The giant otter-shrew

The giant otter-shrew is 11.5 to 14 inches long, weighs 13 kegs, and lives in Central to West Africa. This fascinating creature usually lives in ponds or lakes, and eats fish, frogs and shellfish.

EA # 9: Eastern Puma

The Eastern Puma is one of 14 animals that are endangered in the state of Pennsylvania. Its scientific name is Puma concolor. It is also known as a panther, cougar, and mountain lion.

Weight: 110-180 pounds (maybe one of your parents weighs this much?)

Height at shoulder: about 2 feet

Length, including tail: 5.5-8 feet

Lifespan: about 12 years old in the wild; up to 25 years old in captivity

The puma will eat a variety of animals, but its favorite food is deer. Most pumas live by themselves except during mating season.

Pumas are endangered because people hunt them, and they have lost a lot of their habitat because of people building more buildings all over the place.

Pumas purr just like house cats.

Most reasons for animal extinction.

Many of the reasons for animal getting endangered are human caused, for instance: oil spills, habitats destroyed, and, of course, hunting animals. But there are ways that you can help them, like creating suitable habitats,not littering, and creating an organazation like mine. If you think its a good idea to found a society like EAPS, contact me at my website.

EA # 8: Bald Eagle

The scientific name for the Bald Eagle is Haliaeetus leucocephalus. It has a white head and neck, a large orange and yellow beak, and dark brown plumage, with white tail feathers.

Size: 28-38"

Weight: 6.5-14 pounds

Wingspan: up to 8.25 feet

The Bald Eagle lives in most habitats (forests, near rivers and oceans). Its diet is fish, small birds, and carrion. (Carrion is a dead animal body.)

It is the most famous carnivorous bird, probably because it is the symbol of the United States of America. Bald Eagles can live to be 30 years old, and they mate for life. Their nest is up to 13 feet tall.

On the Fish & Wildlife Service website, we found the following explanation about why Bald Eagles have become scarce:

"The greatest threat to the bald eagle's existence arose from the widespread use of DDT and other pesticides after World War II. DDT was sprayed on croplands throughout the country and its residues washed into lakes and streams. There, they were absorbed by aquatic plants and small animals that were eaten by fish. The contaminated fish, in turn, were consumed by bald eagles.
The chemical interfered with the bald eagle's ability to develop strong shells for its eggs. As a result, bald eagles and many other bird species began laying eggs with shells so thin they often broke during incubation or otherwise failed to hatch. Their reproduction disrupted, bald eagle populations plummeted. As the dangers of DDT became known, in large part due to Rachel Carson's famous book Silent Spring, this chemical was banned for most uses in the U.S. in 1972."

EA # 7: Indiana Bat

The Indiana Bat, Myotis sodalis, has a wingspan of up to ten and a half inches, and weighs about 0.28 ounces. This bat has an amazing life span of up to twenty years old.

In Pennsylvania, the Indiana bat has become endangered because its hibernation sites have been disturbed. Indiana bats hibernate in caves.

The Indiana bat eats insects, especially pest insects, such as the gypsy moth and the alfalfa weevil. Actually, we have bats flying around over our yard around 8-9pm. They might be Indiana bats, but we haven't gotten close enough to see. They also eat mosquitos.

This species of bat has been endangered since 1967. There are 5 other bat species in the US that are endangered.

Endangered Species in Pennsylvania

Have you wondered about endangered species in your state? The state of Pennsylvania has 14 species of endangered animals. I will be covering these in the future. If you want to check out the animals that are endangered in PA, go to this website for the list. And check out my EAPS website for more details about these animals.

EA # 6: Gray Wolf

The scientific name for the Gray Wolf is Canis Lupus.

The Gray Wolf is the largest member of the Canine family, and it is the ancestor of the domestic dog.

Size: 3.25-5 feet long
Weight: 35-130 pounds

The Gray Wolf travels in packs; each pack has a territory which they defend by patrolling the borders and leaving scent markings.

Females have litters of 4-7 pups. The pups nurse for about a month and then come out of the den to eat small amounts of food that were regurgitated by their parents and other members of the pack.

Gray Wolves eat tons of different kinds of prey, including moose and caribou that might be up to 10 times a wolf's weight.

Wolves are endangered mainly because they sometimes eat livestock, and ranchers and farmers try to kill them. But there are ways for ranchers to protect livestock that don't involve killing wolves, like better fences, alarms, and lighting.

EA # 5: Sea Otter

The scientific name for the sea otter is: Enhydra Lutris. It is a member of the weasel family, the Mustelids.

The sea otter is one of the smallest marine mammals in the world. It spends almost all of its time in the ocean. It lives in the North Pacific Ocean.

It lives in groups with other sea otters. It breaks open the shells of its prey by lying on its back and hitting the shell with a rock that it found on the sea bed. Its prey includes: crabs, clams, sea urchins, abalones, and other shellfish.

Size: 22"-51" long

Weight: 46-62 pounds

The sea otter is endangered because it has been hunted so much for its fur. It is also poisoned by oil spills, and trapped by fishing gear.

EA #4: Giant Panda

The giant panda is recognized as a symbol of endangered animals. For example, the World Wildlife Federation uses the panda as its symbol.

The giant panda lives in China. Most of its diet is bamboo, and it eats mostly in the morning and evening. The giant panda weighs about 155-280 pounds, about as much as a large adult human.

The giant panda has a kind of sixth finger in its wrist which is sort of like a false thumb. It uses this to grip the bamboo stems and leaves for the other hand to tear off.

Only about a third of giant panda cubs survive longer than 6 months.

In the wild, the panda cub stays in the den for over a month, then it rides on its mom's back, and then when the cub is about 6 months old, it walks with its mom. When the cub is about 18 months old, it is able to live away from its mom.

Male giant pandas chase and fight each other for the females during mating season.

The World Wildlife Federation says that only about 1,600 pandas are left on Earth.

EA#3: Sable

The sable is a mustelid, like a weasel. It can be 12 1/2 to 18 inches long and eats fruit and small animals, like mice. Compared to other mustelid species, the sable has longer legs, a bushier tail and its claws can retract part of the way.

The sable is endangered because people hunt it for its beautiful pelt. This species (Martes americana) only has about 300 sables remaining in Newfoundland, Canada. (Read more about this here.)

Read more about the sable and other endangered close relatives here, here, here, and here.

EA #2: Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal on earth. It can be 66-98' long, and it can weigh 100-160 tons. A baby blue whale is called a calf, and can be 23' long and weigh 2 2/3 tons. A calf stays with its mother for 7 to 8 months to nurse. Blue whales can live to be 80 years old.

The blue whale can be found in every ocean. It eats plankton called Euphausiidae.

There are only between 1,300 and 2,000 blue whales left on Earth. This might sound like a lot, but it's not. Blue whales can be killed by fishing nets, pollution, and whaling (which is illegal in most places). Here is an organization dedicated to saving whales.

You can see cool pictures of blue whales on the internet.

Here is one of a mommy and baby blue whale.

Here is a closeup of a blue whale's head.

Endangered Animal # 1: Southern Dibbler

Endangered Animal #1 is the Souther Dibbler. Have you ever heard of this animal? No? Here is some information about him.

The Southern Dibbler is a mammal, and also a marsupial. A marsupial is an animal that has a pouch to carry its babies. The Southern Dibbler lives in Southwest Australia, where it lives in a sort of savannah habitat. It eats mice, birds, lizards, insects and other invertebrates. The Southern Dibbler is about 4-6" long, and its tail is about 4" long. It weighs only a few ounces.

People thought that this animal was extinct until 1967, when it was found in extreme Southwest Australia. They only found very few of them. In captivity, they can be found in only one zoo: the Perth Zoo in Australia, which has a colony of about 80-100 dibblers.

What is an Endangered Species?

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was made law in 1973. It was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. This law protects animals (including invertebrates) and plants from becoming extinct.

There are two government groups responsible for enforcing the law: the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the NOAA Fisheries. The FWS is responsible for freshwater fish and other animals. The NOAA Fisheries is responsible for ocean species.

There are two levels within the ESA. Animals can be listed as "threatened" or "endangered." Threatened means that the species is vulnerable to becoming extinct soon. Endangered means that the species is at immediate risk to become extinct. When a species is endangered, there are usually very few of that animal left on Earth. For example, the Florida manatee is endangered. There are only about 2,019 of them left on Earth. We hope that their population will grow because they are protected.

In other countries, there are similar laws to protect animals in danger of being extinct. For example, there are only about 4000 Bengal Tigers alive right now. About 30 years ago, there were only about 1800 Bengal Tigers alive right now, so hopefully, their population will continue to grow because they are protected as endangered species.

About EAPS.

EAPS is a society for helping and learning about endangered animals. To be a member you must promise to learn about endangered animals and to come to as many meetings as possible.

How did I come up with the idea? Well, I was looking at this Neat Stuff club handbook and it gave me the idea of having my own club and I thought about the living creatures that are dying out, and I came up with EAPS.

How this will work, is that each week(or more often) I will write information here about an endangered animal. You can read the information to learn more about the animal.

If you want to join EAPS, please send an email to my mom, with your name and address if you want a club membership card. Please join, because endangered animals need your help!