A Bit About Elephants January 1, 2013

Asian Elephant with Gabby Wild

As many of you who religiously follow this blog know, the inspiration behind all that I do now for wildlife, other than my 4-year-old incandescent introduction to The Lion King, is due to a baby elephant who touched my heart. I’ve been working with elephants since I was 16, and some have even described the elephant as my spirit animal. That said, let’s talk about why elephants are so fantastically cool.

To understand what they are now, we must understand their past. Thus it should be understood that elephants, all of which are part of the family Elephantidae are the only ones under the taxonomic order of Probiscidea, as all other family orders of Probiscidea are extinct. Most died during the end of the Glacial Period, including the recently extinct gomphotheres of Central and South America, the mastodons of North America, stegodonts of Asia, the infamous mammoths, and several dwarf elephants found on Mediterranean islands (i.e. Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, Malta, Cyclades Islands, and Docdecanese Islands) and even the Channel Islands of California.

The Tragedy of Tigers November 19, 2012

Sumatran tiger (photo by Mark Butcher)

97% of all wild tigers have disappeared in the blink of 1 century. 100 years. That’s all it took to take down one of the most ferocious creatures on land. It is believed that only 3,200 tigers remain in the wild. 3,200!!! There are more tigers in captivity in the United States than there are in the wild, with numbers ranging between 5,000-10,000 tigers…

There are 9 different proposed subspecies of tiger recognized- 3, of which, are currently extinct:

Which sustainable and animal-inspired outfit is your favorite from “12 in 12 for 12″? November 11, 2012

Red panda dress. Photo by Edward Colleli

Each of these outfits are made by 100% sustainable materials, and each represents a threatened animal in great need of conservation! To learn more about the campaign, designers, and magnificent animals, please visit: http://www.gabbywild.com/12-in-12-for-12.php

Sumatran tiger dress. Photo by Ken Kawamoto

Wildlife

Reblogged from Earth Report:

Well over 100,000 migratory birds are killed for food or to be sold on the black market each year in far northeastern India, according to Conservation India. During the peak of migration, 12,000 to 14,000 birds are captured each day on their passage over Nagaland, a remote, mountainous state that borders Burma.

One of the more disturbing examples of the poaching is the capture of raptors, using nets set up near lakes and reservoirs to trap the birds when they come to roost at night or as they leave in the morning.

Read more… 21 more words

Fabulous article by Wildlife. This is a particularly disturbing fact knowing that 1/8th of all bird species are at risk of extinction.

A Most Unique Parrot: the Kakapo October 14, 2012

Kakapo Parrot (courtesy of Kakapo Recovery)

Long ago, the newborn world was exclusively filled with secrets begging to be understood. Little by little the mysteries of the natural world began to be solved. But as the tides of the sea passed on and on, many of those secrets remained sealed for future naturalists and scientists to discover while a subset of those forever remained forgotten. Imagine a species once so abundant it was disregarded until it grew so scarce it almost disappeared unnoticed. Such a species, with fewer than 130 left, is the kakapo parrot- a secret we have discovered and one that we must protect.

The kakapo are from the island landmass of New Zealand. This land, once with no mammals except three species of bat, was filled only with birds, reptiles, and insects, allowing those creatures to take the niches that mammals normally would have occupied. Therefore, as Kakapo Recovery describes it, “Instead of mice, New Zealand had bush wrens. Instead of giraffes or kangaroos, New Zealand had the giant moa. And instead of rabbits or possums, New Zealand had the kakapo.” But what really is a kakapo?

What’s a Kakapo? October 10, 2012

It’s only the largest and heaviest parrot in the world! It also happens to be the only nocturnal and FLIGHTLESS parrot on the planet! But only 127 are left… Learn more about this amazing creature in this video:

Where Do Your Donations for the Animals Go? August 3, 2012

There are a plethora of extraordinary charities across the world making it a rather daunting task to decide “who do I donate to?” I suppose the first step to making the epic decision of putting your hard-earned cash into positive selfless use is to determine which cause speaks the most to you. Once you’re there, see who actually implements the change you want. Is that charity really putting your money where you want it to go or are they putting it into something else, such as very high paid staff or too much marketing? But what about The Gabby Wild Foundation, Inc.? How do we run?