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Endangered Turtles Hatch at Tennessee Aquarium

6/11/2023

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This is a press release from the Tennessee Aquarium
View footage of two Arakan Forest Turtle hatchlings at the Tennessee Aquarium at https://youtu.be/X2tw0QXUc24
 
Attached images (credit: Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland)
  • A map shows the range of the critically endangered Arakan Forest Turtle in southeastern Bangladesh and western Myanmar.
  • A recently hatched Arakan Forest Turtle rests in a temporary habitat at the Tennessee Aquarium next to a ruler, for scale.
  • An Arakan Forest Turtle hatchling pokes its head out of its shell during the process of emergence at the Tennessee Aquarium. This taxing ordeal can take hours and is sped up through the use of a specialized tooth (an egg tooth) which can cut through the egg’s shell.
  • An Arakan Forest Turtle shell shows the hole out of which the hatchling emerged. Two individuals of this critically endangered species recently hatched at the Tennessee Aquarium.
  • Two critically endangered Arakan Forest Turtle hatchlings rest in a temporary habitat at the Tennessee Aquarium. These individuals are the first of their species to be hatched at an accredited zoo or aquarium since 2017.
  • Tennessee Aquarium Herpetology Coordinator Bill Hughes holds a pair of recently hatched Arakan Forest Turtles in the palm of his hand. This Southeast Asian species is classified as critically endangered due to habitat loss and its collection for subsistence and to supply the international pet trade.

Writer: Casey Phillips
 
Precious pair
Tennessee Aquarium hatches two critically endangered turtles, first by a zoo or aquarium in six years
 
Chattanooga, Tenn. (March 30, 2023) – From being exploited for food and collected to supply a bustling pet trade to the catastrophic destruction of their habitat, many Asian turtles’ prospects for survival are new-moon dim.
 
However, this week, a glimmer of hope arrived for one tremendously imperiled species with the hatching of two Arakan Forest Turtles at the Tennessee Aquarium. No zoo or aquarium has successfully bred this species since the hatching of a single individual at the California-based Turtle Conservancy in 2017.
 
A predominantly terrestrial species, Arakan Forest Turtles are only found in bamboo and old-growth forests in the Arakan Mountains of extreme southeastern Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) now classifies the species now as critically endangered.
 
“It feels pretty good to see these guys hatching,” says Bill Hughes, the Aquarium’s herpetology coordinator. “This species was managed under a Species Survival Plan, but it’s not anymore because so few zoos and aquariums have Arakan Forest Turtles.”
 
“But,” Hughes adds, “I maintain the official records for all of institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that care for this species. I don’t get to do many updates for the book these days, so if nothing else, now I have some data entry to do, and that excites me.” 
 
As rare as they are today, Arakan Forest Turtles were once believed to be extinct. They disappeared from view in 1908 but were rediscovered at an Asian food market in 1994.
 
Since its reappearance, only a handful of accredited zoos and aquariums, including the Tennessee Aquarium, have worked to harbor and breed a population of Arakan Forest Turtles to remain protected in human care.
 
The parents of these adorably teeny turtles are a pair of adults hatched at Zoo Atlanta and sent to the Aquarium as juveniles. The female laid a clutch of five eggs in late November of 2022. The first hatchling, measuring less than three inches long, emerged overnight from its oblong egg in an off-exhibit incubator on Thursday, March 23. The second followed four days later.
 
These are the first Arakan Forest Turtles ever hatched at the Tennessee Aquarium. Viewable inside the working turtle nursery in the Aquarium’s Turtles of the World gallery, these latest additions to the population of Arakan Forest Turtles will serve a vital role as representatives of their wild brethren to the public, Hughes says.
 
“This is a big moment for us as an institution,” he says. “Most people don’t know what an Arakan Forest Turtle is, and if you don’t know about something, maybe you don’t care about it.
 
“By hatching some little, obscure turtle from Myanmar and Bangladesh and going — ‘Look at this interesting little turtle. It’s rare and endangered in the wild’ — these guys act as ambassadors for their species, letting the public know there’s a problem.”
 
These hatchlings are the latest success story in the Tennessee Aquarium’s long history of preserving and protecting imperiled turtles. In 2007, the Aquarium celebrated the first-recorded hatching of the critically endangered Beal’s Four-eyed Turtle at a North American facility. Since then, the Aquarium has hatched 18 Beal’s Four-eyed Turtles and 47 of the closely related Four-eyed Turtles, which is also classified as critically endangered.
 
###
 
The mission of the Tennessee Aquarium is to connect people with nature and inspire them to make informed decisions about water and wildlife. Admission is $39.95 per adult and $29.95 for youths ages 5-17. Each ticket purchased helps support Aquarium conservation programs. The IMAX® 3D Theater is next door to the Aquarium. Ticket prices are $9.95. Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.tnaqua.org or by phone at 1-800-262-0695. The Aquarium, located on the banks of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, is a non-profit organization. Open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Aquarium and IMAX are accessible to people with disabilities

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My Works Published in The Chattanooga Pulse

6/10/2023

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My Works in the Chattanooga Pulse:

An Article About Chattanooga Conservationist Robert Sparks Walker
https://www.chattanoogapulse.com/features/pulitzer-prize-nominee-has-won-all-the-hearts-of-chattanooga/
An article about the Chattanooga open mic poetry scene just before Covid-19 hit. 
https://www.chattanoogapulse.com/features/chatty-on-the-mic/
An article about fresh-water snorkeling  
https://www.chattanoogapulse.com/arts_entertainment/entertainment-news/from-page-to-screen-casper-cox-searches-for-hidden-rivers/
A Review of a Poetry Collection by Helga Kidder
https://www.chattanoogapulse.com/arts_entertainment/the-written-word/reviewing-helga-kidders-latest-collection-of-poetry/
A Review of a Poetry Collection by Finn Bille
https://www.chattanoogapulse.com/arts_entertainment/the-written-word/reviewing-finn-bille-s-new-book-of-poetry-the-kings-coin/
A Prize-Winning Essay
https://www.chattanoogapulse.com/arts_entertainment/the-written-word/the-dance-of-leaves/
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Works Published in The Hellbender Press

6/9/2023

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Here are links to a few of my published works.
This first batch in from Hellbender Press 
  • https://hellbenderpress.org/news/sturgeon-release​ 
  • Beneath the surface: Ahoy Appalachian creek snorkels
  • Migrating sandhill cranes descend on Southeast
  • Like a message in a bottle, washed-up plastic signals a growing threat to global health
  • Hike and learn at Trails and Trilliums Festival in South Cumberland State Park
  • Tennessee Aquarium floats citizen-scientist app to extend the reach of public research
  • Tennessee is a national leader in electric-car production and parts. Celebrate at this summer’s Get Off the Grid Fest in Chattanooga
  • Keep your butts out of the Tennessee River
  • Wildlife rehabbers return birds to the sky in Chattanooga
  • Hellbenders falling off Highland Rim of Tennessee
  • Zoo researchers raising hell(benders) in Chattanooga
 

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New IMAX Films this Summer

6/9/2023

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These photos are courtesy of the Oceanic Research Group. The following information is from their press release. Ancient Caves 3D Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZL9YbXDGs 

Flight of the Butterflies 3D Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nww3L5b0wno 
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqGjhVJWtEg
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itnqEauWQZM&t=75s 

The Flash Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hebWYacbdvc 
 
Attached images: Credit Oceanic Research Group 
  • Research diver Brian Kakuk enters The Glass Factory in the Crystal Cave of Abaco, Bahamas. 
  • Dr. Gina Moseley crosses the small lake inside the mouth of Grotte de Gournier in Vercors, France.  
  • Research divers Brian Kakuk and Todd Kelly examine a “Christmas Tree” stalagmite in the crystal section of the Crystal Cave of Abaco, Bahamas. 
  • Deep inside Grotte de Gournier, Dr. Gina Moseley and Chris Blakeley navigate down a riverbed with deep pools. 
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Tennessee Ornithological Society

6/8/2023

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The Chattanooga chapter of TOS will have its monthly meeting at 7:00 PM this Thursday evening (June 8) at Ascension Lutheran Church, 729 South Germantown Rd in East Ridge, Tn. 37412. The program will be presented by Eliot Berz, who is with the Tennessee River Gorge. Eliot's program will be about their research tracking the movement of Belted Kingfishers in our area. Also he will give us an update on tracking the movements of Louisiana Waterthrushes and Worm-eating Warblers.
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Record Bear Harvest

6/7/2023

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This is a press release from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, posted as received. I have only eaten bear once, but it was tasty.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
North Carolina’s Bear Harvest Sets Record for 2022 Season
RALEIGH, N.C. (June 7, 2023) — Results from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s 2022 annual bear harvest summary show that hunters statewide recorded the highest harvest total on record at 4,056 bears — an 11% increase compared to the previous season.

Record-breaking harvest totals were recorded in the Coastal and Mountain Bear Management Units (BMU), 2,533 and 1,468, respectively. The Piedmont BMU experienced its third-highest recorded harvest of 55 bears.

 “The increase in the harvest in the Mountain BMU likely reflects the influence of the poor acorn crop we observed in the fall 2022 in this region,” said Colleen Olfenbuttel, the black bear & furbearer biologist for the Commission. “Acorn production has been surveyed by the Wildlife Commission for 40 years and when acorn production is poor, bears will move more in search of fall foods, making them more vulnerable to both vehicle mortality and legal hunter harvest.

For the Coastal BMU, the record harvest reflects the continued interest, both locally and nationally, in bear hunting in this region due to its reputation for large bears and, in some areas, high bear densities.”

Most of the bear harvest occurred in the Coastal BMU (63%), followed by the Mountain BMU (36%) and Piedmont BMU (1%). This is a trend that has stayed the course since the mid-1990s.

Other season results showed:
Statewide, most bears were harvested on private lands with 16% of the harvest occurring on Commission game lands.
In the Mountain MBU, 34% of the harvest occurred on Commission game lands.
Most successful hunters used the assistance of dogs for harvesting bears; however, the number of still hunters increased, with 41% of successful bear hunters reporting they used still hunting to harvest their bear in 2022. This is the highest percentage since the Commission started requesting this information via the Big Game Harvest Report in 2009.

“Bear hunting seasons are highly regulated and play a key role managing local bear populations, helping to resolve agricultural damage, reinforce a bear’s natural fear of people, and providing wild game meat to communities and families,” Olfenbuttel said “The 2022 bear harvest produced an estimated 591,700 plates of food, providing an important source of sustenance for many North Carolinians.”

Commission staff closely monitor trends in the harvest, including the female bear harvest, which was up 11% in 2022, comprising 40% of the statewide reported harvest. Since the 2015 bear season, the Coastal BMU had the highest ratio of females (43%) comprising the harvest among the three BMUs.

“The Commission works continuously to assure bear hunting seasons remain sustainable so that we can continue to maintain our successfully restored bear population,” Olfenbuttel said. “Based on our most current data, we are meeting the population objective for the Coastal BMU, which is to stabilize population growth.”

Biologists conduct research and monitoring efforts in all BMUs to have the best science to evaluate and inform current and future management decisions. This includes a bear population and density study they recently conducted in the Mountain BMU and a similar study currently being conducted in the Coastal BMU.

 “These studies, in addition to other data, will assure our continued success in meeting our goal for the bear population, which is to use science-based decision making and biologically sound management principles to manage black bear populations in balance with available habitats and human expectations to assure long-term existence and hunting opportunities,” Olfenbuttel said.

 Mandatory Bear Tooth Submission Program Helps Biologists Monitor Bear Population Trends

In 2021, with support from the N.C. Bear Hunters Association and the state’s bear hunters, the agency began requiring bear hunters to submit a premolar tooth from their harvested bear. The data gained from the tooth provides the Commission with information about the age structure of the harvest, which is used to monitor trends in the bear population and evaluate impacts of current and proposed changes to hunting season structures. After submitting their harvested bear tooth, hunters receive a hat and the age of their harvested bear.

“The mandatory tooth program has been enthusiastically embraced by our bear hunters, who for decades, have played a key role in assisting with our agency’s efforts to restore, and now manage, North Carolina’s bear populations,” said Olfenbuttel.

The Commission posts its annual harvest summaries on the black bear webpage under the Surveys and Reports section. A comprehensive Bear Annual Report is published in the late fall. The report is available on the agency’s website
https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Hunting/Documents/Bear/NCWRC_Annual_Bear_Report_data_through_2021.pdf.

About the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission 

Since 1947, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has been dedicated to the conservation and sustainability of the state’s fish and wildlife resources through research, scientific management, wise use and public input. The Commission is the state regulatory agency responsible for the enforcement of fishing, hunting, trapping and boating laws and provides programs and opportunities for wildlife-related educational, recreational and sporting activities.

Purchase or a renew a fishing, trapping and hunting license and renew a vessel registration online at ncwildlife.org. 
Get N.C. Wildlife Update — news including season dates, bag limits, legislative updates and more — delivered free to your Inbox from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

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Life on the Rocks

6/3/2023

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Spring Wildflowers

5/26/2023

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Field Blackberry, Wood Sorrel, Cranes Beak, Field Madder, Jewelweed, Tulip Poplar.
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May 25th, 2023

5/25/2023

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​As published in the spring issue of The Avocet.
 
Birdsong
 
The silent forest comes alive with birdsong.
A chorus of Blue Jays erupts to celebrate the bounty.
Antiphonal to highway noise, they sing.
A red bandana might attract a hummingbird.
 
I sit beneath an ancient oak where
A red bandana might attract a hummingbird.
Alone, I contemplate the flowing water.
The silent forest comes alive with birdsong.
 
I sit beneath an ancient oak where
A woodland stream murmurs reassurance.
Alone, I contemplate the flowing water.
A chorus of Blue Jays erupts to celebrate the bounty.
 
A woodland stream murmurs reassurance.
I have never heard them so energetic before.
Car horns and humming tires reverberate from the expressway.
Antiphonal to highway noise, they sing.
 
They sing as if this were the first day of birdsong.
Woodpeckers provide percussion with their beaks.
Chickadees and Titmice celebrate with melodies.
A red bandana might attract a hummingbird.
 
Copies of the bound journal have sold out. I can send you a pdf of the journal.
If you want one, please contact me by email.
Ray Zimmerman - Chattanooga, TN – znaturalist (at) yahoo.com
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May 20th, 2023

5/20/2023

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Picture
These poems about trees appeared in the Weekly Avocet. The photo from Fall Creek Falls State Park did not. 

“I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.” – Joyce Kilmer, “Trees.”
 
His full name was Alfred Joyce Kilmer He had published five books and fathered five children when he deployed to Europe at age 31. He was killed at the Second Battle of the Marne and didn’t come home. His poem “Trees” is his most celebrated work.
 
Joyce-Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness


A winded old man, I climbed as high as I could.
I saw the forest primeval, never cut Tulip Trees.
The state tree of Tennessee, the Tulip Poplar
in an open forest, with space between trunks.
But here they are in North Carolina.
 
They are a favorite tree of lumbermen,
who may decry  the waste of trees uncut,
but I will celebrate this small section of
the Nantahala Forest set aside for generations.
 
I never made it to the hemlock grove,
equally ancient but giving way
before the onslaught of the woolly adelgid.
Venerable old giants are slain by aphids.
Foresters cut the dead to save the living
at least in this case, and I’m glad I didn’t go.
 
I celebrate the Tulip Trees of my neighborhood.
They flower each year, green blossoms tipped
with golden red and favored by honeybees.
I remember an old beekeeper who called me
every year, “and how are the Tulip Poplars this year?
 
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
Warren Woods
 
Nestled among the Michigan dunes
escaping the doom of axe and saw,
the ancient beeches and maples stood,
too large to reach around.
 
One giant that fell left roots, reaching
upward, revealed a patch of sand.
They sent roots sideways in soil that
should never have grown them.
 
Yet there they were,
giants among the dunes.
I was young then, and
I hope they still survive.
 
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
A Haiku
 
Killed by fungus
Mature Chestnut trees are gone
I’d like to see one
 
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
 
A Tanka
 
Virginia to Florida
Longleaf pines growing
Outward to Texas
A few uncut stands remain
To house the gopher tortoise
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com


The weekly Avocet is distributed free by email. Message me if you would like subscription information. It is a journal of nature poetry. 
​I have a recent memoir piece in Waxing and Waning https://www.waxingandwaning.org/issue-11/how-i-became-a-poet-by-ray-zimmerman-_cnf_/ and an article in The Hellbender Press.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/wnc-creek-snorkels. 

​

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