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Proboscis Monkey

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The Proboscis Monkey The proboscis monkey, or long-nosed monkey, has a large nose, a reddish-brown skin color and a long tail.  Species habitat and range These monkeys live only on the island of Borneo and can be found on all three nations that divide the island: Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. They are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. There are around  7,000 proboscis monkeys left. Species role (niche) in ecosystem These monkeys are omnivores and affect plant populations in the ecosystem. They mostly eat leaves, seeds, and fruits, but will sometimes eat insects.  Cause of decline The population of proboscis monkeys has decreased by more than 50% in the past 36–40 years due to habitat loss from logging and oil palm plantations, and hunting in some areas. Some people treat these monkeys as a delicacy so they have been hunted by humans for this, and for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Importance and why we should care This species is important
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Chinchilla

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Chinchilla Species description While you may be familiar with the chinchilla as a pet and think there's no way they could be endangered as you can find them at your neighborhood Petsmart, both species of chinchilla are currently listed as Endangered in the wild by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to a severe population loss. There are two species of chinchilla, Chinchilla chinchilla and Chinchilla lanigera. It is the first of these that is considered the wild species and the one is close to extinction, while the Chinchilla lanigera is the species most often kept as pets. Species habitat and range Chinchillas originate from the Andes mountains in Chile.  They were once found in Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia but it's believed that they are now extinct in these areas. The IUCN Red List's latest estimates put the wild population of adult chinchillas at 5,350 as of 2021. Species role (niche) in ecosystem Chinchilla's roles in an ecosystem is to spread seeds.  Chinc
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Gray-Breasted Parakeet

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The Gray-breasted Parakeet of Brazil is a species of parrot that is  endangered  but recent conservation efforts have kept the species from  extinction . Habitat loss and poaching have reduced the population of this species to just around 1,000 individuals and almost all of these birds rely on one isolated hilltop forest in Brazil. This species is located in  The Baturité Mountains of northeast Brazil.  Habitat loss is the biggest threat to this species, and they have also been harmed in illegal pet trading and captured for sale.  We should care about protecting this species, because birds are an important part of our envionment that we tend to take for granted since it seems they are abundant, but without them it would cause huge problems in our eco system. Birds are very important to the envionment because they serve so many functions in the eco system. They are "pest control", eating insects, fish, larvae, and dead animals. They help to disperse seeds, which helps plan
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Blobfish

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Blobfish: "The World's Ugliest Creature" is not as ugly as you think! Blobfish live in the deep waters off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. The blobfish may be considered ugly, but imagine living at the pressure at the bottom of the sea! The blobfish can live at depths 2,500 feet below, where they float slightly above the floor of the ocean, and wait for small crustaceans and other edible matter to pass by so it can suck them up for food. The fish, which shrivels up when exposed to air, is inedible, but has still been facing risks and has become endangered as they are often caught as bycatch accidentally. Most blobfish encountered by humans are dead ones found by deep-sea fishers that use nets to sweep up marine animals from the bottom of the ocean in an effort to catch edible fish.  As you can see in the picture below, they look very different while in their natural habitat versus when they are damaged by fishers. It is hard to estimate how many blobfish are left
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Tree Kangaroo

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     A tree kangaroo is a large marsupial that, while less famous than its distant relatives like the red and gray kangaroos, can be found in Papua New Guinea and Australia.  Sadly, t ree kangaroos are an endangered species with an estimated wild population of less than 2,500.     Tree Kangaroo's  role (niche) in the ecosystem is to play the consumer role in the food chain, where they eat  plants, eggs, bark, sap, grains, and leaves. One of their predators is the Boelen Pythons, but now their main predator is humans who hunt them for their meat and furs.      Because they live in trees, tree kangaroos rely on forests, so when habitat destruction affects trees it greatly affects this species. According to the World Wildlife Organization, many tree kangaroo species are incredibly rare and most are decreasing in number.      We should care about tree kangaroos because they are how kangaroos originally evolved, and habitat loss also affects climate change by lowing trees that help to r
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Introduction Post

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     Hello! My name is Ella.       I am a political science major, and my favorite animal is dogs. I connect with dogs very strongly and I love getting to know their personalities. I share a very strong bond with my pitbull Mabel.       Growing up, there was a strong period in my life where I really did want to be a zoologist, and I spent my entire summer in 2016 doing over 100 hours of volunteer work at the Cincinnati Zoo in their "volun-teen" program, so I am excited to be able to tap into that interest again with this class as I want to know more about endangered species and the environment. Fun fact I learned from my time at the zoo: Jane Goodall's favorite animal isn't chimps, it's actually dogs! She loves dogs very much and because she spends so much time traveling to give talks and doing research that she can't actually own a dog.      I am l ooking forward to virtually getting to know you all, and blogging about different environmental topics on here!
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