On the Wings of Love

While some say fools rush in, albatrosses soar in.

We struggle to understand love, but birds offer us some insight. According to this article from National Public Radio (NPR), relationships in the bird world display an amazing range of duration, and albatross partners are most likely to stay committed to each other.

The research on bird pairs struck me with just how much it related to us. Clearly, individual people show differing preferences for long-term commitment just as the various types of birds do.

For those interested in discovering a soulmate, the process albatrosses use to find a partner provides some great ideas: Take time to find yourself; look for a good personality match, and really get to know that individual; make sure you have time to yourself; and get in sync with your partner.

NPR's article had a lot of cool information about birds and love. Its main week part was in negatively judging the species with short relationships. Such judgments ignore the many ways nature and humans work and privilege a certain perspective on relationships.

When it comes to love, perhaps birds of a feather really should flock together.

The Last Strike

When we put a wild animal on display, we take more from nature than a single creature.

Life in the wild may be wild, but it's also life, and captivity steals it away. As we have seen with films like The Cove and Blackfish, removing an animal from its natural habitat causes immediate damages and thrusts it into an environment that cannot sustain it in the long run. While those films focus on whales and dolphins, a recent report from National Public Radio teaches us that the effects of captivity touch even animals we might not have thought susceptible.

The story tells of an giant isopod removed from the wild in the waters off Baja California and sent to live in the Toba Aquarium in Japan. After more than a year in this human-constructed environment, the isopod began refusing food in 2009. Its refusal to eat, which NPR characterizes as a hunger strike, continued until two weeks ago. On February 14, 2014, aquarium personnel found the isopod dead in its tank.

Only recently have we awakened to the full cost of keeping wild animals within human enclosures, and the story of this isopod forces us to think about the issue on a much larger scale. Places like zoos can serve an important function for species on the brink of extinction, but we have to ask what else we might be extinguishing when we bring species into captivity. The cost may be worth preventing species from disappearing forever, but for most other reasons, the loss of freedom for animals simply doesn't add up.

If you love something wild, keep it free.

Opening New Doors

We consider necessity the mother of invention, but inspiration shares some of the parenting.

Few species inspire us more than wolves. Their size, intelligence, formidable appearance, and family structure all touch us deeply. They've also inspired fear and hatred, two reactions that have created some seemingly intractable public debates.

Despite the attention disagreements about wolves receive, recent trends suggest that our deep fascination with wolves may move us toward new solutions that foster coexistence. Last September, I blogged about Conservation Northwest's range rider program. That exciting approach to living with wolves has shown great promise in Washington state. Now, NPR reports on other options for coexisting, and the writer uses some innovative ways of telling the story.

The NPR article addresses conflicts over wolves, but it emerges from them with some great ideas. In addition, the report's incorporation of sound, graphics, and interaction with the reader shows the potential of innovations in journalism. The extra features provide a deeper connection with wolves, the world they inhabit, and the debate around them.

I can't think of anything more inspiring than a strong relationship with the environment.