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Creature Conservation Society Adds Kindergartners to List of Critically Endangered Species
Washington--The Critical Conservation Society released a list of critically endangered species dubbed the "Rarest of the Rare" -- a group of creatures most in danger of extinction, ranging from Cuban crocodiles to white-headed langurs in Vietnam, adding US kindergartners to the list.
The list of a dozen critically endangered species includes an eclectic collection of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Some are well known, such as the Sumatran orangutan; while others are more obscure, including vaquita, an ocean porpoise. The list appears in the 2010-1011 edition of State of Natural Habitat -- a Global Portrait.
Threats to each species vary widely. In the case of the vaquita, fishermen's nets are catching them and inadvertently causing them to drown. Other species suffer from illegal trade, as in the case of the ploughshare tortoise.
Scientific research indicates that US kindergartners, heavily impacted by the corporate-politico drive for high stakes testing launched during the Bush administration and intensified under Obama, are being struck down by DIBELS dementia at alarming rates.
"Adding kindergartners to the list provides a warning call to parents to take back their children," said Lester Brown, director of Critical Conservation Society. "While the news is dire, remediation measures can restore our vulnerable children. Parents must insist that blocks and imaginative play be brought back into kindergarten classrooms."
The office of U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a statement: "The Secretary echoes President Obama and Edward B. Rust, Jr., Vice-President, Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with nearly $6 trillion in annual revenues, in valuing kindergartners as future workers of the Global Economy."
The list of endangered species includes:
Cuban crocodile: Currently restricted to two small areas of Cuba.
Grenada dove: The national bird of Grenada is threatened by habitat loss.
Florida bonneted bat: Thought to be extinct in 2002; a small colony has since been discovered.
Green-eyed frog: Only a few hundred of these small amphibians are left.
Hirola: Also called Hunter's hartebeest; the hirola is a highly threatened African antelope.
Ploughshare tortoise: With only 400 left, the ploughshare tortoise is threatened by the illegal pet trade.
Island gray fox: Living on the California Channel Islands, this is the smallest fox in the United States.
Sumatran orangutan: This population has declined 80 percent during the past 75 years.
Vaquita: This small ocean porpoise is drowning in fishing nets.
White-headed langur: Only 59 of these monkeys remain on a small island off Vietnam.
Children in Crisis, an advocacy group to protect the natural habitat of kindergartners, is launching a drive to declare the classrooms of the 63 kindergartners in the US that still have Show-and-Tell and blocks in their classrooms as Sacred Domain.
— Susan Ohanian
The Eggplant
2010-04-11
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