make March 24 through March 30 "Endangered Animal Avatar Week"

But I may keep the leopard avatar a little longer because I like it.

I hope I raised some awareness of the endangered status of the black rhino.

...this week. Thanks everybody x

I know the avatar week is over, but I wanted one more – I’ve had an animal and an insect, so had to have a bird to round it off :o)

For some reason the Greater Prairie Chicken reminds me of the chocobos from Final Fantasy VII – making shallow nests in the grass and doing a distinctive dance to attract a mate. I always loved the chocobos :o) The prairie chickens’ booming, stamping displays were apparently the inspiration for some Native American ritual dances.

Attwater’s Greater Prairie Chicken has declined from a million-strong population a century ago to about 40 individuals in the wild (in Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge in Texas) and a couple of hundred in captivity. It’s been on the endangered list since 1967. The captive breeding programs release a hundred young birds annually into the wild, but very few of them survive due to predation and competition with other wildlife in their drastically reduced habitat. Wikipedia says: “There was once 6 million acres (24,000 sq km) of coastal prairie, now there is less than 200,000 acres (800 sq km). In addition to loss due to urbanization, the entire prairie ecosystem where they once thrived no longer exists in the same form. Where once grazing bison and periodic fires due to lightning reduced ground cover, the birds now have difficulty making their way through thick undergrowth.”

Info from here, here and here

In no particular order, we have -

Cyprus Spiny Mouse

Arnold’s Giant Tortoise

Panamanian Golden Frog

Pygmy Hog

Wyoming Toad

Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat

I’ll let you figure out which is which.

The vicious, red-headed bibliobeast.

...who took part! :)

can’t get enough of them,,,LOL

caiti thinks gharials are kinda neat.

^{this was fun.}

Poor Koalas