Shining the Light on Endangered Species

Wildlife all over the world are rapidly declining and facing extinction. Many scientists believe that we are in middle of the Earth’s sixth mass extinction. In this continually altering world that we share with these unique species, every day is a chance to make a positive change to help the threatened and endangered species.  If you follow our social media, then one day that you surely did not miss was Endangered Species Day, which falls on the third Friday of May.

Endangered Species Day is a national celebration to recognize endangered species and their habitats, and to educate students and the public about their importance. There are over 1,400 species protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act alone. The Endangered Species Coalition (ESC) started this national day 12 years ago. Along with the celebration, the ESC holds the annual Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest. This year over 1,400 young artists from across the nation submitted artwork.

In Elkins, West Virginia, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Appalachian Forest Heritage Area (AFHA) AmeriCorps program, U.S. Forest Service, and WV Division of Natural Resources (DNR) hosted an Endangered Species Day event on May 20th. The event featured a day of fun, interactive games and activities that demonstrate the importance of threatened and endangered species and why they need our help. Participants could become endangered species biologist, take a walk through a giant inflatable bat cave, enjoy the artwork of young local students in an endangered species art show, or get their face painted like their favorite species. The celebration was kick-started by the Save Endangered Species Youth Art Contest- Elkins gallery opening and awards ceremony on May 19th.

As part of the 12th annual Endangered Species Day, young artists got involved to raise awareness of the decline of these important species by participating in the 2017 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest. This year Elkins and the surrounding area had over 100 local young artists participate in the contest! Artworks from the participants of the local competition were also submitted to the national competition. Winners of the Elkins Art Contest were announced at an awards ceremony and gallery opening on May 19th. All submitted artwork was displayed at the Endangered Species Day event in Elkins on May 20^th.

In conjunction to the Endangered Species Day event and art contest, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Field Office in Elkins held Endangered Species Day lessons for classrooms. Teachers could arrange to have an endangered species educator come to their classroom to present to the students about threatened and endangered species of West Virginia. During these lessons, students became actively engaged in the protection of threatened and endangered species by learning about conservation techniques that could be used at home. West Virginia species, such as the Virginia big-eared bat and Fanshell mussel, were highlighted in fun interactive games like Fungus Among Us. During the lessons students learned about the importance of these plants and animals in the ecosystem and understand why it is important to protect these species and their habitats.

To learn more about Endangered Species Day or about the Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest visit www.endangered.org/campaigns/endangered-species-day/

Saving Endangered Species One Artwork at a Time

Young artists from around the country are collectively using their talents to save threatened and endangered species.

2016 Grand Prize Winner – Miles Yun

This year the 12^th annual Endangered Species Day, which is a national celebration to recognize endangered species and their habitats, is on May 19th. There are over 2,054 species worldwide that are endangered or threatened, and over 1,436 exist in the U.S. alone. These species are an important part of our ecosystem.

As part of this event, young artists across the U.S. are getting involved to raise awareness of the decline of these important species.  The Endangered Species Coalition (ESC), along with partner organizations including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is hosting the Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest.

2016 K-2 Grade Category Winner – Rachel Yang

The 2017 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest is open to K-12 grade students, also including students that are homeschooled or are in youth/art programs. The Endangered Species Coalition is asking youth artists to use their artistic talents to become an ambassador for these species by submitting and original pieces of artwork.

Nationally, a panel of judges will choose winners in four categories: Grades K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th and 9th-12th.

2016 3-5 Grade Category Winner – Sophia Xie

The grand prize winner will be selected from the grade-level winners. The grand prize-winner will receive a round-trip flight arranged by the Endangered Species Coalition to Washington, D.C. and accommodations chosen by the Endangered Species Coalition for himself/herself and one guardian to attend a rewards ceremony in May, 2017. The grand prize-winner will also receive an art lesson from a professional wildlife artist (in person or via Skype) and $50 worth of art supplies.

It’s a great way to be part of an important cause and to help make a difference in your community. Deadline for entries is March 1^st. Keep a look out for your local Endangered Species Day celebrations on May 19^th!

2016 6-8 Grade Category Winner – Katrina Sharonin

For more information about the Endangered Species Day Youth Art Contest and to gain access to rules & information on judging criteria, visit www.endangeredspeciesday.org

2016 9-12 Grade Category Winner – Elizabeth Kiernicki

A project of the Endangered Species Coalition, Endangered Species Day is also supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),along with numerous conservation and education organizations,including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, National Audubon Society, Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Jane Goodall Institute, North American Association for Environmental Education, National Garden Clubs, Sierra Club, the National Association of Biology Teachers, the National Science Teachers Association,  San Diego Zoo, Earth Day Network, National Wildlife Federation, and Defenders of Wildlife.

Teaching kids about endangered species–and why they’re so rare

Cooper Crose, plover technician at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, talks with visitors about rare shorebirds with visitors to Boston’s Franklin Zoo. Credit: USFWS

Patty Levasseur, reptile and amphibian intern for Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex, coordinated the event. Photo courtesy of Patty.

One little boy stood our our endangered species booth and held up a necklace made from elephant ivory. “This…this is NOT worth a life,” he said.

For Endangered Species Day in May, we continued our partnership with Zoo New England and spent an afternoon talking with more than 100 visitors to Boston’s Franklin Zoo about the animals that have been affected by the international crisis of wildlife trafficking, and we also shared with them ways to protect some of their local endangered species (threatened piping plovers and other shorebirds).

The event was led by Patty Levasseur, reptile and amphibian intern for Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex. She and refuge volunteers set up a booth with a nesting shorebird exhibit, a dress-up area for visitors that wanted to check out the life of a biologist or wildland firefighter, and a table of products made from wildlife and confiscated by our law enforcement.

The products included alligator skin shoes, a seal skin purse, a hawksbill sea turtle mount, sturgeon caviar, bald eagle feathers and an ocelot skin.

Coleman O’Brien, plover intern at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, holds up a sea turtle mount. Credit: USFWS

“At the confiscated wildlife products table, we talked about what each item was made from, and how that animal had to give its life to make that item,” Patty said. “We also explained how it is illegal to have these items and that some of them are made from endangered species that can be seen at the zoo.”

A roped-off area of sand with eggs and tern figures composed the shorebird exhibit.

“We talked about terns and how they are colonial nesters, so most visitors can see them and know when they have been disturbed because the whole colony will fly up in the air,” Patty said.

They showed images of the plovers to demonstrate how hard they are to see, and explained that flushing the birds off their nests could potentially kill their eggs or chicks.

“The closing and main point of our talk was to drive the importance of staying out of the fenced off areas–that even though you may not see any birds, they are most likely there, you just can’t see them (referring to the piping plovers), and that all these birds are protected by both or at least one of the state and federal endangered species laws,” she said.

Mimi Rogers colors a page with information about beaches shared with shorebirds. Credit: USFWS

A little boy tries on the biologist shirt and binoculars at the Endangered Species Day event booth. Credit: USFWS

Visitors learn about the shorebirds that visit Massachusetts in the summer. Credit: USFWS

These two are ready to hit the beach and monitor some threatened piping plovers. Credit: USFWS

Eight-year old Jaime Heitkamp is ready to be a wildland firefighter! Credit: USFWS

Juhyun Kim, Antioch graduate student interning with Eastern Massachusetts refuge, helps kids dress up in Fish and Wildlife gear. Credit: USFWS

Eleven-year old Kaela Heitkamp is ready to hit the swamp in the biologist shirt and waders! Credit: USFWS

Aracelys Velazquez tries out binoculars at the Endangered Species Day event booth. Credit: USFWS

Juhyun Kim, Antioch graduate student interning with Eastern Massachusetts refuge,

Refuge interns and staff talking with visitors to the Endangered Species Day event at Boston’s Franklin Zoo. Credit: USFWS

Tern figures with eggs in the shorebird nesting exhibit. Credit: USFWS

“I think we touched more than a handful of the visitors that stopped by, especially with the nesting shorebirds,” Patty said. “I feel as though even if one person walked away with positive knowledge or even a change in perception, then it was a successful day.”

Biologists Kayla Easler (pictured) and Pamela Shellenberger of our Pennsylvania Field Office recently visited Park Forest Elementary School in State College to talk with the first-grade students about endangered species. “Kayla and I talked about what threatened, endangered and extinct mean and discussed federally listed species in Pennsylvania,” Pamela said. Students were able to see a threatened bog turtle that the office is permitted to use for education. The bog turtle was confiscated by law enforcement from a landowner that had removed it and kept it illegally in captivity for a couple years. Credit: USFWS