The Desperate Gambit That Could Save A Tiny Porpoise From Extinction ... Or Kill It

In 2016, scientists made a distressing announcement: There were fewer than 30 vaquitas ― a tiny porpoise that dwells in Mexico’s Gulf of California ― left in the wild. With carcasses continuing to wash up, researchers worry the vaquita could be extinct by 2018, becoming yet another mammal forced off the face of the Earth.  Losing the porpoise would be a tragedy for Mexico, the World Wildlife Fund said this week ― akin to “losing a piece” of the country, according to Maria Jose Villanueva, a project coordinator for WWF Mexico. But the demise of the vaquita would be a blow to more than just its home country. Extinction claims many species every year, many of which are never even known to science ― and even those that are known often aren’t cute enough or deemed important enough to even be eulogized. Yet the vaquita, nicknamed the “panda of the sea” for its dark-circled eyes and smiling face, would not be a creature that would die in obscurity. It’s a species whose rescue effort involved millions of dollars of investment, the input of several nations and appeals from big-name celebrities like actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who this week made a personal plea to Mexico’s president to hasten conservation measures in the gulf. If we can’t save a beloved, charismatic mammal, what can we save?  Yet the struggle to save the vaquita is a lesson on how complicated it can be to bring an endangered species back f...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news