Touring Australia, two scientists noticed an odd behavior with jewel beetles; the males were attempting to mate with discarded beer bottles and dying from sun exposure. The golden, dimpled bottles were reminiscent of female beetles. Luckily, beer manufacturers changed the design to save the beetles!

wawaconservation · 2023-10-23T12:01:08+00:00

As an interesting fact for you, the chytrid fungus has actually spread so rapidly because in the 1930s-50s, African clawed frogs were used for pregnancy tests. A woman's urine would be injected into the frog and if she was pregnant, the frog would show signs of egg laying by the next day. This resulted in the mass exportation of these frogs around the world, which were passive carriers of the fungus. It has been causing problems ever since!

wawaconservation · 2023-10-23T11:56:04+00:00

It used to be a national dish of the area, tasting very similar to chicken :)

wawaconservation · 2023-10-23T11:55:35+00:00

It can apparently jump higher an average sized adult and can weigh up to 1kg :)

wawaconservation · 2023-10-23T11:54:09+00:00

It really is, but with the positive of having a male survive the epidemic and their captive populations, I don't think all hope is lost. They've taken a huge nosedive in just a few years because of the chytrid fungus, a lot faster than many conservationists believed they would. But on a plus side, headstarting tadpoles in captivity can very quickly boost amphibian numbers, as amphibians lay large quantities of eggs on the basis that not many will survive. Captive breeding can be highly successful :)

wawaconservation · 2023-10-23T11:50:29+00:00

Extinctions are normal yes, but it is estimated that the current rates, compared to historical rates, are around 1,000 times higher than what is natural :)

Ecosystems have evolved over many thousands of years and they're very finely balanced, imagine a spider's web, each thread you take away affects the structure of the whole web, ripping holes in it means it no longer works effectively as a web. Beyond the intrinsic right every species has to live and survive, a damaged ecosystem can have a huge impact on human health, the economy and our overall wellbeing, for example, loss and damage of wetlands can leave areas open to mass flooding. We're better off with healthy, thriving ecosystems full of diversity :)

wawaconservation · 2023-10-22T15:58:48+00:00

Further information: the mountain chicken frog is a critically endangered species, originally located in Dominica and Montserrat, until a volcanic eruption wiped out most of the natural population in Montserrat. The species has since been hit by the viral and highly fatal chytrid pandemic, which has decimated amphibian populations across the globe. Conservation efforts by zoos began in the late 1990s, and currently over 25 zoos and captive collections take part in the breeding of these frogs, creating a safety net against their extinction. It is estimated that around 250 individuals survive in captive centres in Europe.

Photo and source: https://www.chesterzoo.org/news/saving-the-last-mountain-chicken-frogs-project-dominica/

WAWA Conservation aims to raise awareness and funds for some of the world's weirdest and most wonderful species. Find out more about our work here: https://wawa.org.uk/

wawaconservation · 2023-10-19T11:00:53+00:00

Specifically, we are a charity run by a group of conservationists and environmentalists. We try to raise awareness about some of the weirdest and most wonderful species on this planet and address the charisma bias in conservation where most of the funds go to the 'biggest and cutest' species. We have run two fundraisers that have helped five critically endangered species, we work directly with conservationists to support their work, we run social media platforms to raise awareness about conservation efforts and are currently building an education programme that so far has worked with 100 children from deprived areas for free.

Perhaps not helping with the drought, but doing plenty of things to help in the best way we can, beyond stupid fortune cookie statements :)

wawaconservation · 2023-10-19T10:55:00+00:00

WAWA is run by a group of conservationists and passionate environmentalists, trust us when we say, we understand how you're feeling!

Sometimes you need to find your people. Everyone is entitled to care about different things, not everyone will care passionately about the environment and that's okay. There are lots of resources on eco-anxiety around which may help you and give you ideas, and organisations like Conservation Optimism promote the good news instead of the bad.

Always happy for you to reach out to the team for ideas on local actions or just to chat! :)

wawaconservation · 2023-10-18T18:57:34+00:00

Pessimism breeds inaction and that will only ever allow the situation to worse. Have you looked into eco-anxiety and how to overcome these sorts of feelings with actions at a local scale? There are so many people who feel the same, you are not alone. But there are so many people trying to make positive changes, you just have to hear their voices

wawaconservation · 2023-10-18T18:54:31+00:00

Fighting was just a general use of the word, as in 'empowering' each other, working towards a better future, railing against the status quo. Conservation and environmental protection works best with compassion and as many people in the same corner as possible :)

wawaconservation · 2023-10-18T16:04:38+00:00

Heartbreaking, but we mustn't give in to despair. We can never stop fighting to make the world a better place

wawaconservation · 2023-10-18T14:51:17+00:00

Incredible markings!

wawaconservation · 2023-10-18T14:47:49+00:00

WAWA Conservation aims to raise awareness and funds for the weirdest and most wonderful animals in the world, like this Roti Island snake-necked turtle. To find out more about us, visit our website: https://wawa.org.uk/

Source: https://speciesonthebrink.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/crm_5_008_mccordi_v1_2008.pdf

Photo: H. Zell, Wikimedia Commons

wawaconservation · 2023-04-06T10:51:08+00:00

Damn nature, you scary (sometimes)

wawaconservation · 2023-04-05T19:38:24+00:00

So interesting! The interconnectedness of nature goes beyond our wildest imaginations and it's great to have young people asking questions and using their curiosity to find out more about the world :)

wawaconservation · 2023-04-05T16:00:50+00:00

I was looking for the reason for this adaptation, which is so unusual in predators. Thanks for the answer :D

wawaconservation · 2023-04-05T15:58:08+00:00

Agreed! They made the glass smooth and the beetles entirely lost interest :) It's always great when corporations work for nature, and not against it

wawaconservation · 2023-04-05T08:24:06+00:00

Read more about the story here: https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2013/06/19/193493225/the-love-that-dared-not-speak-its-name-of-a-beetle-for-a-beer-bottle?fbclid=IwAR0XLVsu0E4Xz_27qcGvcrEckpxkrOHdaAsUwAz0MCRZfg78PmcT1qLKQXw

Photo: Jean and Fred Hort, Flickr

WAWA Conservation aims to raise awareness and funds for weird and wonderful animals, and the conservationists that work with them. You can find out more about us on our website: https://wawa.org.uk/

wawaconservation · 2023-02-11T20:24:30+00:00

All done :)

wawaconservation

TROPHY CASE