Nine Animals That Vanished During Our Lifetime

From a Maine man delivering a baby porcupine on the road to Indian villagers pulling up a 400-pound lion that had stumbled down a well, many humans came through for wildlife in 2014. (Bless the Internet for making these heroic actions available for our viewing pleasure.) But besides the awe-inspiring videos also came dire reports about the state of animals.  Bees continued to die by the millions, thanks to decades of pesticide use. The number of poachers targeting giraffes—not just elephants—climbed. The World Wildlife Fund reported in September that the planet has lost 53 percent of its mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish since 1970.

http://tinyurl.com/pqnhpg2

We're The Reason World Has Lost Half of Its Wildlife

The world’s population of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish has plummeted 53 percent since 1970, according to a World Wildlife Fund report released on Tuesday.  “Population sizes of vertebrate species have halved over the last 40 years,” the report said. “The state of the world’s biodiversity appears worse than ever.” During the same time, the world's human population has doubled, it noted.  The study used a Living Planet Index to measure more than 10,000 populations of the world’s vertebrates.

http://tinyurl.com/klcf8ht

Only 3,200 Tigers Remain in the Wild

Today is International Tiger Day, and frankly, there’s not much to celebrate. Wild tiger populations have plunged 97 percent over the past century, and the big cats have lost 93 percent of their historic habitat in Asia, according to the World Wildlife Fund.  This map shows the location of the estimated 3,200 tigers that remain in the wild.

http://tinyurl.com/ln2tbh3

Jeans Made by Lions, and Tigers, and Bears

Like your jeans broken-in and a little tattered? Then you’ll probably love the latest in designer denim from Japan: blue jeans ripped and distressed by the lions, tigers, and bears of Hitachi City’s Kamine Zoo.The Mineko Club, an organization of zoo supporters, is auctioning three pairs of “the only jeans on Earth designed by dangerous animals” to benefit the zoo and the World Wildlife Fund.

http://tinyurl.com/oadpu7t

Video: Giant Pandas Still Exist in the Wild

Wait a minute, giant pandas still live in the wild? Why yes, they do. Just not very many of them — there are about 1,600 left in China — and they are elusive and difficult to track in their natural habitats. That's one reason this video from the World Wildlife Fund, "An Endangered Species Odyssey," showing a giant panda had conservationists hopping up and down with joy.

http://tinyurl.com/qygajvp