The successful return of sea otters on North America’s west coast
Though the Gold Rush of 1849 is considered one of California’s significant historical events, the Californian Fur Rush is much overlooked in Pacific America’s history. Dating as far back as 1741, the Californian and Alaskan coasts were targeted by American, English, Spanish, French and Russian fur traders harvesting the warm pelts of the sea otter, fur seal, beaver, river otter, marten, fisher, mink, fox, weasel, and harbor seal. Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were particularly overhunted and their populations suffered serious fragmentation up the west coast, coming dangerously close to eradication in this area (Estes, 1990). This essay will discuss the history of their decline
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However, having being hunted to such small numbers poses the risk of small genetic diversity upon population increase, indeed, “All extant sea otter populations, remnant and translocated alike, show relatively low levels of genetic variation” (Larson, et al., 2002).
Bibliography
Bodkin, J. L., Ballachey, B. E., Cronin, M. A. & Scribner, K. T., 1999. Population demographics and genetic diversity in remnant and translocated populations of sea otters. Conservation Biology, 13(6), pp. 1378-1385.
Estes, J. A., 1990. Growth and Equilibrium in Sea Otter Populations. Journal of Animal Ecology, 59(2), pp. 385-401.
Kenyon, K. W., 1969. The Sea Otter in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. North American Fauna, Volume 68, pp. 1-352.
Larson, S. et al., 2002. Loss of genetic diversity in sea otters (Enhydra lutis) associated with fur trade of the 18th and 19th centuries. Molecular Ecology, 11(10), pp. 1899-1903.
Ogden, A., 1975. The California Sea Otter Trade, 1784-1848. California: University of California Press.
Service, U. S. N. B. & LaRoe, E. T., 1995. Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals and ecosysems. s.l.:Government Printing
In the early 1800s as the United States of America began to expand west, fur trapping became a career choice for many men. One of the most iconic fur traders is Peter Skene Ogden, a Canadian was one of the most widely traveled in the Far West region. Due to his exceptional leadership, traveling, mapping, and fur trading skills; he was cause for the development of many civilizations that would later develop into cities. Although his main focus was trapping, Peter Ogden through diligent work, was paving a way for settlers to know what they were going to encounter out west. Through all the experiences that he encountered and the skill set that he demonstrated, shows why he was such a successful fur trader.
Jimmy Carter wrote this essay to persuade his audience that industry should not develop Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for its resources . Carter used evidence, such as facts and examples to support his claim. In Carter’s writing, he clearly shows the reader how the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remains America’s last truly great wilderness. Many animals live there, for example, the polar bears, caribou, Dall sheep, and wolves.
Likewise, compared to those diets enjoyed by groups in northern California and the Pacific Northwest as far back as 4000 B.C., which were rich with nutritious stock like fish and shellfish, the game-hunting in the east was less reliable. While at first the big animals of the continent were bountiful to the newfound populations they had not yet learned to fear, their numbers quickly dwindled during the “Pleistocene overkill” (Page, 36). One area whose populations did not suffer from the absence of these large mammals was the Pacific coast, an observation that is notable despite the real absence of what were likely some of the most informational sites that archaeologists could have hoped to
Tony Bridges an anti-wolf supporter and writer, claims that this foreign species is, “much larger and more aggressive” (Bridges, 2011), than the wolves that previously existed here. This claim is formed from the understanding that the wolves reintroduced in the lower 48 states, were transplanted from various parts of Alberta and British Columbia in Canada. Consequently this, “larger and more aggressive subspecies...has destroyed big game populations in many areas and are making a serious impact on elk, deer, moose and all other big game animals throughout their ranges” (Bridges, 2011). Bridges believes that the reintroduction was carried through in order to spite hunting privileges of citizens. He protests, “The biggest threat to hunting today are self-proclaimed "environmental" organizations, who want to control our outdoor resources…Not for their love of wildlife or the environment...
Based on a true incident in 1853, Ivan Doig’s The Sea Runners tells about the escape of four Swedish indentured servants from a fur trade fort in Russian-America. In order to seek opportunity in the new world, many Europeans signed on to an indenture to the Russian-American company in Sitka, specifically, the fur trade. After two years, four Swedish described in the book servants could no longer take it and decide to escape. After stealing supplies and a native canoe, they set off for the U.S. city of Astoria, 1200 miles south.
Introduction Chirp! Cries a gleeful river otter as it slides down a muddy slope into the water. The river otter belongs to the weasel family, with its North American relatives that include the mink, fisher, ermine, badger, wolverine, skunk, and the marten. The typical male river is about three feet long and weighs about eighteen pounds. They are even similar to their cousin, the skunks, that spray a “musk” from two glands under their tail.
The impact on the First Nations Fur Trade Brayden Nov. 15, 2022 European settlement started during the Canadian fur trade in the 1600’s when the demand for beaver furs skyrocketed in Europe. Hudson’s Bay Company and Northwest Company saw an opportunity to profit and started enlisting the help of First Nations trappers. Lasting until the early 1800’s when the market declined, the fur trade revolved around First Nation trappers selling beaver pelts to the companies for profit, however, the process slowly killing the beaver population to the brink of extinction. Although the profits were good, business began to decline after
The number one priority should be to increase the survival rates of the female juvenile monk seals; doing so will ultimately increase the population size. With the programs such as Head Start and the translocation program at French Frigate Shoals, there was evidence of improvement in the monk seal population, but as always there was a decline that followed. The current Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal states that for the monk seal to be downlisted from endangered to threatened, the population needs to be more than 2,900 individuals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and that at least 5 of the 6 main sub-populations need to have more than 100 individuals (National Marine Fisheries Service, 2007). For this to occur, the main criteria that needs to be addressed is the pup and juvenile survival rates. The Hawaiian monk seal population cannot continue to survive and grow if less juvenile female pups are reaching reproductive age and not surviving, this has caused the current decrease in Hawaiian monk seal populations to continue to decrease and to decrease more rapidly (Norris et al, 2011).
In the early-and mid-1870s, so many robes were produced that prices declined. Nevertheless, native and Metis hunters responded by killing even more of the remaining bison to maintain their livelihoods. By the end of the 1870s, the bison too were mostly gone.” Despite the fact that Buffalo were over hunted and their robes declined in price the hunters’ solution was to hunt and sell more robes to make up for the decline in price.
Sadly, many Americans believe that losing the wolves would not be a bad thing for the prey’s sake, but in all reality losing the wolves would be devastating. One major thing that is present in all ecosystems, the place in which animals live, is a trophic cascade. A trophic cascade is explained in the essay as a “sequence of impacts down the food chain” (578). Hannibal gives the reader this example: “…In Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park … wolves were virtually wiped out in the 1920’s and reintroduced in the ‘90s. Since the wolves have come back, scientists have noted an unexpected improvement in many of the park’s degraded stream areas”
Prompt 2 I believe that Sharon Levy presents her text about protection of wolf populations better than Ed Yong’s text. She displays more statistical facts about how wolves are being hunted and trapped on a regular basis. For example, she says in line 15, “ In Alaska, up to 50 percent of wolves are shot or trapped every year, with little effect on their numbers.”
Native Americans were seen as a small price compared to the industrialization of loggers, miners, and white homesteaders. With the depletion of wildlife, the United States began to recognized the importance of wildlife on the culture, economy, and religion of Native American tribes. State agencies now preside over fish and game to closely control the hunting of wildlife by setting limits on methods, seasonal harvest, and size of animals to ensure a healthy population. The Marine Mammal protection act of 1972 states “recent legislation generally forbids the taking, possession, or sale of designated species by any person subject to federal jurisdiction acting without federal permission” (U.S.C. 1372
Totem poles are a way to show who you are through symbolism. In the novel Touching Spirit Bear, Cole uses a totem pole to remind him how he needs to act everyday of his life. He carves his totem pole to let out his inner anger and to use his time on the island wisely. The first thing on my totem pole is a fish. Fish see things from underneath, just like I do.
Native American Indians were also in search of beaver fur, and used nets, snares, deadfalls, clubs, etc. to obtain these beaver pelts. The beaver was a major source of pelt for the Canadian, Great lakes, and upper Missouri river fur trade. The discovery of river valleys was an era in search of new exploration and areas of trade. This era discovered the Oregon and California trails that provided guides for America’s western expansion. As new exploration and colonization boosted amongst settlements, it became the primary source of income for Mountaineers, Indians, and early settlers that traded furs and hides by the millions.
River Otter Though not commonly observed in the wild, the river otter, Lutra canadensis, is a fairly familiar animal to most people. Its original range covered most of North America. It is one of the larger of the weasel tribe, its recorded weights running over twenty pounds, though I do not have at hand weights of the large Alaskan sub¬species. The otter is agile, fluid in its movements as the water that is its favorite element.