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Hi everyone! 👋 Hope you are all having a bri

Hi everyone! 👋

Hope you are all having a brilliant week! I’m sure you all know that our moto here at Stampede is “stand up for the little guys”. Well today that definitely rings true as we are talking about mouse lemurs, genus name Microcebus!

As I am sure you know if you have seen our former lemur posts (if not go check it out), all species of lemur are confined to the island of Madagascar. On this island there are more than 20 species of mouse lemur, with some of them only being identified in recent years, a rarity in primate research.

Two species of mouse lemur, the grey and brown mouse lemurs compose the smallest, fastest developing and most abundant non-human primate species in the world.
🔊Interesting fact: researchers have also discovered that the grey mouse lemur makes high frequency ultrasonic sounds that are beyond the range of human hearing.

These highly adaptable nocturnal primates are forest dwellers, which live in female-dominated groups of usually up to 15 animals, rarely leaving the safety of the trees they tend to sleep aloft during the day and forage at night.

The Latin word “lemures” translates to ghost, due to Malagasy people traditionally associating these primates with unseen spirits moving around at night. Their diet ranges from species to species however most typically eat a mixture of fruit, flowers, insects, and other small plants.

Mouse lemurs store fat in their tails and hind legs, an adaptation which allows some species of mouse lemur (lesser mouse lemur) to enter a partially dormant state, known as torpor during the dry season from April/May to September/October. This allows male mouse lemurs to establish breeding hierarchies for the mating season.

Although as mentioned earlier the grey and brown mouse lemurs are among some of the most abundant non-human primate species in the world, the IUCN have listed twenty-two out of the twenty-four mouse lemurs as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.

Like, comment and share this post if you want to see fascinating species like the mouse lemur thriving in years to come!🌱

#lemur#endangeredspecies#stampede#stampedeinternational#primates#conservation#madagascar

📸

Hi everyone! 👋 Today we thought we would cover

Hi everyone! 👋

Today we thought we would cover a species that we haven’t touched on before, the Cassowary!

The cassowary is a species of flightless bird native to Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Indonesia. There are three species of cassowary, the southern cassowary, which is the second heaviest living bird, only marginally smaller than the ostrich, the northern cassowary, and the dwarf cassowary.

The southern cassowary is most common and is characterised by its vivid blue face, two red wattles on its neck and a hollow casque on their heads. The northern cassowary has a bright red or yellow wattle and is slightly smaller than the southern. The dwarf cassowary is the smallest of the three, as suggested by its name and has a stiff black plumage as well as pink cheeks and red patches of skin of a bright blue neck.

This flightless bird is widely described as the worlds most dangerous bird due to its powerful kick and long sharp claws on its three toes, which is possessed by all three species. If the cassowary feels threatened in any way, it can leap and strike with its feet and is able to cause serious injury. However, contrary to popular belief, cassowaries very rarely seek out trouble and would much prefer to flee from danger than fight with it.

Interestingly, cassowaries might not have always been considered a dangerous bird to have around. A group of scientists in New Guinea found several fossilised cassowary eggs within a 18,000-year-old shelter, suggesting that dwarf cassowaries were domesticated and kept as either pets or a food source by foraging communities.

Have you ever seen a cassowary? Let us know in the comments!

#conservation#stampedeinternational#stampede#cassowary#australianspecies#indonesia#papuanewguinea#worldcassowaryday

📷 Shutterstock

Hi everyone, hope you are all having a wonderful w

Hi everyone, hope you are all having a wonderful week! 👋

Today we’re covering coral reefs and organisms that live in and around these diverse and varied structures. 🐠

Coral reefs are a crucial part to marine ecosystems, providing habitat for millions of marine species, recycling carbon dioxide and retaining nutrients in a complex food web.

They are one of the most biologically formed structures in the world and are home to the largest taxonomic diversity of marine habitats, containing at least 25% of the oceans marine diversity. 💙

The reason for its capacity to support such a diverse range of species is because of the endless nutrient cycling that occurs in its complex structure.

Coral reefs are animals, not plants and this means that they cannot make their own food. Instead, through their symbiotic relationship with the algae that live within the cells of the coral, both species benefit. The algae carries out photosynthesis, converting light and carbon dioxide into sugars which it shares with the coral.

Not all this sugar can be consumed, some is converted into mucus which coats the coral, providing protection from diseases and from drying out, but some ends up in the surrounding sea water. This is consumed by bacteria and other microbes which is then consumed by crabs, shrimp and snails which are eaten by small fish and the cycle continues in countless other directions. 🦀

Intertwined in this complex food web, coral reefs are home to some of the little guys we have recently covered on our page including seahorses, octopuses and even sea turtles. 🐙

These species and millions more depend on coral reefs as a safe and plentiful home.

Coral reefs are under threat from coastal development, to bleaching caused by rising temperatures, coral reefs are struggling to survive the onslaught of so many variables.

Like and share this post if you want to hear more about the importance of coral reefs, and what can be done to conserve this important species! 🙏

#coralreefs#stampedeinternational#stampedeinternational#conservation#marinelife#marineconservation

@blueearthsummit
@mcs_uk
@oceana

📷 Wilyam Bradberry / Vladimir Turkenich

Hi everyone! 👋 Hope you are all having a wonder

Hi everyone! 👋
Hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Today we thought we would cover a species that we all know and love, the sea turtle!

There are 7 existing species of sea turtle, the leatherback, hawksbill, green, flatback, loggerhead, kemps ridley and olive ridely sea turtles.

All of these species are listed as either endangered, or threatened under the Endangered Species Act and IUCN Redlist.

Turtle’s unfortunately are under threat from a number of factors.

These factors include; entanglement in fishing gear, illegal trade in turtle meat and eggs, coastal development, plastic and other marine debris, the turtleshell trade and global warming.

Global warming is a factor that has increasingly come under evaluation by scientists in recent years in relation to its impact on turtle species.

Among scientists it’s well known that sand temperature surrounding a turtles nest determines the sex of turtle offspring. With the associated increase in sand temperature due to global warming, it has heavily skewed the ratio between male and female turtles positively towards females.

A higher ratio of females to males will have a significant impact on turtle populations in the future and will limit turtle species ability to increase population size through breeding.

Global warming also impacts turtle habitat, changes sea currents which expose them to different predators and impacts food species that turtles rely on.

Like and share this post if you would like to see turtles thriving in years to come!

#stampede#turtle#marinelife#conservation#wildlife#coralreefs#oceanspecies

📷 Alex Churliov, Grethel Pavon / Shutterstock

🎉 Today is #internationalvultureawarenessday

🎉 Today is #internationalvultureawarenessday

In our last post we talked about the crucial role that vultures play in the ecosystem. They are our natural first line of defence against bacterial diseases.

Vultures also have a significant role culturally worldwide. An example of this includes vultures’ importance in sky burials, a practice where human remains are left for vultures to eat in Tibet.

They are also a huge tourist attraction, for example in the Gamla Nature Reserve in Northern Israel, vulture watching was estimated to be worth over 1 million USD annually in 2005.

Studying vultures also allows for a better understanding of ecology, this was seen in Patagonia, where Andean Vultures diets were studies to determine the abundance of native an exotic herbivore.

Vultures are so much more than the characters they are portrayed to be.

Checkout our website in our bio to learn more. 👆

💡And watch out for Stampede’s unique design competition for vulture conservation- coming soon!

From all of us at Stampede- happy vulture day!

These organisations are good to follow too…👇

@amus_oficial
@arrcanimalrelief
@birdwatch_zambia
@buseuproject_
@hawkconservancy
@birdlife.international
@birdlife_sa
@birdlife.europe
@vultureconservationfoundation
@wwf_cambodia

📷 Todor Rusinov

👋 Hi everyone, hope you’re having a great wee

👋 Hi everyone, hope you’re having a great week and welcome to any new followers since our last post!

I know that our seasoned followers appreciate how much we love vultures, so as International Vulture Awareness Day is coming we thought we would post on the importance of vultures to us as humans.

Let’s start with a few definitions.

❓An ecosystem is defined as a biological community of interacting organisms in their physical environment.

❓Ecosystem services are defined as the benefits that we obtain from ecosystems, while the species responsible for providing a particular ecosystem service is described as service providing.

Vultures provide a multitude of ecosystem services to humans. This includes regulation and maintenance services via their ability to rapidly consume rotting organic matter, therefore preventing the associated spread of virus and disease.

This has garnered vultures the role of “natures clean up crew”.

Studying vultures also allows for a better understanding of ecology, this was seen in Patagonia, where Andean Vultures diets were studies to determine the abundance of native an exotic herbivore.

Vultures give people so much in relation to ecosystem services. However, it’s important to remember that vultures and other species like them have a right to exist and thrive independently of any association with what they can provide to humans.

Vultures and condors are among the most endangered birds in the world, let’s do what we can to conserve them!

Please like and follow for more posts like this and check out our tags for amazing organisations conserving vultures!

@vultureconservationfoundation
@vultureday
@hawkconservancy
@birdlife.international
@conservation_without_borders

📷 Johan Swanepoel

#stampede#stampedeinternational#vivalavulture#vultures#condors#endangeredspecies

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Coming soon - Viva La Vulture, a unique design competition to save a species