackmarket trade in this foolish cruelty.

Fortunately the Sumatran Rhinos habitat falls within three Indonesian Protected Reserves: Bukit Barisan National Park, Gunung Leuser National Park, and Way Kambas National Park the last of which also houses the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary. The Rhino has been legally protected internationally since the mid-1970s and Rhino Protection Units have been established by Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry to actively combat poaching.

Captive breeding and release programs have been explored since the early 1980s with low success, though the Cincinnati zoo welcomed surviving calves in 2000 and 2013.

The Sumatran Rhinoceros was added to the IUCN Red List of Critically endangered species in 2019 and its population is currently in decline.

It is estimated that less than 50 Sumatran Rhinoceros remain in the wild.

Citations 18:40

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/6553/18493355
International Rhino Foundation – https://rhinos.org/blog/the-curse-of-the-unicorn/ and singing Delilah – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ-lQ4ABlCU
PBS’s Nature – https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/rare-millennia-sumatran-rhinos-brink-extinction/ and https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/rhinoceros-introduction/1179/
World Wildlife Federation – https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sumatran-rhino
Animal Diversity Web at the University of Michigan – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dicerorhinus_sumatrensis/
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatran_rhinoceros

Music 19:58

Pledge 29:01

I honor the lifeforce of the Sumatran Rhinoceros. I will endeavor to hold its name, a seed of awe and remembrance, gently on my lips. I am grateful to have shared time on our small bright planet with this amazing little being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Sumatran Rhinoceros I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of any kin or their habitat, by corporations and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Red Wolf.

Species Information 02:05

The Red Wolf is a critically endangered mammal native to southeastern North America, specifically the coast of North Carolina.

The Red Wolf is a medium-sized canid with a slender build, measuring roughly 5 feet in length and averaging roughly 60lbs. They stand roughly 2 feet tall, measured at the shoulder.

They have a long, narrow muzzle and a wide head with large, pointed ears. Their legs are long and slender, with large paws, four toes on each hind paws. Four toes on the front paws plus a dewclaw, which is a vestigial toe located slightly above the paw, that aids in traction and gripping prey. It has a digitigrade stance, meaning it walks on its toes, an adaptation that contributes to highly-agile movement.

The coat of a Red Wolf is a mix of colors, primarily brown, beige, and grayish black, with a red tinge often highlighting the ears, head, and legs. This coloration helps the wolf blend into its habitat. The fur is medium-length, providing insulation and protection from the elements. In winter, the reddish hues become more prominent.

They have a medium-size black nose, and their sense of smell is exceptional, allowing them to detect prey over long distances, identify pack members, and interpret scent markings left by other wolves.

Red Wolves typically have yellow or amber-colored eyes. Their vision, while not as specialized as their sense of smell, is well-adapted for both daytime and nighttime hunting. They possess good low-light vision and a wide field of view, enabling them to detect movement in potential prey.

They have large ears, in relation to their head size, and their hearing is acute, capable of picking up faint sounds from prey or other wolves.

Red Wolves are highly social animals, living in packs that typically consist of a breeding pair and their offspring from multiple generations. Within the pack, there is a defined hierarchy, with the breeding pair holding the dominant position, leading the pack in hunting, defending territory, and raising young. The social dynamics of Red Wolf packs are complex. Cooperation and coordination are essential and individual wolves take on different roles throughout their lifespan. 

Communication within the pack includes a range of vocalizations, body postures, and scent marking. Howling serves as a long-distance communication tool, used for territorial displays, rallying pack members, and maintaining social bonds. Other vocalizations include barks, whimpers, and growls, each conveying information about the wolf’s emotional state or intentions.

Red Wolf also rely on nonverbal communication, like nuzzling and licking each other’s faces as a sign of affection and greeting. This is particularly common between breeding pairs and between parents and pups.

Similar to domestic dogs, Red Wolf will wag their tail to express happiness and excitement.

And though subtle, Red Wolf also communicate through facial expressions such as ear position, twitching their noses, baring teeth, and narrowing eyes.

Play behavior has been observed in both young and adults, which is thought to reinforce social bonds, establish hierarchy and to help young wolf practice important skills.

Red Wolves are monogamous, forming strong pair bonds that often last a lifetime. Courtship behaviors involve play, grooming, and scent marking. Mating and birthing typically occurs once a year, mating between January and March, with a gestation period of about two months, so birthing in April or May.

Den are carefully selected by the breeding pair, often in secluded areas like hollow logs, burrows, or dense vegetation, providing a safe haven for new pups, protection from predators and the elements. The female gives birth to a litter of 3 to 6 pups, although larger litters of up to 12 have been recorded. Newborn pups are blind and deaf, relying on their parents for nourishment.

Both parents play an active role in raising the pups, with the male often bringing food back to the den while the female nurses and cares for the young. Packs are alloparental, meaning other packmembers, usually older siblings from previous litters, also contribute to pup rearing, providing protection, grooming, and play. As pups grow, they begin to explore their surroundings and learn essential skills like hunting and social interaction from the adults.

Red Wolves reach sexual maturity around 1-2 years old, but they continue to develop physically and socially for several years. In this extended period of development they learn essential skills for survival, like hunting strategy, and complex communication and social interaction.

On average, in the wild, Red Wolf live about 8 years. 

Red Wolves are opportunistic carnivores, meaning their diet adapts to the available prey in their environment. Their primary food source is white-tailed deer. They also consume smaller mammals like rabbits, rodents, and raccoons. They are adaptable feeders, and their diet will vary seasonally depending on the availability of prey. They may also scavenge carrion or consume fruits and berries when other food sources are scarce.

Red Wolves employ a combination of stealth, speed, and endurance to capture prey. They often hunt at dawn and dusk, taking advantage of low light conditions to stalk their prey undetected. Working cooperatively as a pack, they can successfully hunt larger animals like the white-tailed deer, which a lone wolf would be unable to subdue. Once a kill is made, the wolves will consume the most nutritious parts first, such as the organs and muscle tissue. The Red Wolf occupies a top position in its food chain.

Historically, the Red Wolf’s native habitat once encompassed a vast area of the southeastern United States, stretching from Texas to Pennsylvania. Today they are restricted to roughly 250 square miles on the North Carolina coast, within the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, roughly 150 miles east of Raleigh.

This is the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain bioregion, a landscape characterized by low-lying terrain and abundant waterways including brackish marshes, hardwood swamps, evergreen shrub bogs, and pocosin wetlands. Pocosins, unique to the southeastern US coast, are shrub-covered wetlands perched atop sandy rises, forming a “swamp-on-a-hill.”

It’s a humid subtropical climate, with four distinct seasons, with hot summers and relatively mild winters. Summer highs reach the 90s °F, winter lows dip to just around freezing. The area receives 55 inches of annual rainfall resulting in lush greenery.

The Red Wolf shares this habitat with Barred Owl, fetterbush, scarab beetles, Black Bear, swamp lily, Common Yellowthroat, White-tailed Deer, bald cypress trees, Water Moccasin, Green Heron, American Goldfinch, River Otter, Resurrection Fern, Iris, Bald Eagle, Opossum, Swallowtail Butterfly, Rose Pogonia, Prairie Warbler, Eastern Box Turtle, Monarch Butterfly, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Wax Myrtle, Raccoon, Carnivorous Pitcher Plants, Great Egret, Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, American Alligator, Spanish Moss, Yellow Fringed Orchid, Fireflies, Marbled Salamander, and many many more.

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In the dream, there are no guns, in the dream there are no men with guns, that is all, that is the whole dream. A narrow dirt trail, through thick green woods, trod by generations of the pack. The long lingering scent of family.

And no smell of man, or of gunsmoke. That’s all, a forest path and no men with guns, in the dream.

————

The historic decline of the Red Wolf population stems from multiple overlapping anthropogenic activities, anthropogenic, simply means human-caused. 

Human encroachment is a major factor in the loss and degradation of their habitat. Extensive land clearing, throughout the Southeastern US, for agriculture, logging, and development has drastically reduced the forests and wetlands of the Red Wolf’s native environment.

From the late 18th through the early 20th century, private and government-sponsored predator control programs resulted in the widespread killing of Red Wolf. Wolves are often perceived as a threat to livestock and game animals, leading to their sanctioned slaughter via trapping and individual and organized hunts with firearms.

Relatedly, the overhunting of white-tailed deer, for food and sport, the Red Wolf’s primary prey, has also contributed to their decline.

Today, Human-induced climate change poses an imminent threat. Their current habitat rests just 3 feet above sea level and federal climate scientists forecast 2-7 foot sea level rise in this area of the North Carolina coast by the end of this century.

But currently the leading cause of death and population decline amongst wild Red Wolves are vehicle strikes and gunshots. Negligent human drivers running them over with their cars and trunks. And cowardly small minded human landowners with easy access to underregulated firearms illegally shooting them.

The Red Wolf was first listed as “threatened with extinction” under the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1967. With the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Red Wolf’s status was elevated to “endangered,” granting it even stronger legal protection.

At that time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a captive breeding program. Over 400 canids were captured from the remaining wild population. But only 14 were deemed pure Red Wolf and formed the foundation of the captive breeding program. Despite these efforts, the Red Wolf was declared extinct in the wild by 1980.

But in 1987, the Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced a small group of captive-bred Red Wolf to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The animals began to establish territories, form packs, and successfully reproduce in their native habitat. This is a substantive conservation accomplishment, the Red Wolf was rewilded.

Throughout the 1990s, the Red Wolf population at Alligator River Refuge steadily grew and by the mid-2010s, the Red Wolf population had reached an estimated 120 individuals. 

In the last decade though, the wild population of Red Wolf has been in decline, due to, as mentioned before, poaching and vehicle strikes. To address these issues, the Fish and Wildlife Service has intensified law enforcement efforts, installed wildlife crossing signs and fencing to reduce road mortality, and increased public outreach and education programs.

The Fish and Wildlife Service continues to maintain the captive breeding program, systematically studying, tracking and reintroducing Red Wolf into the wild. I would like to share with you a few highlights from the Fish and Wildlife Service’s June 2024 Red Wolf Recovery Program Update. I found this report oddly moving, so I compiled five entries and will read them to you now, pretty much verbatim.

I should note that the Red Wolf wild population is all tagged by numbers, so the following numbers refer to specific individual wolves.

• In January 2024, four of the wild Red Wolf pups (2499M, 2500M, 2502F and 2503F) born into the Milltail family group on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Spring 2023 were captured, fitted with orange collars with orange reflective material, and re-released. 
• In February 2024, a wild female Red Wolf (2359F) was captured by private trappers and handed over to Red Wolf Recovery Program biologists. To try and create a new breeding pair, she was placed in an acclimation pen in Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge with a male (2443M) born in at the Endangered Wolf Center as part of the Red Wolf Captive Program. They did not have a litter, so 2359F was released in June 2024. For now, 2443M will remain in the pen and future attempts will be made to pair him with a wild female and release them if successful.
• On February 25, 2024, an adult wild female Red Wolf (2538F) was captured on private lands and added to the known population. She is estimated to be 7 years old. 
• On April 8, 2024, a wild female Red Wolf (2280F) was captured after exhibiting uncharacteristic behavior for her, such as being visible close to open farm field roads, acting very lethargic, and appearing to have vision issues. She was diagnosed with an untreatable cancerous mass on her brain and the decision was then made to humanely euthanize her.
• Last December, a wild female Red Wolf (2413F) was captured by Red Wolf Recovery Program biologists and placed in an acclimation pen with a male (2444M), born at the Endangered Wolf Center to try to encourage a new breeding pair. This was successful and this April the new pair had a litter of 5 pups in the acclimation pen and they were all released in late May 2024. The family group moved a few miles away from the acclimation pen and settled in; 2444M appeared to be transitioning well into the wild and as a new father. Tragically, his life in the wild was cut way too short and he was a vehicle strike mortality on Highway 64 on June 5. Monitoring of 2413F and the pups will continue, and feasible management actions will be taken to assist with survival of the pups, if possible, after the loss of their father.

Though there are many reasons to celebrate the Red Wolf conservation program as a profound and frankly species-saving success, nevertheless the species has been considered Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and their population is currently in decline.

Most recent counts estimate that less than 20 Red Wolf remain in the wild.

Citations 29:06

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3747/163509841

Journal of Heredity, Volume 109, Issue 5 – https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esy020

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – https://www.fws.gov/project/red-wolf-recovery-program

National Wildlife Federation – https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Red-Wolf 

Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute – https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/red-wolf 

Journal of Biological Conservation, Volume 262, October 2021 – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109321

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_wolf 

Music 30:46

Pledge 41:47

I honor the lifeforce of the Red Wolf. I keep its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our small bright planet with this amazing little being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Red Wolf I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of any plant or animal kin or their habitat, by corporations and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Sinai Baton Blue Butterfly.

Species Information 02:05

The Sinai Baton Blue, is one of the world’s smallest butterflies, roughly the size of a thumbnail. Like look at your thumbnail and imagine a butterfly, it’s so tiny.

Its body is long and cylindrical, approximately a quarter inch in length, with a wingspan roughly three quarters of an inch wide.

It has a segmented body divided into three main sections: the head, thorax, and abdomen.

Two antennae are attached at the top of the head. These antennae are sense organs tuned to the smell of flowers, nectar, and to the pheromones of potential mates. They’re also thought to aid the butterfly in balance and directionality. Flying things have a different relationship to up and down compared to like walking beings. And so the antennae help the butterfly locate itself in space.

The butterfly has two compound eyes on the sides of its head. Compound eyes are made up of many small ommatidia, which are these clusters of photoreceptor cells that are pointed in slightly different directions. This allows the butterfly to see forwards, backwards, above and below themselves all at the same time, as well as interpret color and ultraviolet light. Their brain stitches all of this information together into a kind of fractured composite image of the world.

At the front underside of the head is the proboscis, the butterfly’s like mouth, mouthpart. It is a small wire-like structure that uncurls outward to drink liquids like water and nectar, like a straw.

The thorax is the middle section of the butterfly’s body, with six legs attached to the underside. These legs are for walking and climbing and balancing, and also for tasting. Butterfly feet, called tarsus, have specialized receptors that pickup chemical information from the surfaces they land on, like leaves and petals, which helps them identify potential food sources and promising host plants for their young.

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In the dream colors, enormous. In the dream colors, enormous, kaleidoscopic, psychedelic, savory, and sweet. Magenta, Mauve, Blush, Primrose, Pinks, Pale, Antique, Cream, Candle, Whites, Kelly, Ecru, Emerald, Seafoam, Greens. And also all the new colors I now can see beyond and between the colors I’ve known. Color I can smell on the wind, color I can taste as I brush against it. In my language there is no name for the flavor of flower-petal against fingertip. There is no word for the taste of greenleaf on skin. Our earth holds a secret world of stunning abundance, much that I can never know. And so instead I dream. I dream.

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Most butterfly, including the Sinai Baton Blue have four wings, two upper wings, and two lower hindwings, that are all attached to very strong thorax muscles that flap the wings in conjunction. 

The wings are covered in tiny, thread, or hairlike color scales. These scales, unique to butterflies and moths, present in three types: pigmented, diffractive, and androconia. Pigment scales hold colored chemicals that absorb some colors and reflect others. Diffractive scales, diffract light, like a prism resulting in iridescent and metallic colors. And the androconia scales produce pheromones, used for communication.

On the Sinai Baton Blue, the upper side of the wings, the dorsal side, displays a vibrant blue hue, diffractive scales. The ventral side, which is the underside, of the wings presents a complex pattern of white and brown and orange markings, with a series of black spots.

Those patterns are adapted to work as camouflage in the native habitat. And the then bright reflective side can be flashed open to surprise predators, or as a showy display to attract mates.

Butterfly wings also play an important role in thermoregulation. Butterfly are cold blooded, and will close their wings to retain body heat or in the sun, open their wings to direct warming light onto their thorax. And of course, butterfly use their wings to fly. 

All butterfly wings are, of course, like totally remarkable, and for me, the Sinai Baton Blue is a special case because it is so small, the tiny details in its patterning, the striking richness of its dorsal wing coloring, that it can like fly at all. So little and so so amazing.

Okay and the third segment of the butterfly’s body, the abdomen, holds vital organs. Its digestive tract, its respiratory system and its reproductive organs. Digestive tract processes nectar and expels waste. Butterfly breathe through spiracles which are these tiny holes, mostly clustered on the abdomen, that connect to tubes that spread oxygen throughout the body.

The Sinai Baton Blue reproduces sexually, there are female butterfly and male. Those reproductive organs are clustered near the tip of the abdomen.

Sinai Baton Blues have not been observed demonstrating courtship ritual, males simply attempt to mate upon finding a willing female. Females signal unwillingness by curling their abdomen, spreading wings, or flying away. But if the female is willing, the pair position themselves in a tail-to-tail orientation, with their abdomens joining at the tips.

The male possesses a specialized organ that transfers a sperm packet (called a spermatophore) to the female. The spermatophore contains genetic information (in the sperm) and nutrients that the female can use to nourish herself and the developing eggs. After copulation, which for the Sinai Baton Blue takes about an hour, the butterfly separate and the fertilized eggs gestate for about a day within the female’s abdomen before they are laid.

Sinai Baton Blue are extremely selective when it comes to laying their eggs. They exclusively lay 20-30 eggs on the budding flower clusters of Sinai Thyme plants. That’s T H Y M E, like the herb. Just want to underline that: They only lay eggs on the flowering buds of this specific plant, the Sinai Thyme.

Scientists have also observed a preference for flower clusters that haven’t already been used by other butterfly, and the mothers also seem to assess the developmental stage of the plant favoring those with more flower clusters, just starting to bud. So, very specific needs.

The eggs typically hatch within 3-7 days, depending on environmental conditions. The newly hatched larvae are tiny, less than a 16th of an inch, with a dark brown head and pale body. They eat their way out of the egg and begin to feed on the thyme buds. Larvae have only ever been observed feeding on Sinai Thyme. And they were never observed even moving between Sinai thyme plants, they come into adulthood, through stages of growth, molting, and metamorphosis on the same individual plant they were hatched on.

Sinai Baton Blue larvae have a highly specialized symbiotic relationship with two species of local ants: L. obtusa and M. niloticum. The larvae possess two organs singularity adapted to nurturing and communication with these ant species. One is a nectary organ, which secretes sugary droplets, a reward, for the ants, and the other tentacular organ, which releases signals of alert or danger, communicating with the ants when the larvae is threatened. So the Baton Blue larvae provides food for the ants, and the ants will come when called to provide protection for the larvae when it is threatened by predators.

After about 21 days of feeding and growing on Sinai Thyme buds, the larvae descend to the base of the plant and form pupae, entering a dormant stage that lasts through the winter. They later emerge in late spring, ready for reproduction, as fully adult butterflies.

That process from slow-inching larvae to sleeping pupa to flying butterfly is totally like miraculous and we’ve already covered a lot of awe-making material with the Sinai Blue, so I’m going to save the details of that that growth and transformation process which is similar across butterfly species, for a future episode. So, for now we’re just going to go with larvae goes in – It’s autumn, it’s winter, it’s spring, butterfly comes out.

Butterfly comes out at the roots of the Sinai thyme where it hatched, will spend its adulthood feeding on the nectar from the flowers of the Sinai Thyme, spreading the plants pollen, helping the thyme reproduce, and then before the end of its short roughly 6 day adult life, the Sinai Baton Blue will reproduce, laying eggs in the same patch of Thyme where it was born.

The Sinai Baton Blue butterfly is exclusively found on the slopes of Mount Sinai, in a roughly 5 sq mile, high-altitude region of the Saint Katherine Protectorate, a National Park, in south of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, roughly 200 miles SE of Cairo. This is a temperate arid biome characterized by mountainous terrain with deep valleys and steep slopes, with peaks reaching over 7000 feet above sea level.

Summer temperatures reach highs in the mid 90s °F with winter lows in the teens. The region sees less than 5 inches of precipitation, annually. Though in the winters, the mountains are blanketed in snow. That snow melts seeping into the ground and providing the area with almost all its water for the dry spring, summer and autumn months.

The Sinai Baton Blue shares its habitat with Nubian Ibex, Rosemary, Field Cricket, Sinai Primrose, Rock Hyrax, Horsemint, Red Fox, Sinai Agama Lizard, Sage, Mountain Hawthorn, Golden Spiny Mouse, Wild Fig, and of course Sinai Thyme.

The major threats to the Sinai Baton Blue butterfly are not to the immediate population itself but to their singular habitat, specifically their host plant the Sinai Thyme. It’s estimated that human induced climate change will result in 3-4 degree temperature rise in this region, leading to an additional month of drought each year, a reduction of viable habitat for the Sinai Thyme and loss of available resources for the butterfly, its larvae and its symbiotic ant partners.

The Sinai Thyme is also threatened with overgrazing by domesticated livestock, goats and sheep, and by overharvesting for medicinal purposes.

Fortunately the Sinai Baton Blue’s entire, albeit small, habitat falls within the Saint Katherine Protectorate, an Egyptian national park. And in 2009 a Saint Catherine-based two-pronged conservation and education program was initiated to reach out to both itinerant shepherds and local schoolchildren. To discourage overfeeding and inspire wilderness protection in future generations.

Nevertheless, the Sinai Baton Blue butterfly was added to the IUCN red list of critically endangered species in 2010, and their population is in decline.

Our most recent counts estimate that less than 2000 Sinai Baton Blue Butterfly remain in the wild.

Citations 23:30

IUCN – https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/195289/2376696

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory – https://www.cambridgebutterfly.com/all-about-butterflies/

Egyptian Journal of Biology, vol 8 – https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ejb/article/view/56534

Wandering Through Wadi’s Third Edition by Bernadette Simpson – https://wanderingthroughwadis.com/

The Rufford Foundation – https://www.rufford.org/

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudophilotes_sinaicus 

Music 24:56

Pledge 33:44

I honor the lifeforce of the Sinai Baton Blue butterfly. I will carry its human name in my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our bright planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species.

And so, in the name of the Sinai Baton Blue butterfly I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by corporations and governments.

I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.