Financially, yes, I didn't think before I posted. I was thinking of environmental issues such as desertification, erosion, overgrazing, etc., which would be factors in the decreasing of numbers of Ethiopian wolves and the other endangered species.
Jusko88, all three of those species you mentioned are actually increasing in numbers in their home range thanks to excellent conservation efforts from the Ethiopian government. By the way, Mountain Nyala aren't found in the Semien Mountains and would never encounter Ibex or Geladas.
based on IUCN ratings both Ethiopian Wolf and Walia Ibex are listed endangered and on the verge of Critically endangered. ok then why arent they listed not threatened if there numbers are going up. at one time the African Wild Dog had a widespread distribution in Ethiopia, however with last sightings at Fincha, this canid is thought to be potentially extirpated within Ethiopia. throughout the African continent, wildlife populations have been rapidly declining owing to logging, civil wars, pollution and poaching.A 17-year-long civil war along with severe drought, negatively impacted Ethiopia's environmental conditions leading to even greater habitat degradation. Habitat destruction is a factor that leads to endangerment. When changes to a habitat occur rapidly, animals do not have time to adjust. Human impact threatens many species, with greater threats expected as a result of climate change induced by greenhouse gas emissions.Ethiopia loses an estimated 1 410 km² of natural forests each year. At the beginning of the 20th century around 420 000 km² or 35% of Ethiopia’s land was covered by trees but recent research indicates that forest cover is now approximately 11.9% of the area. I cant find the name of the show but it was on animal planet bout a month ago and scientist were in ethiopia and they were talking bout the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia and Dallol Volcano about how below sea level it is and they said by early as 2020-2030 how the plate tectonics would rapidly shift away from the continent of africa and it would create a new sea.
I don't even wanna hear bout it. You have animals like ethiopian wolf,walia ibex and mountain nyala who's number are dropping as we speak. Ethiopians are moving into the semien mountain range with there farming and taking away the animals home. That's the hole point of conservation. And I'm just saying Bronx has a nice exhibit that would fit those species. And I think the wcs should start trying to save all the ethiopian species. There even talking bout how in the next 10-20 years how Ethiopia may break off from africa. So there's a problem, let's start helping these species.
I know and understand. im not fighting with anyone on here im just hoping someday when i have kids that they will see these amazing animals and understand them. but with how the world is today i just dont know how bright the future is.
Calling Ethiopia "stable" is problematic. Among African nations, overall the least stable continent, Ethiopia is somewhere in the middle at best. The Ogaden insurgency is ongoing, though few journalists dare to go there and report (when journalists are discovered in the region by Ethiopian authorities, this happens). It remains to be seen if peace talks will change this. The Eritrean-Ethiopian border issue also remains unresolved. As recent as March there was a military attack in Eritrea by Ethiopian forces raising fears of a new war, and in January several tourists were killed during an attack by rebels on the Ethiopian side, while several others were kidnapped. Add to that the unresolved Nile issue with Egypt (which has become more complicated with the Muslim Sudan vs. Christian South Sudan issue), murder rates above the African average, widespread human rights violations, the continued risk of famine and dependency of food aid in some regions, and numerous ethnic conflicts such as the Moyale clashes this summer where more than 20,000 had to flee across the border into Kenya to escape. The immediate future also holds challenges: If Al-Shabaab truly is pushed out of Kismaayo in Somalia, they'll probably do what they've done before, head for the backcountry (=closer to the Ethiopian de jure border). Despite huge growth rates in the last decade, it's still among the countries in the world with the lowest GDP/capita (#168 of 180 countries by World Bank & #169 of 183 countries by IMF) and their economy is highly vulnerable as it largely is based on agriculture. Additionally, it's consistently among the least free nations, scoring the same as Iran, DR Congo and Zimbabwe in the three main ratings by The Freedom House. On a "semi-positive" note, at least it looks like the transition between dictator 1 (Meles Zenawi) and dictator 2 (Hailemariam Desalegn) will be more peaceful than some feared. In summary, I'm not saying all is bad -- in an African context it isn't. But it is well behind the most stable countries of the continent.
Disregarding all this, it won't matter how much we complain about lack of Ethiopian wolf/Walia ibex/mountain nyala/etc in zoos. The Ethiopian authorities have been steadfast and it doesn't look like they'll allow any exports, no matter what arguments are presented by zoologists. I admit that I don't fully understand the reasoning behind the Ethiopian decision; for some reason they've allowed exports of Ethiopian mountain adders (there has, quite probably, also been illegal exports) and if you're willing to pay, you can go on a legal trophy hunt for mountain nyala! Regardless, I'm not all that worried about Ethiopian wolf/Walia ibex/mountain nyala because of the in situ projects that are aimed at them. Many species are in a far worse position and receive little or no help.
