A success story about an endangered species was told on July 4, 1994. On that day, the bald eagle was removed from the U.S. Federal Endangered Species list.
For years, people had watched the eagle population decline in the lower 48 states. Curiously, although eagles were nesting, the young were not hatching from their eggs! Upon closer inspection, scientists realized the egg shells were not strong enough to hold the weight of the eagle during incubation. They broke when the eagle sat on them!
It took years to discover the cause of the problem: A pesticide called DDT was interfering with normal shell development, causing the eggshells to be very thin. DDT was banned in Canada in 1970 and in the U.S. in 1972. It took twenty two years for eagle populations to recover to the point that they are no longer considered endangered. (Peter Nye will tell us more about this in a future report.)
What do you know about endangered animals in your area? We hope you'll tell us by participating in Crane School's Endangered Animal Survey below!
To: Journey North Students
From: Crane School Research Team
RE: Endangered Animal Survey
Dear Journey North Students,
We are the Crane School Research Team from Rochester, New York. Our names are Alyson, Colleen, Kristen, Luella, Steven, Tammy and Zach from Mrs. LiPari's fifth grade class, working with Mrs. Chislett.
We would like to learn about endangered animals in a way that is new to us, through an e-mail survey. Would you consider answering our questions in the survey below? We want people from all over the world to share information with us.
Mail us your response anytime, but know later than April 15, 1996. Please send your response to: cranemm@mail.rh.monroe.edu
We will be reporting our findings when we are done. Thank you and we hope to hear from you.
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Endangered Animal Survey:
1. What state or province do you live in?
2. Which endangered animal from your state or province is your favorite?
3. What is being done to protect that animal?
Please send this survey to: cranemm@mail.rh.monroe.edu
Thank you!
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