Alaska’s Wildlife: on the Verge of Extinction (Живая природа Штата Аляска на грани исчезновения)

FAR-EASTEN STATE TRANSPORT

UNIVERSITY

Foreign language department

RESEARCH PAPER

“Alaska’s Wildlife: on the Verge of

Extinction”

Done by:

Checked by:

Khabarovsk

2001

PLAN:

1. Wildlife Species………………………………………4

2. Wildlife Problems……………………………………7

3. Wildlife Center……………………………………….9

4. Bibliography..…………………………………….….11

INTRODUCTION

“Alaska’s mountains rise like walls; four seas and unimaginable distances form a mighty moat; and a patchwork of national parks and wildlife refuges protects more than a third of the state. It’s a fortress for wildlife.”

Shielded from civilization, bears, wolves, moose, and caribou cast their huge shadows from coast to coast, and musk oxen travel the far north like refugees of the last ice age. Migratory birds flock river deltas each summer, and raptors prowl Alaskan skies year-round.

As with any fortress, wild Alaska’s perimeter is especially vulnerable. Tankers laden with oil from bays and coastal wetlands skirt the seaboard. Though now protected, endangered whales resist to rebuild their populations. Like sea lions and other marine mammals, they now must compete with massive trawlers—floating factories—for the sea’s falling harvest.

In this research paper I would like to investigate extinction problem. Many facts I have found show that this problem is very urgent. I am not sure that everybody understands it but if more people realize this many problems will be solved.

ALASKA SPECIES

Wildlife can be found everywhere in Alaska, from cities where moose, bears and wolves roam to more than 18 million acres designated by Congress as wilderness areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. However, most refuges in Alaska require travel via air transport, making them difficult and expensive to reach.

Many species in Alaska such as black and brown bears, wolves, moose and many others are on the verge of Extinction. They are interesting in their own way. So, let’s learn about them more than we do.

Black bears are usually smaller than brown bears. They can look alike, but there are several ways you can tell the bears apart. Black bears don't have a shoulder hump like brown bears. Black bears also have a straight face, compared to the brown bear's bowl-shaped face. Their paws are different too. Black bears' claws are short and curved and brown bears have longer, straighter claws. Black bears have been known to live in every state, except Hawaii. They can be found in most forested areas in Alaska.

Like brown bears, black bears hibernate in the winter. They start hibernating in the fall and come out of their dens in the spring. Their dens are found in hollow trees or rocks. They also build dens on the ground. A person may walk right over a bear den and not even know it, unless the bear wakes up, of course.

Moose like bears can be brown or black but they have longer legs and larger body than bears do. Alaska is full of moose. In Anchorage, you have a good chance of spotting a moose on the Coastal Trail or in Kincaid Park early in the morning or just before sunset. Moose like to roam along roads and highways that are close to rivers and ponds. They also take walks through the city and neighborhoods.

Musk oxen look huger than bears and moose. They are large animals with humped shoulders and dark brown shaggy fur that is so long it almost drags on the ground. A light brown patch of fur is on their back. Their legs are also light brown. Musk oxen have horns that look like big curls on the sides of their head. During the winter, they use their hooves to dig through the snow for grass to eat, but they try to stay in areas where the snow has blown away.

The fur on a musk ox helps it survive the cold and windy winters on the arctic tundra. Under their brown shaggy fur is another layer of soft brownish fur that keeps them warm. Musk oxen have so much fur that if you were to shave it all off, they would only be the size of a small cow.

If we move from the forest to the beaches we will see walruses. They are big and they eat a lot. Some can weigh up to two tons. They eat hundreds of pounds of clams, mussels, snails and sea worms almost every day. Using tiny whiskers on their face, they feel around for food on the bottom of the sea. When they find a clam, they use their lips to suck the meat out of the shell.

Walruses change color when they go in and out of the water. On land, they are reddish-brown and when they swim, their skin turns pink or white. Their skin is so tough and thick that only killer whales and polar bears can chew through it.

The polar bears are the world’s largest land carnivore. The bears can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. These “sea bears” are excellent swimmers. They use their front feet to dog paddle and their back legs to steer. But the walrus is faster so can kill a polar bear by swimming under it and stabbing the bear with his long ivory tusks.

Other sea species that you can see in Alaska are sea otters. They’ve been nicknamed “Old Man of the Sea” comes from the silver hairs and whitish-silvery head of older otters. The underfur is brown, dark brown or black; pale brown or silver guard hairs.

Puffin’s nickname “Parrots of the Sea” be

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