Eat Chocolate…Save the Planet

Wouldn't it be great if eating chocolate meant helping the environment? Well, that’s exactly what happens when you buy Endangered Species Chocolate! The tag-line for this chocolate brand is “Savor chocolate. Save our planet.”

Endangered Species Chocolate offers “premium, all-natural, ethically traded, naturally shade grown chocolate products” that are guaranteed to contain beans purchased from family-owned properties where the income directly benefits the community. Furthermore, 10% of the company’s net profits are donated to fund species and habitat conservation efforts around the world.

Endangered Species Chocolate offers a variety of ways to give back through chocolate. For example, you can simply walk into any natural or conventional grocery store, large or small, throughout the U.S.A. and Canada to buy one chocolate bar.

Or, you can visit the Endangered Species Chocolate website for a larger commitment to conservation and appetite. Chocolates are available to buy in bulk, as party favors, or as a gift. Within the gift collections are special AWF (African Wildlife Foundation) collections that are a bit more expensive, but include a $15 donation to the African Wildlife Foundation as well as a 1-year AWF e-membership, an AWF plush animal (elephant, leopard, gorilla, lion, zebra, giraffe, rhino, wild dog, or wart hog) of your choice, and 3 Endangered Species All-Natural Chocolate Bars.

So, next time you’re craving something sweet, whether it’s one chocolate bar or a gift collection, put your taste buds to work for endangered species and their habitats!

*All information pertaining to Endangered Species Chocolate can be found here.

Meet the Sand Cat

The Sand Cat is one of the lesser known and smaller wild cats, resembling the domestic cat in size; the Sand Cat’s coloring helps it blend with those of its desert habitat. Over time, it also developed large eyes placed forward on its broad head and low, tapered ears to provide keen hearing in a habitat where prey is scarce. Another adaptation developed specifically for its desert habitat is the presence of long, dense hairs covering the soles of the feet to provide insulation from the hot sands and to create quiet footsteps over the loose sands.

Sand Cats differ greatly from their fellow African cats such as leopards because instead of jumping and climbing, digging is their forte. A Sand Cat uses digging to construct burrows and dig rodents out of the sand. Also opposed to the more familiar African cats, a Sand Cat’s claws are not very sharp as there is usually little chance to sharpen them among the desert sands.  

A Sand Cat’s diet consists of gerbils, jerboas, sand voles, hares, birds, reptiles, large spiders, and insects. They also have a reputation for hunting horned snakes and sand vipers by stunning them with rapid blows to the head before finishing them with a bite to the neck—the go to kill technique of most wild cats. Furthermore, Sand Cats cover larger kills with sand and return later to finish the meal. Their natural enemies include poisonous snakes, jackals, and large owls.

Like lions, Sand Cats are nocturnal hunters; however, they are solitary animals and their numbers in the wild are unknown.

Most threatened or endangered species today suffer from habitat destruction, the Sand Cat does not since its habitat is located in the vast deserts of northern Africa and southwest Asia. Sand Cats have little interaction with humans because they are usually sleeping when people are active in and around the deserts. On the other hand, this small cat does experience threats from hunters while sunbathing and the illegal pet trade.

One advantage the Sand Cat has over other wild animals living close to humans and their farms is usually there is no retaliation if a Sand Cat happens to steal a chicken or two because of religious tradition. Apparently, Sand Cats are believed to be the companions of the Prophet Mohammed and his daughter. That’s certainly an advantage that cannot be replaced.

An SSP (Species Survival Program) was established for Sand Cats by the Living Desert Museum in California in 1990. This is one of few studbooks for small wild cats. One zoo in the United States participating in the SSP is the Cincinnati Zoo. The Cincinnati Zoo currently works in collaboration with the Living Desert Zoo in California, other U.S. zoos, and the Al Ain Zoo in the United Arab Emirates to produce new founders for the SSP population. With so much devotion and the continued effort of the SSP, the Sand Cat’s future looks bright.

*All facts and information regarding the Sand Cat from the International Society for Endangered Cats and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

*All photos from ARKive

Update: Endangered Species Stamp Moving Forward

May 11^th was an exciting day for the United States Postal Service; it was the day the new Semipostal Stamp was unveiled on Capitol Hill at the Annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums reception.  Proceeds from the Save Vanishing Species Semipostal stamps will go toward helping Tigers, African and Asian elephants, Rhinos, Great Apes, and Marine turtles. According to a USPS press release, net proceeds from the sales of the stamps, once issued in September, will be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support the Multinational Species Conservation Funds.

Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman was quoted as saying, “This stamp marks the fourth Semipostal issued by the Postal Service. These types of stamps provide an extremely convenient way for the American public to contribute to help protect threatened and vanishing species. We look forward to working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Multinational Species Coalition to make this stamp a resounding success.”

The Multinational Species Coalition is an alliance of conservationists, zoos, veterinarians, animal welfare groups, circuses and sportsmen. Made up of more than 20 million members, the coalition advocates for the Multinational Species Conservations Funds and is fully committed to generating superior interest to this stamp and the funds it was designed to support: African Elephant Conservation Fund, Asian Elephant Conservation Fund, Great Ape Conservation Fund, Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund and Marine Turtle Conservation Fund.

The Save Vanishing Species stamp, now available for preorder at usps.com/shop, features an illustration of a tiger cub by artist Nancy Stahl. According to the press release, “The artwork on the full sheet of 20 stamps is dark green and includes silhouettes of a rhinoceros, a tiger, a gorilla, Asian and African elephants and a marine turtle. Stahl based both the stamp art and the silhouettes on photographs of wildlife. The phrases “Save Vanishing Species” and “Amur tiger cub” appear on the left side of the stamp. Derry Noyes served as the art director, designer and typographer for the stamp.”

To begin with, five million sheets of stamps will be printed and reprints will be available depending on customer demand. The stamps will sell for 11 cents more than a First Class Mail Stamp—55 cents—and $11 for a sheet of 20.

Legislation creating these stamps was first passed into law in September 2010 as the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2010. To learn more about the process it took for the Stamp Act to be signed into law, visit my previous blog post about this issue here.

For more information on the Semipostal stamp and the coalition, visit fws.gov/international/semipostal.

The Multinational Species Coalition includes: African Wildlife Foundation, American Bird Conservancy, American Veterinary Medical Association, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Bonobo Conservation Initiative, Born Free USA, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Defenders of Wildlife, Fauna & Flora International, Feld Entertainment, Inc., Humane Society of the United States/International, International Crane Foundation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, International Elephant Foundation, International Rhino Foundation, Jane Goodall Institute, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, Safari Club International Foundation, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Sierra Club, The WILD Foundation, Wildlife Alliance, Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Management Institute, World Wildlife Fund

*All facts and quotes from USPS May 11, 2011 Press Release