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TEAM EXTINCTION SMACK DOWN
TO THE TOP OF THE CN TOWER!
MAY 1ST WE CLIMB TO SUPPORT THE WWF AND THEIR CRITICAL EFFORT TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE BEAUTIFUL BEASTS WE LOVE, AND THE NATURAL HABITATS WHICH THEY SO DESPERATELY DEPEND ON FOR SURVIVAL
BELOW, OUR TEAM SLIPS INTO SOME DIFFERENT SKINS TO SHOW HOW SOME OF THESE CREATURES ARE DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO DISAPPEARING
LEND A HAND/
HOOF/
PAW/
WE'RE CLIMBING 144 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS ON MAY 1ST IN OUR SUPPORT OF THE WWF
HELP #HOTBUNSFORHABITAT GET TO THE TOP
BLACK RHINO
STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
// WHY THEY MATTER
CLIMBER: CAROLYN MILA
SNOW LEOPARD
STATUS: ENDANGERED
CLIMBER: KAREY BILLYARD
// WHY THEY MATTER
STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
SNOW LEOPARD
CLIMBER: LAURA TAVENIER
SUMATRAN ORANGUTAN
// WHY THEY MATTER
STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
SUMATRAN
ORANGUTAN
LEATHER BACK
SEA TURTLE
CLIMBER: KEITH DOWNING
// WHY THEY MATTER
STATUS: ENDANGERED
LEATHER BACK
TURTLE
BORNEO PYGMY ELEPHANT
CLIMBER: ANNA VANDERHERBERG
// WHY THEY MATTER
BORNEO PYGMY ELEPHANT
BLUE
FIN
TUNA
CLIMBERS: RON SCARAFILE & DAMIEN ECCLETON
// WHY THEY MATTER
STATUS: ENDANGERED
LEND A HAND/
HOOF/
PAW/
ART DIRECTION / PHOTOGRAPHY+DESIGN: KAREY BILLYARD
© 2014 KAREY BILLYARD // KAREY.BILLYARD@GMAIL.COM
“DOOMED.” That was the front page headline of the UK newspaper, the Daily Mirror, in 1961, accompanied by a full-page photo of two African rhinos. The article said that rhinos were “doomed to disappear from the face of the earth due to man’s folly, greed, neglect” and encouraged readers to support a new conservation organization: WWF. We’ve been fighting to protect African rhinos ever since. Recent success in black rhino conservation is heartening, but a lot of work remains to bring the population up to even a fraction of what it once was – and ensure that it stays there.
Rhinos are one of the oldest groups of mammals, virtually living fossils. They play an important role in their habitats and in countries like Namibia, rhinos are an important source of income from ecotourism. The protection of black rhinos creates large blocks of land for conservation purposes. This benefits many other species, including elephants.
The snow leopard is highly elusive and an exact count is hard to come by. There are believed to be fewer than 7,000 in the wild and these numbers continue to decline. Snow leopards are symbols for the wild places they inhabit. As a top predator, their presence is an important indicator of the health of their environment.
For millennia, this magnificent cat was the king of the mountains. The mountains were rich with their prey such as blue sheep, Argali wild sheep, ibex, marmots, pikas and hares. Snow leopards are found in 12 countries—including China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and Mongolia—but their population is dropping.
New camera trap images are good news for Eastern Russia population
Historically, the Sumatran orangutan was distributed over the entire island of Sumatra and further south into Java. The species' range is now restricted to the north of the island with a majority in the provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh. Of the nine existing populations of Sumatran orangutans, only seven have prospects of long-term viability, each with an estimated 250 or more individuals. Only three populations contain more than 1,000 orangutans. Orangutans that were confiscated from the illegal trade or as pets are being reintroduced to Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. They number around 70 and are reproducing.
Orangutans are frugivores and play a vital role in the dispersal of seeds over a huge area. If orangutans were to disappear, so would several tree species, especially those with larger seeds.
They are the largest sea turtle species and also one of the most migratory, crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Pacific leatherbacks migrate from nesting beaches in the Coral Triangle all the way to the California coast to feed on the abundant jellyfish every summer and fall.Although their distribution is wide, numbers of leatherback turtles have seriously declined during the last century as a result of intense egg collection and fisheries bycatch. Globally, leatherback status according to IUCN is listed as Vulnerable, but many subpopulations (such as in the Pacific and Southwest Atlantic) are Critically Endangered.
Marine turtles are the living representatives of a group of reptiles that has existed on Earth and travelled our seas for the last 100 million years. They are a fundamental link in marine ecosystems. Leatherback turtles consume large numbers of jellyfish which helps to keep populations of these marine organisms in check. Marine turtles, including leatherbacks, also provide a vital source of income as a draw for ecotourism in coastal communities, especially in the Coral Triangle.
Walt Disney himself couldn't have crafted a cuter elephant. The pygmy elephants of Borneo are baby-faced with oversized ears, plump bellies and tails so long they sometimes drag on the ground as they walk. They are also more gentle-natured than their Asian elephant counterparts.Once believed to be remnants of a domesticated herd given to the Sultan of Sulu in the 17th century, pygmy elephants were determined by WWF to be genetically different from other Asian elephants. DNA evidence proved these elephants were isolated about 300,000 years ago from their cousins on mainland Asia and Sumatra. Over time, they became smaller with relatively larger ears, longer tails and straighter tusks. Today, the pygmy elephants of Borneo are the smallest elephants in Asia.
Borneo’s elephants are a high conservation priority, yet they remain the least-understood elephants in the world.
Bluefin are the largest tuna and can live up to 40 years. They migrate across oceans and can dive more than 4,000 feet. Bluefin tuna are made for speed: built like torpedoes, have retractable fins and their eyes are set flush to their body. They are tremendous predators from the moment they hatch, seeking out schools of fish like herring, mackerel and even eels. They hunt by sight and have the sharpest vision of any bony fish. There are three species of bluefin: Atlantic (the largest and most endangered), Pacific, and Southern. Most catches of the Atlantic bluefin tuna are taken from the Mediterranean Sea, which is the most important bluefin tuna fishery in the world.
ART DIRECTION / PHOTOGRAPHY+ WEB DESIGN: KAREY BILLYARD
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