Endangered animals articles

The Grade 4/5 students have ben writing articles about endangered animals.
Here is a sample of some that are complete and ready to publish.

Endangered Species - Ornate Box Turtle

6th February, 2015

ISPP NEWS

Reporter - Molly

The Ornate Box Turtle is an endangered species in Wisconsin, America, due to habitat loss, development and roads. The Ornate Box Turtle  is small and has yellow dashes along it’s shell. When threatened an Ornate Box Turtle will pull it’s lower shell tightly against it’s top shell, to create a box. Ornate box turtles live strictly on land, which is unusual for a turtle. They live in dry places and savannas with deep sandy soils. The Ornate box turtle does so because they have to dig holes so they can stay warm during winter. The Ornate box turtle is an omnivore and can eat both plants and animals (beatles and other insects). The Ornate box turtle is most active after it rains and can live for 40+ years. Ornate box turtles are an endangered species for a couple different reasons. Humans are building roads in their habitat, which causes them to be run over and for them not to have somewhere to hibernate in winter, so they freeze to death. Also people keep them as illegal pets (if you don’t have a permit). You can help by leaving Ornate box turtles in their natural habitats, so they can produce 200+ eggs in their lifetime.     ORANGE STRIPED RIBBON SNAKE IS ENDANGERED February 3rd 2015 Hee joo,  class reporter, ISPP news The orange striped ribbon snake also known as western ribbon snake is similar to the other garter snake  but it is more slender like the northern ribbon snake. Orange striped ribbon snakes are 20~30 inches long. The stripes on this snake are greenish-white and its belly is white. Orange striped ribbon snakes are endangered! There a less than half a dozen of these snakes in Wisconsin. All of them were seen in or next to marshy wetland habitat. Orange ribbon snake eats tadpoles, frogs that just changed form and small salamanders and fish. Hines Emerald Dragonfly is suffering 6th February, 2015 Class reporter - Bun San, Ispp News Hines Emerald Dragonflies are suffering because of habitat loss. These insects start were added to the endangered list in January 26, 1995. They lose their habitats because their habitats are getting drained out for urban and industrial development. Today the dragonfly can be only found in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin. The dragonfly is an important creature because every time the dragonfly comes inside our homes they don't come to bite us, they came to eat insects including mosquitoes so the dragonfly is a very helpful insect and it is also an important for fish. You can help these insects by recycling, use non-toxic household products, and also protect water quality by minimizing use of lawn chemicals. These include fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. The amazing Octopus Ispp News Issarak - reporter. The Octopus is a amazing animal because it has a lot of strategies when their predators are attacking them. Octopus can also change the color of their skin. They change their skin because of their emotions. Octopus can also release purple black ink. Octopus are endangered because they are a common food in Asian and Mediterranean cuisine. If overfishing occurs the octopus population can be endangered. People catch octopus in trawling nets fishing in a large net. The plastic nets can confuse the octopus as their den. We can help the octopus by helping to control the catch limits for octopus. When you see people catching too much octopus tell them to stop or call a wildlife organization. Emperor Penguin - At risk Bunleng Sok, School Reporter 2nd Feb 2015 Antarctica: Emperor Penguin is the largest of 17 species of Penguin at 1.15 m (45 in.) tall. they face winds chills as cold as -60 C (-70 F) and blizzards of 200 km/h (124 mph). Despite such harsh conditions, Emperor Penguins spend their entire lives on the ice or in the surrounding waters of Antarctica Emperor Penguins are considered near threatened. They currently have a large range and they live on average 15-20 years in the wild. However, Emperor Penguins face several threats due to human activity. Rising temperature due to Global Warming will reduce Emperor Penguin breeding ground and overfishing will limit their source of food. HOW CAN WE HELP? If you would like to help Emperor Penguins, you can reduce carbon emissions which comes out of your car and AC and which leads to global warming. Some measures include walking, biking or taking public transportation instead of driving, using energy saver appliances and light bulbs, buying locally grown produce, reducing your consumption of manufactured goods and packaging, recycling, and more. To learn more tips, see www.StopGlobalWarming.org Fastest Animal In The World Is being Endangered ISPP NEWS - Helen This Bird can Fly over 200 miles per hour. But this bird is being endangered. Why is this bird being endangered? This is due to the fact that there are very little nesting places in the state. Another reason why falcons are dying is because people use this toxic insecticide, DDT. This was sprayed on the plants to get rid of harmful insects. DDT was passed through the animal’s food chain so when the female falcon lays her eggs the shell is very thin which will make them really easy to break and crush. The DDT chemicals changed some of the birds. This leads to many problems. The parents might stop caring for their young and stop feeding them and many eggs never hatched. Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake Julian de Ferranti the Daily Reporter 2nd of February 2015 Their numbers have slowly dropped. Habitat loss is a big problem for these snakes, but the number of snakes killed for bounty might have made a dent in the population. The Massasauga were also captured illegally for pets. Today the Massasauga is found only in several isolated localities in southeastern, central, and west central Wisconsin. The adult Massasauga is usually two to three feet in length, while the adult timber rattler is usually longer than three feet. Massasauga is  usually found in river bottom forests and fields or along rivers, lakes, and marshes.Breeding happens in the spring and the fall. Eight to 20 young are usually born in late August. Massasauga's have predators like raccoons, hogs, skunks, foxes, hawks, and eagles. The Massasauga's venom is more toxic than the timber rattler, but because of the smaller volume of venom, a bite would probably not kill an adult human.You can help by  reporting any sightings of the Massasauga or other endangered or threatened species to the Bureau of Endangered Resources.