{"id":270,"date":"2017-01-09T17:36:52","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T22:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caresforfish.org\/?p=270"},"modified":"2017-01-11T21:54:35","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T02:54:35","slug":"cares%e2%80%92the-last-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/?p=270","title":{"rendered":"CARES \u2012 The Last Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the history of life on earth, cycles of mass extinctions have occurred.\u00a0 We know of at least five time periods that this has taken place.\u00a0 Now, in our modern era, we are on the verge of another mass extinction event.\u00a0 This one is not being caused by seismic activity or a rogue rock drifting through our solar system, this mass killing of species is being done by a single organism\u2015humans.<\/p>\n

Gone already are thousands of life forms we will never see again.\u00a0 As our ignorance towards the complex webs of life becomes evident, man has not only pushed other organisms to the brink of extinction, but in doing so, has threatened his own survival as well.<\/p>\n

The basic essential ingredient to survival as we know it is water.\u00a0 Deforestation, climate change and pollution have altered fresh and saltwater resources dramatically.\u00a0 Coral reefs are dying off at an alarming rate. Fish, sea mammals, and birds are perishing en mass with guts full of plastic refuge.\u00a0 Lakes and rivers are drying up, polluted, diverted, and being populated with species that do not belong.\u00a0 Over fishing and unsustainable harvesting of invertebrates and plants leave formerly pure waterways, once teeming with life, pools of stagnant dried up sewage.<\/p>\n

Rio Santa Mar\u00eda, Panuco drainage, the type locality of Xenoophorus captivus<\/em>. The river is desiccated because of over exploitation of the water resources in the valley of Tamgamanga, San Luis Potosi. Photo by Juan Miguel Artigas Azas.<\/p><\/div>\n

While massive destruction has already taken place to many waters, optimism must prevail.\u00a0 We have proven that the disastrous effects of man\u2019s greed can be reversed.\u00a0 Areas that were considered inhospitable once again have emerging forests and pristine streams and aquatic life can be reseeded.\u00a0 This is occurring with increased frequency. However, it in no way excuses the destruction of established ecosystems.\u00a0 In order for reintroduction of species to occur to an environment, it must exist elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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Invasive species can rapidly take over waterways. Photo by Greg Steeves.<\/p><\/div>\n

Aquarists have always been an enthusiastic group of people.\u00a0 By the very essence of the hobby, we are concerned with the conservation of life, particularly aquatic life.\u00a0 As the loss of naturally occurring species has taken place, the last refuge has been in captive maintained stock within our aquariums.\u00a0 Several reintroductions of once native species have been accomplished from populations seeded with aquarium fish.\u00a0 Whether it is for future reintroduction or to simply maintain a captive population of an organism that has lost its habitat, the role of the hobbyist is an increasing mechanism for species survival.<\/p>\n

The CARES program allows for like minded hobbyists to take a serious role in species survival by collectively utilizing the tools of their hobby, knowledge, and breeding skills to ensure a future for these organisms.\u00a0 The Priority List is an ever evolving document formulated by partnerships with other conservation organizations and experts in their respective fields.\u00a0 This is a listing of species that should be given attention by the hobbyist who wants to become involved in species preservation.<\/p>\n

Dedicate an aquarium and contribute to the long term survival of threatened and endangered species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout the history of life on earth, cycles of mass extinctions have occurred.\u00a0 We know of at least five time periods that this has taken place.\u00a0 Now, in our modern era, we are on the verge of another mass extinction event.\u00a0 This one is not being caused by seismic activity or a rogue rock drifting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caresforfish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}