many moons ago Alex and I went to the zoo with her Aunt Bea.
Every zoo trip must start with a visit to Toby the red panda..jpg)
And Timon, the meerkat - "What was that?"
The baby Giraffe, Miles was out and looking to party.
Meanwhile, Jonathan the lion was taking his afternoon nap.
While Mattie kept watch over the pride.
This summer the zoo featured an exhibit of Dinosaurs...
My sister the yuppie didn't want to go. She felt the extra $2 admission fee was an insane amount to pay for a ten minute diversion. I guess she has forgotten the time our parents threw us in the car and drove 90 miles north to Moscow, Texas where we walked through woods filled with paper mache dinosaurs. To me, these were cooler... and closer to home.
I thought of this trip when I saw that the Houston Zoo has won Top Honors in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums International Conservation Award for their amphibian conservation efforts in Panama. According to their website, the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center began in 2005 to safeguard endangered amphibians. In recent years, conservation biologists have drawn attention to a phenomenon that has come to be called the Global Amphibian Crisis.
While habitat loss is still considered the most serious threat to the majority of species, especially in the humid tropical forest regions of the world, a fungal disease known as chytrid has been identified as being exceptionally deadly to amphibians.
Humans have come a long way in just the last 100, 200 years. Our technology has advanced at such a rate that its almost hard to believe that we don't have all the answers. Its easy for us to think that someone out there knows what to do about these kinds of things. That if we just raise enough money, pass the right laws we can reverse the consequences of our actions. Reverse the environmental destruction that has not only deprived these frogs of their home, but also of their health.
While habitat loss is still considered the most serious threat to the majority of species, especially in the humid tropical forest regions of the world, a fungal disease known as chytrid has been identified as being exceptionally deadly to amphibians.
Humans have come a long way in just the last 100, 200 years. Our technology has advanced at such a rate that its almost hard to believe that we don't have all the answers. Its easy for us to think that someone out there knows what to do about these kinds of things. That if we just raise enough money, pass the right laws we can reverse the consequences of our actions. Reverse the environmental destruction that has not only deprived these frogs of their home, but also of their health.
4 comments:
We have frogs that live in our yard - & we're always delighted to see them. I must have 2 dozen pictures of frogs :)
You would think we could come up with the answer, but really we're still so LIMITED. Hopefully a miracle will occur!
Stuff like this always scares me. I don't like to see any animal threatened, of course, but people need to remember how fragile our ecosystem is and how interconnected everything is. It may start with the amphibians, but who know where it will lead.
Thanks for all the interesting info Katy. We've had a total of 3 frogs around here this Summer - very unusual and puzzling.
When my daughters were small we lived near a smallish zoo and, when we'd go visit, the girls would greet most of the animals by name. Thanks for bringing back that fond memory!
My favorite thing about spring used to be hearing the frogs in the evenings. I loved the sound of the frogs. I don't hear them anymore. It's our loss. Do you think we will ever learn?
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