WINK Issue 1 Full

8/14/2019 WINK Issue 1 Full

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The Sixth Extinction?

Simone Cutajar

Extinction: the annihilation of a species.Most of us connect this with cute andfluffy pandas, dolphins or wolves. Weve allheard the stories of endangered animals orcome across a petition to save a species.However, every year, many biologists be-lieve some 30,000 species are lost, whichadds up to the daunting figure of threespecies being wiped out every hour. But

few people really seem to care about this.The fact that many of these species aresubtropical fungi, microrganisms or unicel-lular beings seem to make them unneces-

sary in our eyes. Who would miss a unicel-lular organism which we didnt even knowexisted?

Our planet has seen five major extinctionsin its four billion years of history, and itseems that a sixth extinction is on the brinkof becoming reality. These five mass ex-tinctions on Earth were caused by suddenclimatic changes causing meteor impactsand cataclysmic events. The fifth and most

recent mass extinction is what is com-monly known as the dinosaur extinction,

which occurred some 65 million years ago.This ended the reptilian dominance on

Earth and led to the current mammaliandomination of Earth. So these mass-ex-tinction spasms are actually relatively com-mon; but whereas the other previous fiveextinctions were predominately due to nat-ural causes, this sixth extinction is ahuman-caused event.

Homo sapiens have left their print onEarth since some two million years ago,and in such a comparatively short time we

have almost managed to achieve what na-ture usually takes millions of years to do eradicate itself and start afresh.

continued on page 3...

October 2009

Issue no. 1

[email protected]

The GoodwillChallenge

Positive News AnAlternativeEducational system

page 2 page 3 page 6

Will our rainforests soon become biological deserts?

www.winkonline.org


2/8

What is WINK?WINK stands for World Inclusiveness, andis a non-profit and non-political publica-tion dreamt up by Malcolm Borg and Si-mone Cutajar. It aims to bring about moreawareness and understanding about a num-ber of topics. This monthly newspaper will

be distributed free-of-charge at publiclandmarks, namely Valletta and the Univer-sity of Malta.

WINK was set up by a group of universitystudents and young people who are con-cerned about certain issues which are ofextreme importance to the world and thegeneral welfare of the whole web of lifethat we are all part of. These subject mat-ters include the environment, peace andgoodwill, social justice and wellbeing.

Another central goal of the newspaper isto shed light on the positive endeavoursthat take place in the world, and that aresometimes regrettably ignored in favour ofother, more superficial undertakings. Mostimportantly, WINK aims to also providesolutions to the issues mentioned above.

There are too many instances where oursociety fails to give people inspiration toactually do something with their lives.

WINK aims to motivate individuals to be-

come people of action, and not just arm-chair critics.

WINK does not involve a unilateral flow

of information; instead, we would like toreceive feedback about the general conceptand content of this publication from ourreaders. If you would like to send us ideason what subjects you would like to readplease do not hesitate to do so. As long as

the subjects are within the confines of thisnewspapers scope then we will do our ut-most to provide you with information you

wish to see published.

Contact Us

[email protected]

Website

www..winkonline.org

Designed by Adrian [email protected]

Special Thanks

Katyrna Storace for Proofreading

Dr. T. S. Chivers

Lets suppose that most of us are lookingfor happy lives but arent too sure how

to set about achieving them. Well, heresan experiment you might like to try.

For the course of the day, try to becheerful, helpful, joyful and sympathetic,

in order to promote goodwill aroundyou. At the end of the day, maybe youll

feel that you helped to promote happi-ness. Maybe youll feel that you didnt

in which case, work out why you reckon

you didnt succeed. Either way, try thesame idea out, perhaps a week later.

In the course of the month, try it out onseveral separate days. When you feelyouve tried the idea out reasonably well,see if there is good reason to think that

you have actually helped to bring aboutmore goodwill than was present whenyou first started.

If you reckon the answer is yes, maybethe idea is worth adopting more often,maybe even permanently.

The Goodwill Challenge

2

Stop and think

16th October

End Hunger Day

17th October

End Poverty Day

18th OctoberMedia Reform Day andDemocracy Day

3rd Thursday in October

Conflict Resolution Day

24th October

United Nations Day

24-30th October

Disarment Week

31st October

UNICEF Day

Celebrate October

We hope that WINK succeeds in offer-ing you an added perspective to your life.

We hope that WINK, at least, stimulatesyou to do your part in society and be re-sponsible for your actions.

We hope that WINK is more than justanother newspaper you read during yourbreak and throw away a couple of min-utes later.

Finally, we hope that you enjoy readingWINK.

We would like to thank those people andorganisations who endorsed WINK, andespecially the Youth in Action Initiative forproviding the needed finances to make this

project possible and Adrian Gambin whovery kindly designed our website.

The WINK Team

www.winkonline.org

This work is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution-

Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

This project has been funded with support from the Eu-ropean Commission. This publication reflects the viewsonly of the author, and the Commission cannot be heldresponsible for any use which may be made of the infor-

mation contained therein.

When you have read WINK please do not

throw it away. Hand it over to a colleague,friend or family member. Help us reduce waste.

WINK is printed on 100% recycled paper.

WINK | October 2009 | Issue 1


3/8

Is extinction really a thing of the past?...continued from page 1

The recovery time for a mass extinction is

around 10 million years, five times the time

since we first set foot on earth and started

painting in caves. Scientists have long

claimed that Homo sapiens are the exter-

minator species and unfortunately, time

and again, weve proven them right.

The crux of this problem can be sum-

marised in one word: biodiversity. As the

word implies, it is the diversity of biologi-

cal organisms and it highlights the impor-

tance of species in the world. As soon as

the world realises this importance the

webs of lives spinning around each other,

interconnected we can start to progress.

The problem with humans is that weve

taken ourselves so fully out of any resem-

blance of a natural environment that we

do tend to think were super-beings who

are self-resilient and rely on nothing but

our own technologies. Contrary to com-

mon belief, the human race started tipping

the natural environmental balance not at

the start of the Industrial Revolution, but

much earlier, at the dawn of agriculture, as

soon as we picked up a plough and started

chopping down trees and weeding out un-

wanted plants for agricultural land.

Agriculture is the single most profound

ecological change in the entire life history

of this planet. With the dawn of agricul-

ture, humans barely required any direct in-

teraction with other species for their

survival and could manipulate the species

they required. Apart from that, we broke

through the upper limit of the natural

ecosystems carrying capacity. This carrying

capacity is the maximum amount of indi-

viduals that can be supported in a particu-

lar environment. For instance, there can

only be a definite amount of tadpoles

which can survive in a small pond, limited

by the amount of space, the availability of

food resources, etc. The same is for any

other population of organisms. Without

mass production and growth manipula-

tion of crops, Earth could not have sus-

tained such an enormous human

population. That said, crops quite regularly

tend to fail and famine still plagues some

lands.

And let us not forget about the waters we

are so fortunate to be surrounded by.

Over-fishing has damaged the seas as

much as agriculture has been damaging to

terrestrial species.

Browsing through National Geographic

some days ago, I came across an article

where Sir Ghillean Prance, the director of

Kew Gardens (one of the worlds leading

botanic gardens) made this very true state-

ment:

Every time we lose a species, we lose an

option for the future. We lose a potential

cure for AIDS or a virus-resistant crop. So

we must somehow stop losing species, not

just for the sake of our planet but for our

own selfish needs and uses.

The seemingly irrelevant micro-organisms

that we are losing by the hour may well

turn out to be significantly connected to

future discoveries.

We may well be the most thriving and

adaptive species yet to dominate Earth, but

we do have a tendency to swim too close

to technologies which may bring about our

own extinction.

3

Positive News

Energy produced from waste

A garbage sorting plant in Edmonton, Al-

berta will be home to an ethanol facility

that will turn 100,000 tonnes of plastic,

cardboard, and paper into fuel additivestarting in 2010. The plant will produce 36

million litres of ethanol per year, making

it the world's first industrial scale ethanol

plant using waste as a feedstock.

Internet access to the blind

A free web-based programme aims to

make internet access easier for the blind.

WebAnywhere, developed by a computer

science graduate at the University ofWashington, makes web surfing accessible

to the blind on most any computer.

The Positive News section below is not an indication that all is well in the world, that you can sit easily thinking that

there are enough people doing good work. The Positive News section is meant to stimulate you into realising that not

everything in the world is doom and gloom and that if you contribute (even in a very small way) your own part you can

add momentum to these wonderful events occurring worldwide and help usher a better world for all

years ago, music has changed the lives of

these children, who come from some of

Cali's humblest families. The children own

their own instrument, donated by private

individuals.

Students join First Lady Michelle

Obama in harvesting garden

First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed

fifth-graders back to the White House gar-

den to pick the vegetables they helped

plant in the spring. Mrs Obama said she

hopes the garden project educated both

parents and children about the importance

of fruits and vegetables. She said adding

more fresh produce to her family's dietmade them all feel more energetic.

continued on page 8...

Plastic-bottle catamaran

You've all heard of a ship in a bottle. What

about a ship made of bottles? That would

be Plastiki. Expedition leader David de

Rothschild wants to highlight the dangersof living in a throwaway world. The vessel,

which epitomises the concept of using

waste as a resource, is designed to sail the

Pacific on an 11,000 mile eco-message voy-

age.

Music charity in Colombia helps

transform poor children's lives

More than 100 children in Cali, Colombia,

aged between 6 and 17, are studying music

at a small conservatory named Proyecto

Desepaz. Since Desepaz's inception four



4/8

Platypus helps us better understand

ovarian cancer

A study by the University of Adelaide has

revealed that studies on platypuses DNA

uncovered an interesting relationship be-

tween their sex chromosomes and the

DNA in human ovarian cancer. This may

help improve the knowledge of this cancer

with the possibility of a future treatment.

Pets help College Students

Researchers at the Ohio State University

have found that apart from improving the

quality of life of ageing and chronically ill

people, pets also have a positive effect on

college students. Students who lived with

at least one dog or cat were less likely to

report feeling lonely and depressed.

Fence made of beehives deters ele-

phant raids

A fence made up of beehives suspended

on poles beneath tiny thatched roofs and

connected to each other proved to be an

effective deterrent to elephants which try

Science Breakthroughsto enter fields to feed on crops something

that has been causing the shooting of the

elephants by angry farmers trying to culti-

vate their crops. When the elephant tries

to push through the fence, the hives are ag-

itated, causing the elephants to fear an at-

tack by the angry bees. This was carriedout as a pilot project in Kenya.

Transparent windows may harness

sun

Without blocking the suns rays, the glass

of windows may be synthesised and used

to generate electricity, research scientists at

the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of

Materials said. This is done by a special

type of coating, which allows this dual-

function of a windows glass panes.

Converting Air Humidity to Drink-

able Water

Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Insti-

tute for Interfacial Engineering and

Biotechnology in Stuttgart are working

with colleagues from Logos Innovation to

convert air humidity into drinkable water.

4

Colour is all around us and affects our

everyday lives in countless ways. We make

colour choices every time we decide what

to wear, eat, buy and decorate our homes

with. It affects our moods and is used in

every day language to describe our state of

health, attitudes, sentiment and emotions:

feeling blue; green with envy; tickle

me pink, etc.

We are influenced by colour in a variety of

ways. Cultural background has a huge ef-

fect on the way we view colours: red might

mean danger in one country and power in

another, it may represent your favourite

football team, and love on Valentines day.

However, whenever we look at red, its vi-

brancy, or energy, evokes passion andstrong emotion. Memory also has an im-

portant effect on the way we view colours

and the way we feel when we are in contact

with specific hues. One might have had a

successful day at work when wearing green

that could lead to the belief that green is

your lucky colour.

Each colour has a different wave length;

the longest wave at the end of the spec-

trum is red and the shortest at the other

end is purple. These wave lengths give each

colour its healing properties and induce

specific reactions in our mind and body.

Healing has been around since ancient

Egyptian times and is associated with the

god Thoth, known to the Greeks as Her-

mes. Hippocrates too the father of West-

ern medicine used different ointments

and salves as remedies and practiced intreatment rooms painted in healing shades.

Below is a list of colours and their benefits:

Colour your lifeKrista Sullivan

Violet

Good for: Pain, bones, migraines, in-

somnia, reduces hunger, stimulates the

immune system.Gems: Amethyst, fluoride crystal.

Indigo

Good for: Pain, sinus problems, vision

problems, varicose veins, ulcers, back

pain, reduces swelling, sedates, kidney

problems, enhances memory.

Gems: Sapphire, azurite, lapis lazuli.

Black

Good for: Extreme pain, helps to over-

come fear, eases emotions, helps withnew ideas and to solve problems.

Gems: Obsidian, tourmaline, onyx.

Because humidity is usually high, even in

deserts and arid regions, this can solve

many problems relating to water scarcity.

The system is completely dependent on re-

newable energy sources.

Olive skin helps fight colon cancer

A study from the University of Granada

and the University of Barcelona revealed

that compounds in olive skin inhibits cell

proliferation and causes death in colon can-

cer cells. A set of compounds isolated

triterpenoids are present in a wide range

of plants used in traditional medicine and

are known to have anti-tumoral properties.

Sagebrush individuals warn each

other of danger

Plants engage in self-recognition and can

also communicate with nearby individuals

of the same species. The sagebrush coop-

erates with other branches of itself and

other individuals in the vicinity to avoid

being eaten by grasshoppers by secreting

volatile cues. In turn, the receptive party se-

cretes chemicals that deter herbivores.

Health



5/8

PeruThe tomato is originally from Peru, and itis a close relative of the potato.

The weeping willow is originally fromPeru and it produces the base for aspirin.

In Ancient Peru, when a woman found an'ugly' potato, it was the custom for her topush it into the face of the nearest man.

The deepest canyons in the world are Co-tahuasi with 3,600 metres (11,810 ft) andColca with 3,400 meters (11,150 ft). Bothare in Arequipa, the second most impor-tant city in Peru.

There are 1,701 species of birds, makingit the highest statistic in any country.

Peru has 84 of the 103 ecological zonesin the world.

You can find 28 different climates in Peru,making it one of the five biggest biodiver-sities in the world.

A large statue of Winnie the Pooh can befound in Lima, Peru.

In the marriage ceremony of the ancientInca people of Peru, the couple was con-sidered officially wed when they took off

their sandals and handed them to eachother.

The Inca people of Peru consideredbridges to be so sacred that anyone whotampered with one was put to death.

Amarekaire cannibals of Peru have 17 dis-tinct recipes for cooking a human head.

Peruvian coffee was voted the best byboth American and European tasters.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific,and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) wasfounded on 16 November 1945. Its pri-mary aim is to build peace in peoplesminds. This it does through objective ini-tiatives in four main sectors: education, so-cial and natural science, culture, andcommunication.

In education, UNESCOs aim is to improveeducation worldwide through technical ad-

vice, standard setting, innovative projects,capacity-building and networking. Themain priorities in education are: (i) Basiceducation for all with special emphasis onliteracy, HIV/AIDS prevention educationand teacher training in sub-Saharan Africa;(ii) Secondary Education which includestechnical, vocational and scientific educa-tion; (iii) Promoting the quality of educa-tion with special reference to values and (iv)Higher education.

In the field of Natural Sciences, UNESCOworks accordingly with its priorities in (i)Water and the associated ecosystems; (ii)Oceans; (iii) Capacity-building in basic andengineering sciences; (iv) The promotionof the application of science and other ap-propriate technologies for sustainable de-

velopment, natural resources management,

disaster preparedness, and renewablesources of energy.

UNESCOs priorities in the field of Social

and Human Sciences include: (i) Ethics ofscience and technology with emphasis onbioethics; (ii) The promotion of humanrights and the fight against any form ofdiscrimination, racism, xenophobia; (iii)

The enhancement of human security andmanagement of social transformation.

The important role that culture plays inhuman life is recognised by UNESCO byputting its emphasis and the subsequentresources in: (i) Promoting cultural diver-sity with special emphasis on both tangibleand intangible heritage; (ii) Interculturaland Interreligious dialogue and under-standing; (iii) Artistic expression and cul-tural industries.

The building of a knowledge society basedon sharing knowledge is at the heart ofUNESCOs work and thus its priorities inthe Communications sector include: (i)Empowering people through access to in-formation and knowledge with special em-phasis on the right to freedom ofexpression; (ii) Promoting communicationdevelopment and (iii) Advancing the useof ICTs for education, science and culture.

Through these and other priorities, UN-ESCO is helping the world towards

achieving the Millennium DevelopmentGoals, including a reduction by half of thepeople living in extreme poverty, and pri-mary education for all, among others.

UNESCO

5

Around the world in five minutes

Mariette Gatt

Most of the things we purchase are

wrapped in various layers. These layers aremade from various materials such as, card-board, plastic (mostly polyethene), etc.

After consumption, most of the packagesare thrown away and thereby add up withthe remaining garbage bulk. Here are a few

ways to cut down on waste:

Buy things in bulk and use reusable con-tainers in order to portion them accord-ingly. This can be applied to water bottles.Instead of using the small 25cL bottles and

throwing them away, use each bottle atleast three times by refilling them from alarger bottle.

Cooking and eating at home is better thantake away. This decreases the use of takeaway packaging and is also a healthier al-

ternative. In addition, frozen microwavefoods involve a lot of waste starting fromthe cardboard box, to the plastic bag andthen to the plastic plate on which the foodis presented.

Double wrapped items should be avoided,as they contain double the amount of

waste per item. For example, in cerealboxes: the cereal is packed in a plastic airtight bag, and this in turn is packed into acardboard box. Alternatives are cereals

that are only found in plastic bags.

More Green Tips on www.winkonline.org

Green living

How to trim package pounds



6/8

Malcolm Borg

The process of educating a child has be-come a process of providing tools for in-

dustries and the economy. The childsdevelopment is relegated to second placeand the priority is to have enough mem-ory and intellect to stuff in all the data

provided to the child during his/heryears of education. Little may one noticethat the very word education means tobring out. Yet, what is it that is trulybrought out of the student? I dare say lit-

tle much except for the good under-standing of the subject s/he is studying.

And that makes initiative in this sectorof education all the more needed and

necessary.

Waldorf education (also called Steinereducation) is a mode of learning/teach-

ing that is based on the education philos-ophy of Rudolf Steiner. Learningintegrates practical, artistic and intellec-tual elements which emphasises the roleof imagination in the process of learn-

ing, trying to induce both the creativeand analytical modes of working of thestudents mind. There are about 1,000

Waldorf schools and 1,400 Waldorfkindergartens worldwide with themethod being employed by various other

schools and educators. It is a different

approach to the whole structure of edu-cation.

The philosophy behind the teaching

Early childhood learning should involvethe child in experiencing things, and thisis done via a sensory-based educationalmethod. A lot of time is dedicated to

guided free play in a home-like classroomand which involves natural materials andprovides settings of productive work in

which children can take part. The devel-

opment of oral language is done throughsongs, poems and movement games, andincludes a daily story time where the

teacher cites a fairytale, often by heart. These kindergartens discourage expo-

sure to television, computers andrecorded music as they believe these tobe harmful to cognitive development inthese early years. This type of education

also emphasises the experiencing of dailyand annual rhythms which include sea-sonal festivals from a variety of tradi-tions.

Elementary school for ages between 7

and 14 provides learning which is artisticand imaginative. The emphasis is onfeeling life and on the artistic expres-

sion of the student. The curriculum in-cludes visual arts, drama, artistic move-ment, vocal and instrumental music andcrafts. Students also learn two foreign

languages during these years. Through-out these years concepts are introducedthrough stories and images with aca-demic instruction integrated with visual

and plastic arts, music and movement.There is little or no use of standard text-books. Instead, each child creates his orher own illustrated summary of course-

work in book form. The school day usu-

ally starts with a one-and-a-half to twohours academic lesson that focuses onone single theme over the course of amonth and generally begins with an in-

troduction of singing, instrumentalmusic, poem recital, etc. Waldorf teach-ers, known for their personal commit-ment to their pupils, teach one classthroughout the elementary school years.

Elementary education allows for differ-ent paces in the students learning and isbased on the expectation that a child will

grasp a concept or achieve a skill whenhe or she is ready. Competition is over-come by cooperation, even in physical

education.

Adolescent learning is focused on the de-

Waldorf Education: revolutionising

the educational system

6

Rudolph Steiner, founder of Waldorf Education (left). A typical Waldorf school (right).



7/8

velopment for the capacity to think inabstract forms and conceptual judgment.

The emphasis is laid on learning through

intellectual understanding and ethicalthinking, including taking social respon-sibility. Education is carried out by spe-cialist teachers and now it stronglyfocuses on the academic subjects al-

though courses in art, music and craftsare not stopped. Pupils are also encour-aged to develop their independent andcreative thinking processes.

The curriculum for all age sectors is not

rigid although some subjects such asmovement art are practised in all Wal-dorf schools. Computers are introduced

in the curriculum in the teenage years. Awide range of religious traditions are alsoincluded in the curriculum with each re-ligious denomination submitting their

own teacher to the school.

Does this education work?

Some statistics may show that it does.

An Australian study was conducted tocompare the academic performance ofstudents at University level. It was shown

that students who attended Waldorf

schools significantly outperformed theirpeers from non-Waldorf school back-

ground in both the humanities and thesciences.

Another study compared drawing abili-ties of children and again found thatthe approach to art education in Steinerschools is conducive not only to more

highly rated imaginative drawings interms of general drawing ability and useof colour but also to more accurate anddetailed observational drawings. Yet an-

other study in Canada found that Wal-dorf-educated students scoredsignificantly higher on a test of moralreasoning than other students who didnot receive a Waldorf-based education,

even those attending a religiously-affili-ated high school.

This education also goes down well with

parents who, in a 1995 survey, describedthe education as one that that integratesthe aesthetic, spiritual and interpersonal

development of the child with rigorousintellectual development and preservesthe students enthusiasm for learning,

hence developing a better sense of self-confidence and self-direction.

More studies can be cited to prove theworth of this mode of education, suchas studies comparing students perform-ance in college-entrance examinations in

Germany. The Waldorf graduates passed

the exam at double or triple the rate ofstudents graduating from state educationsystems. Another study found that stu-dents from Waldorf schools were less

likely to have xenophobic and extreme-right tendencies.

It is very interesting and exciting to keep

abreast of these initiatives which areshaping a completely new dimension tothe educational systems. This is not tosuggest that the sciences or languages be

given less importance, but that fosteringcreativity should be treated with equalimportance. Pupils starting school nextyear will be graduating in approximately2028, where we have not the slightest

idea of what the world will look like orwhat problems it will face, and hence,there is a vital need for creativity to befostered in children so as to find solu-

tions to the problems facing their world. Therefore, attitudes like: Dont do

music, youre not going to be a musicianmust be eradicated once and for all.

The educational system must find a bal-

ance between the childs imagination andhis/her ability to process data. It is withsomething similar to, if not necessarilyexactly like the Waldorf system, that wecan ensure that education evolves so as

to really bring out something from the

student being educated.

To read the first-hand experience of aWaldorf student visit our blogs on

www.winkonline.org

7

A typical classroom at a Waldolrf elementary school.

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www.winkonline.orgwww.winkonline.org



8/8

8

Cuba allows private farmers to have

more land

Cubas president Raul Castro is working to

revive Cuba's floundering agricultural sec-

tor. Communist officials decreed that pri-

vate farmers can use up to 100 acres (40hectares) of idle government land. Land-

less Cubans can be given a bit more than

33 acres (13 hectares) while those who al-

ready have fully producing plots can add

enough state lands to bring their total hold-

ings up to 100 acres (40 hectares).

US Charity distributes bicycles in

Zambia

World Bicycle Relief, a Chicago-basedcharity, plans to give away 50,000 bicycles

in Zambia, where lack of transportation

and long distances keeps many children

from going to school. The first 100 bicy-

cles were delivered to children enrolled at

Ndapula Community School in Chongwe.

Some of the children shed tears of joy as

they received the gifts.

Natural cosmetics maker swamped

with global demand

Natural beauty care products maker Dr

Hauschka is the founder of WALA, a

medium-sized company based in the

sleepy German village of Bad Boll near

Stuttgart which rose to fame after being

discovered by Hollywood celebrities.

WALA is turning down offers for new

markets at a time when rivals are strugglingto persuade consumers to pay up for cos-

metics.

Lonely Galapagos tortoise may sire

young

A long-living Galapagos Islands giant tor-

toise known as Lonesome George which is

thought to be the last of his kind might

soon be a father. The eggs have appearedafter years of multiple efforts (with the

closest female to his kind).

Gourmet Restaurant Aids Hungry

Kids

A charity drive hopes to turn dining out at

gourmet restaurants across Asia into food

for children in one of the world's poorest

nations, East Timor. More than 50 restau-

rants across Asia will donate 15 percent oftheir proceeds during August to the United

Nations World Food Program (WFP).

Lonesome George ... might soon be a fatherPositive News...continued from page 3

The Kakapo, New Zealands national treasurein history as one of the most adorable-

looking animals on the planet, resembling

a giant green budgerigar but moving with

the deliberate slowness of a sloth. They are

famed for their friendliness and have been

known to interact with humans, sometimesclimbing up a trouser-leg to perch on a

shoulder. Kakapos are now kept on four

predator-free islands. The Kakapo lost its

ability to fly since it had no mammalian

predators when it first migrated to New

Zealand back in the prehistoric times.

Tragically, the population was almost en-

tirely wiped out by cats, rats and stoats, in-

troduced to New Zealand during its

Polynesian and European colonisation. Al-

though unable to fly, Kakapos are accom-plished climbers due to their strong beaks

and claws. They can also parachute from

trees by jumping from branches and

spreading their wings, thus falling gently to

the ground. They are experts at camouflag-

ing themselves, using their lush verdant

plumage to hide in the bushes. Because of

their nocturnal lifestyles, Kakapos have a

highly sensitive sense of smell which

comes in handy as they themselves have a

strong, recognisable odour which is often

described as musky or honey-like. How-

ever, this odour can also lead predators

straight to the largely defenceless bird. An-

other factor which added to their near ex-

tinction was their very slow breeding rate.

Breeding only occurs when trees bear a lotof fruit, which can happen infrequently

once in every three to five years. Also, be-

cause of their long life, Kakapos take quite

a long time to reach sexual maturity.

Thankfully, there are a lot of conservation

efforts going on in order to save this beau-

tiful bird from the jaws of extinction. In

the 1950s, the New Zealand Wildlife Serv-

ice was established and it began organising

search groups to locate as many Kakapos

as possible. For a long time only maleswere discovered, which led many people to

believe that the Kakapo was a doomed

species. However, in 1980, the first female

Kakapo was sighted and from then on

more and more were being found. By 2001

there were a total of 61 birds 36 males

and 26 females. This number has kept in-

creasing slowly over the years. Today there

are a total of 125 Kakapos. Let us hope

that the Kakapos keep soldiering on.

Michelle Cutajar

The Kakapo is one of the most critically

endangered species on the planet. It is en-

demic to New Zealand, and the people

there are so proud of it that it has acquired

the status of national treasure. This bird

is quite unique as it is the worlds only

flightless and nocturnal parrot, as well as

the heaviest. It has an estimated life span

of 60 years or more, possibly the longest

of any bird. Kakapos should also go down

Endangered Species


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