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Wildlife Rediscoveries

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We recently brought you the rediscovery story of cave squeakers.  These tiny frogs, known for their high-pitched whistling calls, were native to the mountainous region of eastern Zimbabwe but had not been seen since 1962.  That all changed in late 2016, when researchers found four cave squeakers, confirming that after 58 years the species was not extinct.  Cave squeakers remain critically endangered according to the IUCN’s Red List of Endangered Species. 

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Restoring The Taste Of Tomatoes

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Over the years, tomatoes have been selectively bred for qualities such as size and firmness for shipping purposes and appearance, but selection for flavor has generally been overlooked.  Many of us find that the tomatoes we buy in the grocery store just don’t taste like they used to.  In fact, often they don’t taste like much of anything.  Comparing them to the delicious local-grown varieties we can find during the summer provides evidence for this conclusion.

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Snow Leopards And Humans

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Snow leopards are majestic animals native to Central Asia.  They roam the region’s rugged terrain, from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan and Russia in the north, and to India and China in the east.  Snow leopards are known for their thick white coat of fur with ringed black and brown spots.  These markings help camouflage the animals from their prey.  But the camouflage does little to protect snow leopards from one of their biggest threats: humans.

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Dehorning Rhinos

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At the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 500,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia.  By 1970, the number was down to 70,000.  Today, there are less than 30,000 rhinos in the wild.  The number of black rhinos dropped to as low as 2,300 in 1993.  Aggressive conservation efforts have brought their numbers up to over 5,000 today.

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The Plight Of Orangutans

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Orangutans – one of the planet’s most intelligent animals – can only be found in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the island of Borneo, which is a land mass shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.  And for years conservationists have been warning that measures put in place to protect orangutans have been failing.  And they were correct.  It was recently declared that orangutans are officially headed for extinction.

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California Condors

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The California condor is the largest North American land bird with a wingspan of about 10 feet.  During the 20th century, poaching, habitat loss and lead poisoning reduced the vulture’s population to fewer than two dozen.   The U.S. government’s response was to round up every last one of them over a period of 5 years-  a total of 27 birds – for a last-ditch captive breeding program.  As a result, technically the species became extinct in the wild at that point in 1987.   Reintroduction into the wild did not begin until 1991.

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WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)