The Bahamas National Trust Education Office

The Bahamas National Trust Education Office
Endangered species are plants or animals in immediate
danger of extinction. While extinction may be a natural
process, the rate of extinction has been dramatically
accelerated by pollution, development and other industrial
activities. As a result, we are losing up to 100 species each
day compared to the natural extinction rate of only one
species every 100 years.
EXTINCTION
In biology and ecology, extinction is the disappearance
of a species or group of species. The moment of
extinction is generally considered to be the death of the
last individual of that species. In species which
reproduce sexually, extinction of a species is generally
inevitable when there is only one individual of that
species left, or only individuals of a single sex.
Extinction is not an unusual event in geological time—
species are created by speciation, and disappear
through extinction.
There have been periodic mass extinctions, in which many species have
disappeared in a relatively short period of geological time. The most
recent of these, the K-T Extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period,
is best known for having wiped out the dinosaurs.
GOING, GOING GONE
Habitat Destruction
Competition for
Living Space
Deforestation
Forest Fires
Introduction of Exotic Species
Overexploitation
Other Factors
The Bahamas
Biodiversity
Diverse Habitats
Coppice
Coppice
Pine
Shoreline
Marine
Wetlands
Birds
Bahama Parrot
Amazona leucocephala bahamensis
Threats
• Feral Cats
• Land Crabs
• Snakes
• Flooding
Abaco
National
Park
Inagua Parrots nest in trees
Cuban Emerald Hummingbird
Bahama Woodstar
Ruddy Duck
White -Cheeked
Pintail
West Indian
Whistling Duck
We all know and could describe our National Bird - the flamingo.
It is pink has long legs and a strangely shaped bill.
The Inagua National Park is home to a
breeding colony of 50,000 flamingos
• Breeding season is
March to May
• Eggs hatch after 29 days
• Males and females
incubate the eggs
• Flamingos eat small
microscopic mollusks,
salt water snails and
brine shrimp
• Flamingos can fly when
they are about 75 days
old
Neotropical Migratory Warblers
Kirtland’s Warbler
Barn Owl
Burrowing Owl
Osprey
• Fish eating bird of prey
• Large Nests use year
after year
• Mate for life
Pandion haliaetus
Pandion haliaetus ridgwayi
Reptiles
• Deposit Eggs in soil or
sand dunes above the
beach
• Hatch after several weeks
- look like miniature adults
• Can forage on their own
• Iguanas have detachable
tails
•  Predation by raccoons,
rats and dogs
Bahamian Boa Constrictor
Sea Turtles
Loggerhead
Green Turtle
Hawksbill
Mammals
Hutia
• only endemic mammal
• nocturnal
• Very endangered
• Herbivore
Manatee
Bahamian Species vulnerable to overexploitation
White-Crowned Pigeon
• Regional sustainable population
• Season Opens Sept. 29th
• Season Closes March 1
How can you help Endangered Species?
• Know the legislation
affecting wildlife in your
country
• Support exisiting National
Parks
• Work to establish more
National Parks
• Plant trees and plants that
help wildlife
• Never buy undersized
marine products
• Neuter and spay cats and
dogs
Let’s not let them disappear forever!