The Pangolin

What is a pangolin?

Photo Credit: Associated Press.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/pangolins-13-facts-about-the-worlds-most-hunted-animal/


A pangolin (often called scaly anteaters) is a mammal which is covered with tough scales which are made from the same thing as your fingernails and toenails. Pangolins weigh anywhere from 3 pounds to 75 pounds. This is because there are 8 different species of pangolin which live throughout Africa and Asia. Many of these species are critically endangered. Although Pangolins share many characteristics with anteaters and armadillos, they are actually more closely related to cats, dogs, and bears.

Pangolin Range
(whatspecies.com)

Predator/Prey

A pangolin eats insects like ants, but they also eat worms as well. Scientists estimate that a pangolin can at as many as 70 MILLION insects every year. Pangolins also have special muscles in their mouths which protect against attacking insects. Hyenas, leopards, and humans are the main predators of the pangolin.

Threats

Pangolins are in severe danger, for one is poached every 5 minutes. Even though international trade is prohibited, pangolin skin is prized in many countries around the world. That is why they are the most poached mammal in the world. One of the reasons for this is because conservationists have a lack of data for where pangolins come from, and where they end up. Ending the illegal trade of the pangolin is crucial to protect this animal from extinction.
Another of the threats the pangolin face is deforestation. As trees are rapidly being cut down, pangolins are being forced to live in smaller and smaller spaces. However, you can help save the pangolin.

A pangolin skin hung at a market alongside other endangered species
(Photo Credit: Rich Garella)

How can you help?

Many people don't know about the pangolin, so right now we need to INFORM the public about this endangered animal. Tell your friends about this species, and reshare this post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or any other social media platform. Write emails to political leaders telling them about this animal too! Finally, you can play the Google Doodle on saving the pangolins! It is accessible here.

Works Cited

http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/pangolin
http://savepangolins.org
http://www.pangolinsg.org/

Honeybees: Important Pollinators in Danger

Photo Credit: CNN Tech

Bees, considered as a nuisance by most people, are much, much more important than you might think. Without them, you wouldn't have foods such as nuts, many fruits, and beans. While bees travel around gathering pollen for their hives, pollen sticks to their bodies. As bees move from plant to plant,  they spread pollen to other plants.

What's the Problem?
Currently, bees are in extreme danger. Beginning in 2007, beekeepers began noticing that most of the worker bees had left the hive, leaving the queen and larvae. This phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), has been emptying hives all around the globe. Most hives do not survive through the winter. The strange thing is there are no dead bees near or around their home.

Entomologists (people who study insects) and other scientist have come up with many possible causes for CCD, but insecticides and pesticides are the main suspects. When bees visit insecticide-sprayed plants, they die, as that is what pesticides are meant to do. Other reasons include stress that bees face as a result of management and transportation, the varroa mite, and change/loss to habitats.

Photo Credit: beeinformed.org

The graph above illustrates how bad CCD is. Up to 45% of US managed bee hives have succumbed to the strange epidemic within the span of 2 years.

What Eastern Middle School is Doing to Help
Here at the Eastern Environmental Club, the first thing we plan to do is plant native species around the school grounds, not only to create a more diverse area but also to give bees a place to pollinate that doesn't have any chemicals. We are also trying to discourage the school from using bee-killing chemicals such as pesticides and insecticides. We are also spreading the word to our fellow students about the danger that bees are in.

What can you do?
Do just what we're doing at Eastern!

• Plant pollinator-friendly native species around your house (you will not only attract bees, but also birds, butterflies, and other pollinators) 
• Discourage your parents and friends from using insecticides 
• Spread the word over social media and with friends

The significance of bees is much greater than you think, and in order to save our tiny friends, we must work together as a community.

Information from:
https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder