#RedKnots make one of the world's longest annual migrations and eat #HorseshoeCrab eggs to fuel their epic journeys. As horseshoe crab populations have plummeted, so have numbers of red knots.
Call on #NewYork Gov. #KathyHochul to sign the #HorseshoeCrabProtectionAct and give imperiled horseshoe crabs β and red knots β a fighting chance at #survival.
- Center for Biological Diversity
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The #bans have helped bring more abundant #WildlifePopulations and healthier coastal #ecosystems.
Now #NewYork is poised to join the club. The state legislature recently passed the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, a bill to ban horseshoe crab harvesting in New York. But to become law, this crucial legislation needs the governor's signature.
Horseshoe crabs support scores of other species on land, in the sea, and in the air β including shorebirds like federally protected #RedKnots.
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SAVE HORSESHOE CRABS FROM MASS DEATH
Dating back to before the dinosaurs, #HorseshoeCrabs are among the Earth's most ancient animals. They've survived for almost half a billion years, but now, in North America, they're at great risk: Each year the #BiomedicalIndustry "harvests" nearly a million crabs to drain their blood. That blood is used in #pharmaceuticals that save human lives β but at a terrible cost to the crabs and the species that depend on them, like #endangered #RedKnots.
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"With our new #method that allowed #studying #animal #personality in the #wild, we found that #redknots develop their #personality probably through the #experience that they get when #growing up," says #Ersoy. "After growing up, #adults stick with #exploratory #behaviors. They seem to be like #character types in #humans."
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-adventurous-bird-personalities-population-cope.html
Red knots of all ages and sexes show behavioral traits. These remain mostly unchanged over time but differ across individuals. Some individuals are more adventurous and show more exploratory behaviors a in new environment than others. Other individuals take less risks and hardly dare to move around in a new environment. These "personalities" have ecological and evolutionary consequences, but to what extent is largely unknown, because few studies have investigated this in the field.
In recent decades, #overfishing has decimated the horseshoe crab population at Delaware Bay, leading to a sharp decrease in red knots, which are now listed as βthreatenedβ under the Endangered Species Act. Under the current management program, horseshoe crabs have not recovered, and red knots have continued to decline. Rather than taking steps to reverse this trend, Addendum VIII would open the door to resuming the harvest of female horseshoe crabs, further imperiling red knots and potentially violating the Endangered Species Act.
Please join the good people at #EarthJustice to ask the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to protect #RedKnots by protecting #HorseshoeCrabs.
https://earthjustice.org/action/habitat-destruction-is-making-this-small-birds-journey-harder
anna_lillith πΊπ¦π±π
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