Perhaps the most feared shark, the great white feeds on seals, sea lions, and other sharks. The great white’s serrated teeth (lower left) are able to tear prey. Great whites lose their teeth often though they are replaced with new teeth (lower right)!

Aren't they cute???

Help The Pandas 

click the link below to find out how-

http://pandas.si.edu/getinvolved/index.htm

Giant pandas are found only in the mountains of central China-in small isolated areas of the north and central portions of the Sichuan Province, in the mountains bordering the southernmost part of Gansu Province, and tin the Qinling Mountains of the Shaanxi Province. Pandas are about the same size of an American black bear, giant pandas stand between two and three feet tall at the shoulder (on all four legs), and reach four to six feet long. Males are larger than females, weighing up to 250 pounds in the wild. Females rarely reach 220 pounds.

It is estimated that there are somewhere around 700 and 1,000 giant pandas still alive in the wild. About 140 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, mostly in China. 

Do dolphins talk? Maybe. They at least communicate with each other.

In 1962 Dr. Dreher and Dr. Evans were aboard the research vessel Sea Quest, 300 miles south of San Diego, studying gray whales. They had strung a number of vertical aluminum poles and microphones inside Scammon's Lagoon, erecting a type of barrier. A short time later five Pacific Bottle-nosed dolphins were spotted about 500 yards from the barrier. After a few minutes of what was labeled conversation, a scout was sent from the group. Microphones picked up his sonar soundings as he closely surveyed the poles. When he returned to the pod an explosion of whistles, chirps and Bronx cheer-like noises were recorded via microphones. After several minutes of conversation the dolphins proceeded through the barrier and into the bay.

In 1965 Anthropologist Gregory Bateson made the discovery that dolphins live in social groups dominated by a leader. This tie is so strong that dolphins kept in total isolation will suffer ill health and possibly death. It has also been observed that dolphins frequently stroke each other with their flippers, hence, indicating that they require physical contact much like humans. A dolphin's skin is extremely delicate and easily injured by rough surfaces--very similar to human skin.

Rhinos once roamed throughout Eurasia and Africa, and were known to early Europeans who depicted them in cave paintings. Within historical times, rhinos were still widespread in the African savannas and the tropical forests of Asia.

Today however, the Indian rhino and the white rhino are listed as Endangered in the IUCN's (World Conservation Union) Red List. Black rhinos, Javan rhinos, and Sumatran rhinos are considered Critically Endangered.

A subspecies of the Javan rhino, recently re-discovered in Viet Nam, and the northern subspecies of the white rhino, survive only as tiny remnant populations clinging to existence. Very few rhinos of any kind now survive outside National Parks and reserves.

Numbers of some rhinos are increasing
There are success stories: the southern white rhino and the Indian rhino are thriving in well-protected sanctuaries, and their numbers are increasing. Black rhinos, too, have increased during the past ten years, but total numbers are still a fraction of what they were fifty years ago.

WWF tackling threats from all angles
WWF is one of the few organizations attempting to tackle these threats from all angles: strengthening protected areas in Africa and Asia, lobbying to halt the illegal timber trade, and stamping out the illegal trade in horn.

If no appropriate actions are taken to strengthen the existing conservation measures and introduce new measures to reduce the threats to the survival of marine turtles, the interesting animals will sooner or later be pushed over the verge of extinction.

Although the Maldives has a long history of trade in marine turtle shells and offer vast areas of tropical nesting beaches and feeding grounds ideal at least for Hawksbill and Green turtles, only four species of turtles are known to nest in the Maldives and the fifth one is an occasional visitor to the Maldives' seas.

These species are:
1. Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) VELAA
2. Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) KANHABU
3. Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) VAAVOSHI VELLA
4. Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta care) BOABODHU VELAA
5. Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) MUSHINBI - not known to nest in the Maldives

Out of five marine turtle species, Green and Hawksbill turtle are the most common and nest frequently throughout the Maldives. Leatherback is very rare out of the five species and not known to nest in the Maldives. No nationwide scientific research on local turtle population, its size, structure and the dynamic destruction of its feeding and nesting grounds has been carried out in the Maldives.

Each species has its habitat and feeding needs. The Green turtle is primarily a vegetarian feeding on sea grass and algae. Hawksbill turtles live on coral reefs and use their long beaks to probe into spaces between corals to find sponges and invertebrates to eat. The Leatherback feeds in the upper layers of the open sea and jellyfish are thought to be an important part of its diet. Little is know of feeding grounds of Loggerhead turtles, but they mainly feed on invertebrates. Olive Ridley feeds mainly on crustaceans.

Marine turtle population is also declining throughout the Indian Ocean region. Persistent over-exploitation, especially catching or killing of adult females on the nesting beach and the widespread collection of eggs are largely responsible for the depleted status of six Indian Ocean species. In addition to the direct harvest, marine turtles are accidentally captured in active or abandoned fishing gears, resulting in death of tens of thousands of turtles annually. Coral reef and sea grass degradation, oil spills, chemical waste, plastic and other marine debris, high density beach-front development, and an increase in ocean-based tourism have damaged or eliminated nesting beaches and feeding grounds.

There's hundreds of endangered species all over the world, some of the most famous are: the pandas, rhinos, elephants, whales and dolphins, marine turtles and great apes. These species are in focus because helping them, we can help a lot of other endangered species that live in the same habitats. But it's also very important that people try to help endangered species from their own region, because if everybody helps, we can help all of them at once! So, do the difference and take care of the world!

I'm Gary and I'm very into the environment cause, so I made this blog to reach as much people as I can talking about this issue that is so impotant for the world population and even mankind survival. I hope you like this blog, be free to leave comments...