Sparrow Story: A Japanese Fairy Tale

An old man came across a wounded sparrow and brought her home. His wife had a very bad temper. She had never borne him any children, and would not take the trouble to adopt a son. So for a little pet, he kept a tiny sparrow, and fed it with great care. The old dame, not satisfied with scolding her husband, hated the sparrow.
One day when the old man was out she cut the sparrow’s tongue. Wounded again she fled away.
When the old man came back and found his pet gone, he made a great ado. He asked his wife, and she told him what she had done and why. The sorrowful old man grieved sorely for his pet, and after looking in every place and calling it by name, gave it up as lost.
Old man went everywhere to look for her. He travelled through mountains and reached the kingdom of sparrows. He found a nice little house with a bamboo garden, tiny waterfall, stepping stone, and everything complete. The bird gave him warm welcome. Sparrow brought in slices of sugar-jelly, rock-candy, sweet potato custard, and a bowl of hot starch sprinkled with sugar, and a pair of chopsticks on a tray.
"Please take up and help yourself. The refreshments are very poor, but I hope you will excuse our plainness," said the Sparrow. The delighted old man, wondering in himself at such a polite family of sparrows, ate heartily, and drank several cups of tea. Finally, on being pressed he remained all night.
For several days the old man enjoyed himself at the sparrow's home. On the fifth day the old man said he must go home. Then the sparrow brought out two baskets made of plaited rattan, such as are used in travelling and carried on men's shoulders. Placing them before their guest, the sparrow said, "Please accept a parting gift." One basket was very heavy, and the other very light. The old man, not being greedy, said he would take the lighter one. So with many thanks and bows and good-byes, he set off homewards.
He reached his hut safely, but instead of a kind welcome the old hag began to scold him for being away so long. He begged her to be quiet, and told of his visit to the sparrows, opened the basket, while the scowling old woman held her tongue, out of sheer curiosity.
Oh, what a splendid sight! There were gold and silver coin, and gems, and coral, and crystal, and amber, and the never-failing bag of money, and the invisible coat and hat, and rolls of books, and all manner of precious things.
At the sight of so much wealth, the old hag's scowl changed to a smile of greedy joy. "I'll go right off and get a present from the sparrows," said she.
So binding on her straw sandals, and tucking up her skirts, and adjusting her girdle, tying the bow in front, she seized her staff and set off on the road. Arriving at the sparrow's house she began to flatter Mr. Sparrow by soft speeches. Of course the polite sparrow invited her into his house. The sparrow then brought out and set before her two baskets, one heavy and the other light. Taking the heavier one without so much as saying "thank you," she carried it back with her. Then she opened it, expecting all kinds of riches.
She took off the lid, when a horrible cuttlefish rushed at her, and a horned oni snapped his tusks at her, a skeleton poked his bony fingers in her face, and finally a long, hairy serpent, with a big head and lolling tongue, sprang out and coiled around her, cracking her bones, and squeezing out her breath, till she died.
Morale of the story: (our interpretation) –Sparrows remember kindness, but aren’t immune to getting even when situation calls for it. In today’s world they just disappear. We have deprived our children of the sight and sound of these lovely creatures

Interview with Ms. Miss Earth 2008

Earth 2008 Karla Paula Henry was born in Philippines in 1986. She graduated in Tourism from University of Cebu in 2005. Before joining the fray in the beauty pageant, she was working with Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. I spoke to Ms Karla Paula Henry on her concerns regarding global warming and climatic change. Excerpts from the conversation:
Q: Planet earth is reeling under a number of environmental issues. What would you consider as the three most important issues that should be tackled on a priority?

-The biggest issue right now that our planet is facing is climate change. Years before, former Vice-President of the USA, Al Gore came up with "The Inconvenient Truth". A lot of movements have been done to send this message across. It has many sub-issues that should be addressed immediately by all the people in the world regardless of nation, gender, age or even social status. We are in the same planet and breathe the same air and drink the same water.
Here in the Philippines, a tropic country blessed with so many resources especially marine biodiversity, we will be badly hit if the current trends continue. Our corals are endangered to be bleached and when the temperature rises or falls, it will spell death to many species. Many areas will be inundated with even just a 1 meter rise in sea level. A lot of people will be displaced and will lose their homes and livelihood. Even the cultural minorities will be affected by this. Sadly, many of our tourist spots are our pristine beaches and marine parks. Our forest covers also declined through the years. That is why we continue to embark on tree planting activities focusing on doing it properly; planting only the right species for the selected area and making sure their growth are guarded and monitored. And I know we are not alone facing these problems. Through the pageant, I talked with other candidates and we shared our different issues. I wasn't surprised when I found out that we were sharing the same problems. It became a very good avenue for us to share and exchange ideas to solve them.
Q: How do you see your own role as Miss Earth in resolving the environmental problems?

A-We, as Miss Earth beauty queens are not the only women wearing crowns and living luxurious lives. As Miss Earth, I am an ambassador of the environment and I have the very big responsibility of properly educating people about the things they don't know yet and correct their not so eco-friendly habits. We are true to our cause which is pushing forward different environmental issues. We consider our status as our strength and use this position to draw attention not to ourselves but on the problems we are trying to find solutions for. Currently, we are having awareness and education campaigns all over the world to tell the people that yes we do have environmental issues that need to be addressed and that we can all do something in our own ways to counteract all the effects of climate change. And I believe that nothing else makes a bigger impact that being a living example yourself. Upon learning these issues, I made it a priority that I myself practice everything that I preach.


For rest of the interview-Read : Society & Environment( A Zayed Prize Publication)

Dubai resort The Atlantis expensive launch party was expensive for the environment too.

From Hollywood celebrities to billionaire business moguls all attended the opening of Dubai's latest luxury resort- The Atlantis, on Thursday night. More than 2,000 guests attended the event on the man-made Palm Jumeirah Island in the Persian Gulf. Stars like Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson, Denzel Washington and Lindsay Lohan were among them, while the British contingent included the Duchess of York, Sir Richard Branson, Dame Shirley Bassey, retail boss Sir Philip Green, television presenter Trinny Woodall and the singer Lily Allen. The £15 million extravaganza was the most expensive - launch party in history.

I was appalled by three statements:

Statement 1: Sol Kerzner, the South African billionaire hotelier and casino tycoon said "We built something that's quite extraordinary. We've got to tell the world about it. (World definitely listens in an expensive manner….I guess)
Statement 2: Colin Cowie, the party planner said: "People say, 'How do you have a party like this in these economic times?' But the funds were allocated a year ago, and you have to dream big to get a big result
Statement 3: This is yet another proud moment for us at Nakheel and in Dubai, where our friends from the world over join us to celebrate the launch of this extraordinary resort on this iconic island.This partnership between Nakheel and Kerzner is testimony to our belief in Dubai having become one of the world's top destinations.

It’s a matter of concern that at this juncture of economic recession,when the whole world is struggling with the Food and Environmental Crisis, such events are talking place in this part of the world. Groups like Nakheel who claim to be environment friendly, need to answer for the gigantic energy consumption during the event. In one night (rather few hours), enormous energy was consumed. There were Fireworks, lining 520km of the Palm, with ten times the size of fireworks used during Olympics earlier this year. It pains me to hear announcements made with pride that: it was visible from the outer space!

Such shallow display of wealth can invite extreme reactions by the have nots' .In a region with socio-political and economical unrest, this is the last thing which people would ask for. Its high time we change the defination of luxury, grandness and entertainment or else ...... we will for sure- reach the point of no return. Much earlier than we anticipate.

By the way Media Coverage was -
News 1(Top headline) Stars, fireworks dazzle at Atlantis launch


News at the bottom of the page: Children dying in Haiti, victims of food crisis. The 5-year-old teetered on broomstick legs — he weighed less than 20 pounds, even after days of drinking enriched milk. Nearby, a 4-year-old girl hung from a strap attached to a scale, her wide eyes lifeless, her emaciated arms dangling weakly.

May good sense prevail…..Amen!

Beautiful Body, Mind and Environment

Ms Earth 2008
Miss Philippines: Karla Henry has won the Miss Earth 2008 beauty pageant.
About Ms Earth Foundation

To institutionalize the environmental mission of the MISS EARTH Beauty Pageant, Carousel Productions, Inc established the MISS EARTH FOUNDATION in 2004 to work with the local and international groups and non-governmental organizations that are actively involved in worthwhile environmental causes.

Foundation:

* Increases the level of awareness on the current environmental issues and takes action through power of broadcasting and other media campaigns locally, nationally and globally.

* Organizes campaigns and promotes projects for MISS EARTH winners.

* Reaches out to the masses and encourages them to be responsible in caring and preserving the environment locally, nationally and globally (such as organizing forums and symposiums).

* Builds strong community ties in community projects.* Teaches the value of appreciation towards nature and quality of life.

***************

Beautiful Body, Mind and Environment: Keep it toxic free

Pimples and Pollution ?Is there any connection?Find out-

Do you have pimples, or blackheads, or acne? If you do, chances are, you come in close contact with air pollution! Yes, that’s right, air pollution. So, before dying for acne treatments, make sure to do something for -the Environment First.
* Check if your car pollutes the air
* Quit smoking.

Now that you know, try your best to Live Green, and well, tell others to live green as well.

******************************
How the Environment Affects Your Skin

Sun:
The rays of the sun have more potential to change the look of your skin than any other environmental factor. Sunburn or a tan indicates your skin has been damaged, and sun damage causes your skin to age before it's time. Ultraviolet light from the sun breaks downcollagenandelastin, the building blocks of your skin, causing wrinkling and sagging. The sun's rays also make skin rough and can over stimulate pigment cells, causing brown spots.

Self protection: Protect your skin- use Sunscreen.
Environment Protection: Know more about Ozone layer and Save Ozone Layer.

Learn what destroys it and how can you contribute to protect?

Stay beautiful in a beautiful Environment!

I spoke to Charles Munn about Ecotourism

Charles Munn has spent over 20 years in pioneering conservation-oriented ecotourism in South America. He has successfully led the teams that created 12 million acres (five million hectares, or a Costa Rica's worth) of protected areas in Manu, Tambopata, and Vilcabamba in Peru and Madidi in Bolivia. In 2000, Munn established Tropical Nature, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that conserves tropical rain forest through the planning and implementation of model ecotourism projects. Currently Tropical Nature works in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Gabon. During 26 years of field work in Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. In 1994, TIME chose Munn as one of 100 young leaders for the planet, one of only three environmentalists.

I communicated with Charles through email. He was in the middle of Jungle in Brazil but was kind enough to reply and I blessed the new media for conecting us. I asked him :( part of interview)

What triggered the establishment of Tropical Nature?

At the age of nine, I became fanatical about birds and nature while growing up in a tall forest near Washington, DC. By the age of 11, I was showing birds to everyone through my tripod-mounted spotting scope. At that time, I decided that if people could see animals up close and appreciate their colours and interesting behaviour, they would learn to love nature and therefore would stop cutting forests, stop killing wildlife, and have fewer children. This simplistic belief stayed with me and became more highly elaborated, resulting in my creation in 2000 of Tropical Nature to try to add create a force to push back against the destruc tion of tropical rainforests in the Amazon and Pantanal.

What is the vision and mission of Tropical Nature?
Tropical Nature was born with the goal of testing and developing new models for making intact rainforests more interesting, more fun, and, above all, more economically-relevant. Since that point, we have tested, developed, and now expanded our work to the point where the Tropical Nature conservation system is the largest and most ambitious rainforest lodge network in the world. We are still very small as businesses or nonprofits go, but our achievements are outsized for the amount of capital we have invested, and we now have perfected economic models that have real legs for making rainforests worth more standing and showcased than devastated. Our work now holds special promise to help slow the rate of carbon release in that we can and do help prevent the invasion and burning of enormous biological reserves in the Amazon and Pantanal.

What do you think should be done to promote eco-tourism?
First, ecotourism should not only do no harm to nature, but it should actively protect nature. A lot of lodges or tour operators around the world label themselves under "ecotourism" when in fact many or most have little or nothing "eco" about them. The best thing that could happen to promote ecotourism would be for all "ecotourism" operators to look carefully at the high level of wildlife viewings and services offered in East and southern Africa, and then to reflect on what most lodges in Latin American rainforest show you in terms of real, non-pet wildlife at photo distance with good background and good light. Probably one can learn a lot from the way we have been engaged with eco-touris

Does Mars Have Life?

While working on an exclusive issue on water,I came across this interesting interview on http://www.pbs.org/ I thought I must post it on my blog. I have no other association with the interview and its solely NOVA's content. Worth reading and extremly interesting.

Does Mars Have Life?An Interview with Chris McKay

When it comes to the question of whether Mars ever had life—or just possibly still has it—Christopher McKay knows whereof he speaks. A planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, McKay has traveled as far as the Siberian arctic and the Antarctic Dry Valleys to study how life makes do in Mars-like environments, and he is actively involved in planning for future Mars missions, including those that would settle humans on the red planet. While McKay thinks the chances that life still exists on Mars are vanishingly remote, he is optimistic that the planet once hosted living things, and he says that, if asked, he would willingly go help search for their remains. Why such great expectations? Read on.
The necessary ingredients

NOVA: Why do we think Mars might have had life?
McKay: Well, it's not because of anything that's there today. It's a dry, frozen desert. But there's evidence recorded on its surface that Mars at one time had water, lots of it. There were rivers, lakes, maybe even an ocean. Mars had water early in its history, possibly at the same time Earth first had life. It's that comparison—water on Earth, water on Mars, life on Earth, what happened on Mars? That's the question.

NOVA: What else about Mars would support the notion that life might once have been there or might even still be there?
McKay: Mars is not that far from Earth. It's one of the terrestrial planets, along with Earth and Venus. It formed from roughly the same materials as Earth. We know that it has carbon, water, nitrogen. Right now Mars has everything needed for life except one thing—liquid water. But we see evidence that it had liquid water in the past.
In fact, there's a distinct parallel between early Mars and early Earth. Every environment that would have been on the early Earth could also have been on Mars. So wherever life made its initial evolution on Earth, that same environment should have existed on Mars as well.

NOVA: Also the atmosphere?
McKay: Right. The only way to understand that Mars had liquid water in its past is to suppose that it had a much thicker atmosphere, presumably one made of carbon dioxide. Long ago Mars lost its atmosphere. Where did it go? We think that most of it is tied up now in rocks. It's been turned into carbonate. It's been mineralized.
That thicker atmosphere is needed to stabilize the water, but it would also have made Mars warmer, and it would have provided the material that life needs. Life could have taken up the carbon dioxide from that atmosphere. The atmosphere would have protected life from cosmic rays and other radiation sources, and it could have provided weather and all the sorts of things we have here on Earth.

NOVA: All the conditions necessary for life.
McKay: Exactly. When we look at life on Earth, we see that life needs a series of things. It clearly needs energy, it needs carbon, it needs a few other elements. The most important requirement for life is liquid water; we think that's the defining requirement for life in our solar system [see Life's Little Essential]. There's plenty of energy, there's plenty of carbon, there are plenty of other elements on all the planets in our solar system. What's rare and, as far as we know, only occurs now on Earth and early in Mars' history, is liquid water on the surface.

NOVA: Why is carbon so important?
McKay: That's a good question, and we don't have a fundamental answer to it except that we see that all life we observe uses carbon. Carbon has some very good properties for life in terms of its ability to make molecules that link together and make polymers. Maybe other molecules could do this, too; people have speculated on silicon, for instance, which is in many ways similar to carbon. It's hard to know if carbon is really the essential ingredient for life, or just the ingredient that we happen to use here on Earth.

NOVA: Was there oxygen on the early Mars?
McKay: Well, when we look at the Earth, we see that through most of its history life was very small—microscopic. It's only with the rise of oxygen that we see the development of large animals and ultimately intelligence. Based on that observation, we think that early Mars probably was only microscopic as well in terms of life. But it's possible that oxygen rose more rapidly there. It's a smaller planet, and it lacks the sort of tectonic recycling that early on prevented the buildup of oxygen on Earth. Mars could have become oxygen-rich much faster than the Earth.
“I’m optimistic that Mars had life.”

And that could have led to large creatures on Mars much faster than on our planet. This is speculation, of course, but it's possible that evolution on Mars went faster than evolution did on Earth. So we have to be careful when we use the Earth as the model for Mars, because the planets are different.

Chances for life

NOVA: Are you saying Mars could have had complex life?
McKay: It's possible that Mars, being smaller than the Earth, evolved more rapidly than the Earth in terms of oxygen, and that if life started on Mars, it could have reached the level of complex life faster than Earth. I've done calculations that suggest it could have reached a level of complex life a thousand times faster than our planet. Instead of taking two billion years for the increase of oxygen and complexity of life, on Mars this could have happened in a few million years. So on Mars we'll look for microscopic life, but we should keep our eye open for something more interesting, more complex. It might be there. It's worth looking for.

NOVA: Some scientists believe life never developed on Mars. Why do they say that?
McKay: Well, right now we have no scientific data that tells us that life did or did not develop on Mars. My intuition tells me that what life needs is water, and we see a planet that had water, so I'm optimistic that Mars had life. Other people may think that it's more difficult to start life and think that just because Mars had water, it's not necessarily probable that it had life. We really don't know. We don't know how life started on Earth. We don't know if it would have started on another planet. We don't understand the details of planetary evolution well enough. The only way to advance our knowledge is to go look on Mars.

NOVA: I've heard "Yes, Mars had water, but not long enough for life to have existed."
McKay: We don't know how long Mars had water, but we also don't know how long it takes for life to evolve. Some people argue that life can start very quickly, a million years or less; some people argue that it takes billions of years. We don't know.
The one bit of evidence that we might bring to bear on this is the record of life on Earth. It appears that life started quickly here. Life seems to be present soon after the formation of the Earth billions of years ago. If that's true, then you might argue that life starts quickly. But it's hard to reach that conclusion based on only one example. If you move to California and win the lottery the first day, that doesn't mean it's easy to win the lottery.
Life may have started on Earth very quickly but purely by accident. It may be a very rare, difficult event. On the other hand, life may be easy to start under Earth-like conditions on any planet. These are questions that we'll never answer staying here on Earth. We've got to go look at another example. We've got to go see if it happened on Mars.
If we go to Mars and we find evidence for life there, a separate origin of life, I think it's clearly telling us that life starts readily on any Earth-like planet. If we go to Mars and find that it had water, it had a thicker atmosphere, it had everything needed for life, and it never developed life, then I think that would make us a little pessimistic in our predictions about life on other planets.
Planet postmortem

NOVA: Why did Mars die?

McKay: Well, suppose you were on Mars three to four billion years ago, and you were walking around on this very nice world with a thick atmosphere and water, and everything was just fine. Well, gradually things would start getting worse and worse and worse. What's happening, you'll notice, is that the atmosphere is getting thinner.
Meanwhile, your friends on Earth would be finding that their planet was just fine, that there was recycling due to plate tectonics, that the Earth was maintaining its atmosphere. So the two planets start off the same, one goes down, and the other maintains itself. That's the fundamental difference between the history of Mars and of Earth.

NOVA: What happens when you lose your atmosphere?
McKay: Well, the main problem of living without an atmosphere is that there's no greenhouse effect. It's very cold. Everything freezes. And the pressure is so low that water goes directly from solid to vapor without forming a liquid. So this is a double whammy from the point of view of life—temperature and pressure too low for liquid water.

NOVA: Plus lots of nasty ultraviolet radiation.
McKay: Yes. There is both UV and cosmic radiation coming through the thin atmosphere and hitting the surface. But those are not really powerful detriments to life. Ultraviolet light and cosmic radiation are bad for humans, of course; we would have higher incidents of cancer and so on. But many organisms on Earth have learned to cope with UV radiation—microorganisms in particular. And organisms that live in the subsurface have no worries about that sort of radiation.
“It’s possible that there are still places on Mars today where life is a going thing.”

I don't think that the radiation itself would prevent life on Mars if the atmosphere was thicker and if liquid water could be present. Life can figure out a solution for everything else, but liquid water seems to be the one thing that life can't work around.
Weighing the evidence

NOVA: Are there any recent findings to support the possibility of past life?
McKay: The most interesting recent results from Mars all focus on water. From the Odyssey spacecraft we now have direct evidence that Mars has massive ice in the polar regions, in the permafrost there. Also, there is clear evidence of ancient rivers and channels being carved by water. The more we learn about Mars, the more we're convinced that it was a water planet.

NOVA: Is there evidence that liquid water might still exist there?
McKay: There is some evidence that suggests there is still some activity that could be related to the presence of liquid water, or the melting of snow, or the melting of ice in recent times. That evidence is very interesting, but it's still controversial.

NOVA: Might the Mars Exploration Rover scientists find signs of ancient life, say, in Gusev Crater?
McKay: We're pretty sure Gusev Crater was full of water. It was really a crater lake. The idea is that maybe if there was life in that lake and it died and settled to the bottom, it's preserved in the sediments as fossils. We might find fossils right there on Mars, and that would be interesting.
What I'd like to do next is then go down into the ancient terrain near the south polar region in the permafrost there and drill and try to find not a fossil but an actual dead martian organism frozen in the ground, a corpse, something we could do an autopsy on.

NOVA: Any possibility there could be life still extant?
McKay: My guess would be that if Mars had life in its early history that it has all died out, but we're not sure. It's possible that there are still places on Mars today where life is a going thing, say, near the polar regions, where there are possibilities for water from the melting of ice or more likely deep underground, where geothermal heat from the interior of the planet may be enough to keep the water liquid. Those are the possibilities for life today. I'm not optimistic.

NOVA: You mentioned geothermal heat, but earlier you said Mars has lost its heat.
McKay: The geothermal heat on Mars is much lower than that on the Earth, but it's still there. If you were to drill down a kilometer or two below the surface, it would become warm enough that the ice would melt.

NOVA: Could microbes from Mars' early history that are frozen into the subsurface potentially still be viable?
McKay: Well, imagine in the permafrosts on Mars a bug frozen into the ground, waiting for things to warm up. How long might it survive? We think the answer might be hundreds of millions of years. Unfortunately, on Mars they may have been waiting for several billion. So even for these guys it may have been too long a wait. But we're not sure of that. We should be prepared for the possibility that we'll go to Mars, we'll dig up bugs, and they'll still be viable.

Costs of exploration

NOVA: Given your hopes for the polar regions, it must have been extremely disappointing when the Mars Polar Lander vanished in 1999.
McKay: Indeed. It was going to land down near the south polar cap, down in that ice-rich material that may hold the organic or even biological record of life on Mars. So needless to say, we were very disappointed when it crashed, not just for the loss of the mission and the loss of the time and effort that went into it, but for the loss of the opportunity to advance our scientific understanding of Mars in that way.
“I think sending humans to Mars is a possible task.”

But that's just the way it is when you explore planets. They're far away, and it's hard to make sure things are working without someone there to fix them. On average, only one out of three of the missions that we Earthlings have sent to Mars have succeeded. The odds are not good, but that's just the cost of doing this kind of exploration. It's like the major leagues. If you're batting 300, that's pretty good. We're batting 300.
NOVA: Why is it so difficult to get a mission, go to the planet, and dig up this stuff?
McKay: It's difficult to go to Mars. It's a long way away. If you send a robot and something goes wrong, there's no one there to fix it. If you send humans, you've got to make sure they have enough food and water and air to make it there and back. It's a challenging prospect.

NOVA: We've sent people to the moon. What's so hard about sending them to Mars?
McKay: Well, imagine you were going to send a well-trained scientific team to search for life on Mars. It would take them at least six months to get there, and on the way you'd have to make sure that their bones and muscles didn't get weaker in the microgravity of space. Once they got there, of course, anytime they went outside they'd have to wear a spacesuit. Pressure, oxygen, food, water—everything would have to be provided for their entire trip.
Nonetheless, I think sending humans to Mars is a possible task. We know how to do it. We have the technology. If we wanted, we could set up a research station on Mars and do the scientific exploration that would answer these questions. But I think it's still some time in the future before we do that.

NOVA: If there was a mission tomorrow, would you want to be on it?
McKay: If there was a mission going tomorrow to Mars and they were looking for somebody to go out in the field and dig for fossils, I would volunteer. Why not? As long as they promised to bring me back after a few years!

DISASTROUS DESERT TORTOISE TRANSLOCATION SUSPENDED

Fort Irwin officials (Fort Irwin & the National Training Center is a world class training center for America's Soldiers, known for its excellent desert training, vast recreational opportunities, and history) on 10th of October,2008, suspended their disastrous desert tortoise translocation program, in response to a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and Desert Survivors. The flawed translocation project, undertaken to remove tortoises from an area where the fort intends to expand its training areas, has so far sustained huge losses. More than 90 relocated and resident tortoises have perished, primarily killed by predators, and more losses are expected due to healthy tortoises being introduced into diseased populations — against the recommendations of epidemiologists.

The first phase of the translocation was begun in March 2008, when about 770 tortoises were moved from Fort Irwin to areas south of the installation that already had desert tortoise populations. Almost immediately, coyotes began killing both relocated and resident desert tortoises.

“We predicted that the translocation of tortoises from Fort Irwin’s expansion would be disastrous, and unfortunately, we were proven right.” said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The loss of so many tortoises is certainly not helping this threatened population. The Army must minimize the death rate. If relocation really is necessary, it needs to be done much more carefully.”

The translocation effort and other threats are pushing the tortoise closer to extinction. In 2001 Congress authorized Fort Irwin to expand into some of the best desert tortoise habitat remaining in the western Mojave desert. As partial mitigation, the Army agreed to move a majority of the tortoises from the expansion area into other public lands it had purchased south of the post. But the new lands provide much lower-quality habitat, and have pockets of diseased tortoises and coyotes that are starving from lack of prey due to drought. Desert tortoise translocation has never been attempted on such a large scale as the Fort Irwin project. Even “successful” small-scale projects have had a more than 20 percent mortality rate.

Having survived tens of thousands of years in California’s deserts, desert tortoise numbers have declined precipitously in recent years. The crash of populations is due to numerous factors, including disease, crushing by vehicles, military and suburban development, habitat degradation, and predation by dogs and ravens. Because of its dwindling numbers, the desert tortoise — California’s official state reptile — is now protected under both federal and California endangered species acts.

Population genetics studies recently have identified that the desert tortoise in the western Mojave desert, including the Fort Irwin tortoises, is distinctly different from its relatives to the north, east and south. This finding sheds new light on why increased conservation and translocation success is more important than ever for the Fort Irwin effort.

“This whole debacle needs to be significantly rethought,” Anderson said. “If translocation really needs to be done, the number of tortoises that will be moved should be reduced, and only healthy tortoises should be moved into healthy populations. Also, protection from predators is needed — and that should not include killing predators. And the relocation area should be made into a tortoise preserve, where there is a minimal number of roads, no off-road vehicles, no dumping, no mining, and strict enforcement of those restrictions.”