It’s all right here, people. Honestly, is there anything that Griffith Park doesn’t have? Concerts, zoo animals, observatory, playground, merry-go-round, train rides, bike paths, jogging trails, golf courses… Keep reading; we’re going to add to that litany. Comprised of 4,310 acres, L.A.’s biggest park – heck it’s the one of largest urban parks in the [...]
It’s not every day that zoo staffers get the chance to return a wild animal back to the wild. Back in May, we reported that the L.A. Zoo has joined in the effort to repopulate the San Jacinto Mountains near Palm Springs with the native, and horribly endangered, mountain yellow-legged frog, a little amphib [...]
When she arrived in Los Angeles from Texas more than five years ago, Laurel Klein didn’t know that much about bobcats – what she really wanted to study was the large and lanky mountain lion, the iconic image of a big cat predator. But her internship with the National Park Service put her to work tracking, observing and studying bobcats, those seldom-seen urban carnivores that dot the Southern California landscape.
For several years we’ve been hearing about the collapse of honey bee colonies in the environment. Less publicized but equally as dangerous is a new pathogen that is killing bats by the thousands — and if steps aren’t taken soon, SoCal bats will be next on the Soon-to-Be-Infected List.
Back in May we reported on the threat posed to the highly endangered desert tortoise by the as yet uncompleted Ivanpah solar facility in the eastern Mojave. Construction had been halted on April 15 after workers at the site found more tortoises than previously estimated – 59 as opposed to 25. The upshot? More than 3,000 desert tortoises would be disturbed and as many as 700 young ones killed by what most had hoped would a potent symbol of green technology.
The Bugman has a list of top SoCal bugs that he wants to see one of these days: the long-horned California prionus beetle, the luxurious ceanothus silk moth and the lovely Pacific green sphinx moth. He’s also itching to see the rain beetle in action. “The males are the only ones that fly and the females are 8-10 feet underground,” he says. “They mate only during the winter rains in the early morning or late twilight hours.”
Rock star status? Nope? Cuddly and colorful? Nope. Slippery when wet? You bet.
The nearly extinct mountain yellow-legged frog is not your typical poster-animal for endangered species. Sure it’s not a sexy beast (well, maybe in a Mick Jagger sort of way…) but this little hopper is gaining attention and getting a frog’s leg-up from local organizations that want to see the rivers and ponds of SoCal once again filled with extended froggy families.
While a weekend in Barbados watching mama sea turtles lay eggs in the beach sand DOES sound pretty darn nice, Southlanders don’t need to travel far to experience a sea creatures exiting the water with the purpose of procreation. The Southern California Grunion Run is a bona fide rite of passage and an annual event that celebrates that slippery silver fish that has found beach sand the perfect incubator.
We couldn’t have been more pleased when last year, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) sought to protect about 1.6 million acres of desert lands which resulted in drafting of the California Desert Protection Act of 2011 — and we’re anxiously waiting for it to be the real deal soon.
There’s an abundance of news circulating about sea lions coming ashore to local beaches suffering from seizures brought about by domoic acid poisoning. It’s not a pretty sight when large sea lions flail about helplessly on the sand foaming at the mouth. Heartbreaking, to be sure.