【推荐1】Do Wild Animals Get PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)?

Every few years, snowshoe hare numbers in northwestern Canada climb to a peak. As hare populations increase, so do those of their predators. Then the hare population falls suddenly and predators start to die off. The cycle is a famous phenomenon among ecologists.

    1     Hare numbers decrease not just because predators eat too many of them. There's another factor: The long-term stress of living while being surrounded by killers. The trauma（创伤）of living through repeated predator chases triggers lasting changes in brain chemistry. Those changes keep the hares from reproducing at normal levels, even after their predators have died off.

And it's not just snowshoe hares, as ecologists Liana Zanette and Michael Clinchy have shown. Zanette and Clinchy, both at the university of Western Ontario,   study the ecology of fear. It combines the psychology of trauma with the behavioral ecology of fear in wild animals.     2       The off-springs of frightened song sparrows like those of stressed snowshoe hare, are less likely to survive to adulthood and succeed in reproducing.

These findings add to a growing body of evidence which shows that fearful experiences can have long-lasting effects on wildlife. The work is also part of wider debate over whether PTSD is unique to humans.

Studies of the ecology of fear started in the 1990s. Before then, scientists believed that the impact of a predator on an individual animal was either deadly or fleeting.

    3     But   research   shows   that   fear   can   change   the   long-term behaviour and psychology of wild animals.

The reasons to fear are clear. Recent studies have found that up to 25% of harbor porpoises in the southern North Sea have claw and bite marks from gray seals. Almost 100% of manta rays in some African waters bear multiple bite wounds from sharks.

    4    

Some of the most dramatic impacts of trauma have been observed in African elephants. Their populations have declined sharply due to poaching and habitat loss. Today, many surviving elephants have witnessed the cruel killing of their mothers and aunts. This has resulted in orphaned elephants running amok as they grow into adolescence.

【推荐2】Florida wildlife officials say manatees (海牛) facing starvation are benefitting from a program that feeds them on tons of donated lettuce (生菜). The program aims to save as many of the large animals as possible as water pollution has led to shortages of their favorite food, seagrass.

The effort has provided the manatees with more than 25 tons of lettuce. The feedings usually draw about 300 to 350 manatees per day. Sometimes, there are as many as 800 manatees. Normally, wildlife experts advise against people feeding wild animals. This is because it can lead the animals to make an unhealthy connection between humans and food. It is a crime in Florida for a person to feed manatees on their own, even though officials say many people want to do so. Experts believe the best way people can help is to donate money through an official institution (机构).

In 2021, 1101 manatee deaths were reported, largely from starvation. The normal five-year average is about 625 deaths. State wildlife officials say that so far this year, 164 manatee deaths have been recorded. Tom Reinert, the local director of state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the feeding program has helped to reduce the rising death rates. Officials estimate there are about 8,800 manatees in Florida waters. That is a big improvement from about 2,000 that existed in the 1990s. The increased numbers were responsible for manatees being removed from the endangered species list.

The most important element for supporting the remaining population will be restoring seagrass beds. So far, Florida has set aside $8 million to deal with that problem. “You can’t just go out and plant a bunch of seagrass,” Reinert said. But he added, “Projects are getting started and are in the planning stages.”

【推荐1】The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s longest reef, measuring 2,027 km. Running parallel (平行的) to the coast of Queensland, Australia, the reef is home to many species of fish.

The Great Barrier Reef took thousands of years to form, and has existed for thousands of years, but in just a few short decades we humans have made remarkable progress in killing it. The balance of this ecosystem is being destroyed. Poisonous coastal pollution, overfishing and unsustainable tourism all contribute to the damage done. However, the biggest threat of all is climate change, which causes coral bleaching (珊瑚白化) and other problems.

Coral bleaching is a process that causes coral to turn white in color when exposed to certain stressors, such as changes in temperature or light. As water temperatures rise due to climate change, the algae (海藻) living inside coral becomes poisonous and is expelled from the coral, causing it to lose its color and a major source of food. Not only do the algae produce coral’s color, they also provide 90%of the coral’s energy. Thus, without the algae, most corals will die.

Unfortunately, coral bleaching events are now occurring at an alarming rate. Mass coral bleaching events in the Great Barrier Reef have been recorded in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2016, 2017 and 2020, and they are now expected to become an annual occurrence. The Great Barrier Reef is believed to have lost over 50% of its corals since 1995 and as global warming continues, this number will continue to increase rapidly.

In 2015, the Australian government formed a plan for the protection and preservation of the Great Barrier Reef until 2050. While the plan contains many great aims to improve water quality and restore the reef, there are no measures to deal with the root cause of the issue-climate change.

Solving the most important problem of our generation will require many solutions, such as supporting the use of renewable energy, keeping fossil fuels in the ground, protecting forests, reducing plastic production and preventing unsustainable business practices.

Repairing the damage done to the Great Barrier Reef — and other ecosystems around the world — will be no easy job, but we believe that individuals, businesses and governments will make a change and then there will be hope in the future.