#Donate to a Frog-Friendly Conservation Effort

[haunted-deer]

• The variable harlequin frog (Atelopus varius)•

(I just had to add multiple pics cause look at these guys)

fun fact: Dorsal color is usually black or brown overlaid with a mosaic of spots and streaks that can be almost any combination of orange, red, yellow, blue, or green earning them the nickname “clown frogs.” A deadly infectious disease called chytridiomycosis is an important reason for the rapid disappearance of this species from the Costo Rican forests.

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[rabbitcruiser]

World Lizard Day 

World Lizard Day is celebrated on August 14 every year. The day may not be a well-known one, but it’s still celebrated on local levels with schools, parks, and reptile enthusiasts being the main groups celebrating the occasion. Educational and fun events remain a staple of the holiday. Reptile enthusiasts use the internet to spread information about their love for the scaly critters. The day hasn’t been adopted by higher-level conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund (W.W.F.). Instead, it is mainly focused on awareness about reptiles as pets.

History of World Lizard Day

Like many odd holidays, the origins of World Lizard Day are unclear. Don’t let its murky beginnings dissuade you from celebrating this wholesome day though. The species is dying out worldwide due to ignorance and lack of attention. The day may be about lizards, but we can’t pass up on the opportunity to tell you more about reptiles in general. It’s the spirit of the day after all!

All reptiles are air-breathing vertebrates covered in scales, plates of bone, or a combination of both. Species of this family include snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and tortoises. All of these shed their skin and depend on the environment to regulate their body temperatures. This dependence on outside factors when it comes to regulating their core body temperatures means that reptiles have to find sun and shade in order to warm up or cool down. In areas that have colder winters, reptiles generally experience a period of inactivity until the weather grows warmer again.

Lizards are no different, which is why you see them sunning themselves in your warm garden or on the bricks that soak up the sun throughout the day. For pet lizards, staying warm or cool is a different matter entirely. People who own lizards as pets need to heat their tanks with heating lamps or pads without overheating the space. In fact, preparing and maintaining a tank for a lizard or any reptile requires a great deal of initial and continuous effort. Each subspecies of reptile has specific needs and preferences. It’s recommended that aspiring and even current reptile owners do research on exactly what their pet needs to be happy and healthy. Doing research before you buy or adopt a pet lizard will help you to figure out what kind of lizard would suit you and your budget constraints. This before you buy stage is crucial in ensuring that you make the right choice when it comes to being a pet owner.

World Lizard Day timeline

312 Million Years Ago The First Reptiles

The first proto-reptiles evolve during the Carboniferous period.

13th Century Frogs and Reptiles

The first classification system groups amphibians and reptiles together with worms.

19th Century Reptiles in a Class of Their Own

Reptiles are recognized as a completely separate category from amphibians.

21st Century Skin Trade

The lucrative trading of reptile skin results in reptile farms becoming rampant, forcing conservation efforts and heavy policing of these farms.

World Lizard Day FAQs

Why do we celebrate World Lizard Day?

The day is an opportunity for reptile enthusiasts to celebrate their fascination and share it with others.

What’s a good lizard for beginner reptile owners?

Bearded dragons and leopard geckos are two of the most popular beginner-friendly lizards to own. A bearded dragon is known to be one of the most outgoing and friendly lizards.

What do lizards eat during the day?

Lizards may not drink much water throughout the day. They have a varied diet that provides them with nutrients. This includes grass and leafy plants, small insects like crickets and beetles, and berries and seeds.

World Lizard Day Activities

Visit your local reptile park

Donate to conservation efforts

Get a pet lizard

If you want to celebrate the day but don’t have any reptiles of your own then why not support the local reptile park or farm. There will definitely be a fun and educational event being held, and you’d be supporting a local business.

N.G.O.s and organizations like the W.W.F. are doing crucial work when it comes to rescuing and conserving animals and habitats of the world. If you’d rather see your money work on a small scale then why not inquire if your local shelter or park has any reptiles you can sponsor.

We don’t suggest this lightly but if you’re reading this then you must love lizards! Why not start researching what it’s like to own one, so you can see if it’s something for you.

5 Facts About Reptiles That You’ll Think Are Awesome

They used to be amphibious

Most reptiles are carnivorous

They’re not that smart

Temperature determines sex

Extinction crisis

Reptiles actually evolved from amphibians.

Only iguanas and turtles subsist on a plant-based diet.

Reptiles have about one-tenth of the intelligence you’d find in animals like rats, cats, and hedgehogs.

The sex of reptiles is determined by the temperature of the environment outside the egg as the creature grows.

Nearly one-fifth of all known reptile species are considered endangered or dangerously close to extinction.

Why We Love World Lizard Day

Reptiles need some love

They’re great pets

It’s fun

Of all the animals, reptiles are the ones that need some extra love and attention after all the years they’ve been misunderstood. Most people still view them as dangerous and cold creatures when that isn’t the case.

Reptiles make for excellent pets and here are some reasons why: they don’t need training or regular exercise, they’re quiet, and are very low-maintenance. Most importantly, they’re interesting creatures.

Having an excuse to visit the reptile park or spend extra time with your own pet reptile is always a good thing. World Lizard Day is a fun day with no pressure, and we really love it for that.

Source

[sharpnaturejournal-blog]

Conscientious Coffee: biodiversity impact

(Photograph by Bethan Uitterdijk for HAART)

Calling all coffee snobs and caffeine addicts!

So you know a lot about your favourite drink for reducing depression and boosting your productivity. You’re particular about what you buy, and you don’t mind paying a little premium for a blend that meets your standards. Then I hope you know about the difference between ‘rustic’ shade-grown coffee and modern sun-grown coffee, and in particular where your favourite blend comes from and its effects on biodiversity. If you’re up at such an ungodly hour for work that you hear the dawn chorus, consider whether that coffee you’re brewing supports or depletes avian biodiversity!

Let me grind it down and smooth out the gritty details for you…

Coffee is widely cultivated in the tropics.

It is fundamentally an understory plant (coffee is a shrub that traditionally grows close to the forest floor).

Most coffee from the tropics is grown by the practice of agroforestry (the practice of crop cultivation within a forest).

Historically coffee was a shade crop but different cultivars of the original two species (Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora) have been developed that thrive in direct sunlight.

Traditional coffee production, in what are called rustic coffee plantations, involves the replacement of only the understory species with coffee plants. The rest of the forest remains relatively unchanged.

Unfortunately, the altered coffee varieties now grow more rapidly where there is more sun. In most cases a large number of canopy trees are removed to allow more light penetration to the forest understory. Another method involves removal of the original forest trees and their replacement with select species of Inga, Erythrina or Gliricidia. Finally, there are full-sun coffee monocultures, where an area of tropical forest is completely cleared to make room for a plantation of coffee shrubs.

Sun coffee plantations not only reduce the diversity of tree species in the forests they utilise, but have a knock-down effect throughout the whole forest ecosystem, reducing biodiversity.

Studies have demonstrated that rustic (shade) coffee plantations act to maintain high species richness of birds, essentially the same as that of any local forest, because of the remaining presence of mature species that make up the forest canopy.

Shade coffee is not the same as undisturbed forest, but it has demonstrated the potential to maintain a reasonably high biodiversity. If you are eager to support conservation efforts in the tropics but haven’t been able to identify a charity to donate to, then why not just make the simple lifestyle change of switching to a shade-grown coffee.

Shade-grown coffees are tastier! Coffee beans maturing slowly in the shade have more natural sugars enhancing their flavor. They’re also healthier, as almost all rustic plantations are also organic. Treat yourself and treat the environment! Recommended online suppliers include;

Tree Frog Coffees

Peace Coffee

Arbor Day Foundation

Counter Culture Coffee

Montana Coffee Traders

Poverty Bay

Amazon also sell shade-grown coffee!

If the only option for you is purchasing your coffee as part of you weekly grocery shopping then keep an eye out for brands in the supermarket that are labelled as organic, fairtrade or bird-friendly (be aware that not all fairtrade or organic coffee is shade-grown and therefore bird-friendly). 

If you would like to know more about the relationship between coffee agriculture and forced labour (human trafficking) then please visit HAART. And if you don’t have the time to research in to the practices of the coffee brand you buy then please be sure to buy Fairtrade! 

[haunted-deer]

He's just a silly little guy

•Agalychnis callidryas or Red-Eyed tree frog•

fun fact about this colorful boi: By day, red-eyed tree frogs will conceal their brightly colored flanks with their limbs and close their eyes to sleep. This posture helps camouflage them against leaves and also reduce water loss.

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[haunted-deer]

Hmm I wonder how he got that name?

•The lemur leaf frog (Agalychnis lemur)•

fun fact about these little guys: Interestingly, they can change their color based on whether they are active or resting — at night when they are active, they turn brown to camouflage themselves from predators.

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