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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature:  Endangered Mammals


There are a number of different endangered animals in the state of California. These species are identified at both a federal and state level. Identifying endangered animals focuses efforts to maintain the integrity of the natural world. To this end, the federal and state governments have instituted a number of laws enforced throughout California. The state has a particular challenge beyond many others in that it must maintain a strong balance within its diverse ecosystems.

Endangered animals are those species that are in danger of going extinct. Their reproductive rates are lower than their mortality rates over long periods of time, so their numbers are diminishing. The reasons for this are varied, but lately, very often involves a loss of habitat as people encroach on their living areas. When a species is listed as endangered or threatened, it is not a death sentence.
The humback whale is endangered but can be seen of the coast of California every spring Many animals, like the bald eagle and the American alligator, were on the brink of extinction and are now recovering. Many species, however, will not recover, and could be lost forever. Throughout time, animal species have been going extinct (long before people evolved); paleontologists estimate that well over 90 percent of all plant and animal species that ever existed have gone extinct.

California has 309 different species listed as endangered animals, the most of any state next to Hawaii. 303 of these species are found within the state, while six listed animals are not. Three species, such as the Canadian lynx, are considered endangered by other states, but not California. Examples of endangered California animals include the short-tailed albatross, the Mount Hermon June beetle, the Shasta crayfish, the Fresno kangaroo rat, the blunt-nose leopard lizard, the northern spotted owl, the chinook California coastal salmon, the leatherback sea turtle, the San Francisco garter snake and the humpback whale. There are currently 31 species and subspecies of mammals listed as either threatened or endangered by the State of California or the federal government.
The Humpback Whale is an endangered species, occurring in all the world's oceans. The central California population of Humpback Whales migrates from their winter calving and mating areas off Mexico to their summer and fall feeding areas off coastal California. Humpback Whales occur in Monterey Bay from late April to early December. During this period the whales are here to feed on anchovies, sardines, and krill.

Humpbacks are acrobats of the ocean, breaching and slapping the water. They live in pods and have 2 blowholes. The name humpback describes the motion it makes as it arches its back out of the water in preparation for a dive. Humpback whales grow to be about 52 feet long, weighing 30-50 tons. The females are slightly larger than males, as with all baleen whale.

Monterey Bay is one of the best places to observe humpbacks on a day's whale watch because the submarine canyon approaches very close to shore here. The whales are frequently found along the edges of the canyon where prey tends to concentrate.
Endangered kangaroo rats in California nature At times, the whales come even closer to shore while feeding on anchovies and can also be found 8-20 miles from shore where concentrations of krill occur in relation to thermal fronts. Current population estimates for Humpback Whales off California conducted by Cascadia Research Collective indicate there are about 800 whales in this population.

The rare and endangered Giant Kangaroo Rat now occurs only in California’s Carrizo Plain. Unlike many other Kangaroo Rats, it possesses 5 toes on each hind foot, a white stripe running across its hindquarters, and a white belly. It also has a distinctive tail that is dark colored on the top and bottom with white lines on both sides.

The Kangaroo Rat overall length averages 9 to 14 inches for the various species, the largest being Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rats. The tail, always longer than the head and body, is covered with fur, and the end is tufted with longer hairs. The long tail undoubtedly acts as a balance when the animal is making long hops.
The Island Fox, a relative of the Gray Fox, is a small fox that is native to six of the eight Channel Islands of California. It is the smallest fox species in the United States. There are six subspecies of the fox, each unique to the island it inhabits, reflecting its evolutionary history.

Other names for the Island Fox include Coast Fox, Short-Tailed Fox, Island Gray Fox, Channel Islands Fox, Channel Islands Gray Fox, California Channel Island Fox and Insular Gray Fox.

The Island Fox is much smaller than the Gray fox, roughly the size of a house cat. They are not intimidated by humans, as they have historically been at the top of the island food chain and had no natural predators. Golden Eagle predation and human activities devastated fox numbers on several of the Channel Islands in the 1990s.
 
 
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