Endangered Species

A walrus female and pup on an ice floe in the Chukchi Sea, June 2010. Photo: Sarah Sonsthagen/USGS
 
Oceanographers Sylvia Earl and Paul Dayton think it’s a bad idea, as do more than 500 other scientists and numerous environmental groups: energy development in the remote, often ice-choked waters off northern Alaska.
 
It’s a sentiment Audubon shares, and the organization has made it super easy for you to make your voice heard: Click here to tell the Interior Department the Arctic Ocean should be off-limits to drilling. Hurry—the deadline is 11 a.m. Eastern tomorrow, February 8.

A Laysan Albatross flying in air. (Michael Lusk, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Whether he was searching for fame or just wanted to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood sign, a Laysan Albatross somehow made his way to sunny Los Angeles, CA. After his weekend trip (catching some rays, hopefully) with members of International Bird Rescue, the Albatross was brought a half mile by boat from the California shoreline and released back into its Pacific Ocean home.

The voice of Randall—the narrator of the hilarious viral video “The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger”—is in my head. It’s fitting, since I’m reading his new book Honey Badger Don’t Care, which features the fearless honey badger and 10 additional “nastyass” animals. Some you’ll know—the Tasmanian devil, the opposum; some sound like the sort of thing Randall would make up—like the pink fairy armadillo. If you’ve seen the video, you’ll know to expect profanities and irreverence in the book, but it’s also surprisingly informative and highlights a fascinating mix of creatures that are largely threatened or endangered.

Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The largest soaring land bird in North America, and also one of the most endangered, the California condor has never been observed incubating an egg—until now. A camera now records Sisquoc and Shatash, two condors nesting at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The public can see each parent take a turn patiently sitting on the nearly nine-ounce egg, sometimes nudging it with its beak.

 
We've narrowed down the caption entries for last week's contest to these three finalists. Vote for your favorite.

“That was the thing about Levantin: He loved the birds, but he really loved the places they brought him. When you spend your career in the confines of a gray suit, the pipits at dawn above timberline are even more wondrous,” wrote Mark Obmascik, author of The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession.

I am not obsessed—not even a little. But I get what Obmascik was saying. For some birders those little feathered creatures fluttering in the bushes are a tick in their notebooks. For others, they are a reason to take in the spectacles that most of us miss.

A pair of endangered pygmy hippopotamuses. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
 
Every week we post a funny animal photo that's begging for a caption. Click "Read more" to add your suggestion in the Comments section. On Monday we'll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.
 
Check out our top choices from last week’s photo of Pacific walruses, and all previous weeks.

             
                 Photo: Tim Davenport, Wildlife Conservation Society
A new species of snake, Matilda’s Horned Viper (Atheris matilde), was recently discovered in a small forested patch of Southern Tanzania. Unfortunately, the snake—a yellow and black bush viper—is believed to be critically endangered because loggers are destroying its already-small habitat.

Photo: Kristen Ortwerth-Jewell

The endangered whooping crane, a species that has dangled on the brink of extinction before, is facing new troubles in Texas as the drought continues.

California condor. Photo: Scott Nikon/Frier USFWS
 
After sorting through all of your fabulous funny caption entries, we've narrowed it down to these three. Vote for your favorite below, and tell your friends to vote, too. And remember to check back on Friday for this week's contest.