The Last of Their Kind - endangered species - includes related articles on Endangered Species Act, and 10 threatened species

E: The Environmental Magazine, May, 1999 by Jim Motavalli, Jennifer Bogo

Exxon, which uses the tiger as a corporate symbol, has bankrolled the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Save the Tiger Fund with $6 million, which is parceled out to conservation projects. Although a well-publicized habitat preservation effort by the corporation that despoiled Prince William Sound is blatantly self-serving, Exxon's deep pockets have proven useful to many grassroots groups. As the foundation reports, "Unless extraordinary conservation measures are taken, the tiger's continued existence in the wild is in serious jeopardy." CONTACT: Save the Tiger Fund, 1120 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036/(202) 857-0166.

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

The Kemp's Ridley, once called the "Heartbreak Turtle" for its futile struggle on the decks of fishing vessels, still clings to life. The battle of the smallest and most-endangered sea turtle (all seven species are at least threatened) is still against human activity. Only the hazards have changed: from egg-collecting and direct fishing to habitat degradation and incidental catch.

Nesting Kemp's Ridley turtles have declined from 40,000 observed on a single day in 1947 to only 580 in 1994. Many turtles fall victim to floating debris, which they either ingest or become entangled in. And before the mandatory installation of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in trawling nets, the commercial shrimping fleet killed between 500 and 5,000 Kemp's Ridleys a year. Most of the survivors nest at only one Mexican beach, the 4.9-mile Rancho Nuevo. Only partially protected by Mexican presidential decree, the beach is still threatened by development. Already, the gulf near both primary feeding grounds is an area of high-density offshore oil extraction, and experiences chronic low-level spills.

Noting that only one in 10,000 sea turtle hatchlings will survive to adulthood, Amanda Johnson, trade program associate with the National Wildlife Federation, says the group's turtle work is focusing on illegal shrimp trawling, which victimizes those surviving adults. "If we can protect them after they become adults, it's profoundly more effective," she says. To help the turtles, political pressure on fishermen to actually use the mandated TEDs would do the most good. CONTACT: Sea Turtle Restoration Project, PO Box 400, Forest Knolls, CA 94933/ (415)488-0370.

Karner Blue Butterfly

No bigger than a quarter, the Karner Blue butterfly once inhabited 14 states and Ontario, but is now confined to small, fragmented plots of land in six states--New York, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Indiana. However, while habitat protection seems the key to most species' survival, the Karner Blue is somewhat of an anomaly. It actually needs interference--if left completely alone, areas that now contain the butterfly will slowly become inhospitable to it. The only known food source for Karner larva is wild lupine, which needs open, recently disturbed spaces to grow. A combination of human fire suppression, conversion of open land to agriculture and real estate development have all contributed to the waning range of wild lupine, and the Karner Blue's subsequent 99 percent decline.