{"id":122403,"date":"2024-03-03T04:49:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T11:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=122403"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T16:54:25","slug":"world-wildlife-day-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/03\/world-wildlife-day-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"World Wildlife Day 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every March 3, the world comes together to honor World Wildlife Day<\/span><\/a>, a global occasion that pays tribute to the astounding array of life inhabiting our planet.<\/p>\n

\"MooseMoose cow in the sage<\/span><\/p>\n

Our planet is witnessing a distressing decline in biodiversity, a staggering 69% average reduction<\/span><\/a> in the populations of birds, amphibians, mammals, fish, insects, and reptiles since 1970. This decline not only jeopardizes the intricate balance of ecosystems but also undermines our own health and well-being, as well as the future of our planet.<\/p>\n

Factors such as habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, overexploitation of resources, the overuse of pesticides and forever chemicals, introduction of invasive species, and fragmentation of habitats all<\/em> have a cumulative impact and effect on wildlife. That includes wasteful water management practices locally and around the globe.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Basin Bumble Bee and Long-horned Bee on a Common Sunflower<\/span><\/p>\n

The World Wildlife Day 2024 Theme is Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

And here I am, connecting to the world using digital technology by sharing images I created with digital innovations.<\/p>\n

Today there are many apps like iNaturalist<\/span><\/a> that can help people find out what they are seeing in nature. The submitted data is used as a repository of information that is already<\/em> helping scientists understand what is going on in the world around us.<\/p>\n

Every time I am in the field I am aware of changes in nature.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I notice when there are fewer insects. When they disappear, so do insect-eating birds. When the insect-eating birds vanish, so do the predators that prey on them.<\/p>\n

I could write about this subject all day long, but I know that most of the people who read about my daily journeys already know what I am writing about today.<\/p>\n

\"HouseNorthern House Wren with a yellow feather at its nest<\/span><\/p>\n

There are large numbers of people who aren’t connected to nature, who don’t understand that everything in nature is a connected web. That when one part of nature is pushed towards extinction, a ripple effect occurs.<\/p>\n

Reaching those people, people who say they love their grandchildren but are unwilling to accept that our climate is changing and that something must<\/em> be done about it to save their future, has so far frustrated me.<\/p>\n

My grandchildren will know that I didn’t sit on my hands; they will know I used my voice to speak up for them, wildlife, and this planet.<\/p>\n

So, today while we celebrate the incredible diversity of wildlife on this planet, I also mourn the losses of wildlife we are encountering today and will lose in the near future.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every March 3, the world comes together to honor World Wildlife Day, a global occasion that pays tribute to the astounding array of life inhabiting our planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,2578,2152,10319,2244,10320,316,2586,2261,26],"tags":[4425,10321,14769,5370,10322,14770,10323,1632,4094,4037,2587,2660,2585,4095,102,14771],"class_list":["post-122403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-clark-county","category-conservation","category-great-basin-bumble-bees","category-idaho","category-long-horned-bees","category-moose","category-house-wrens","category-targhee-national-forest","category-utah","tag-alces-alces","tag-bombus-centralis","tag-eucerini","tag-forest","tag-great-basin-bumble-bee","tag-inaturalist","tag-long-horned-bee","tag-mammals","tag-marsh","tag-moose","tag-house-wren","tag-sagebrush-steppe","tag-troglodytes-aedon","tag-wetlands","tag-wildlife","tag-world-wildlife-day"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t