A burning forest in Apui, Brazil. Credit Bruno Kelly/Reuters

Deforestation is one of the largest contributors to the decline of wildlife species — whether the forest land is burned or is cut down for commercial use, or to create farms and roads. In the 80s ecologist Thomas Lovejoy conducted an experiment in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest by asking the loggers to leave patches of untouched forest for the animals to live in. The problem was that the smaller isolated patches didn’t prevent decline of the species. Animals in the isolated patches are more prone to disease and are unable to handle the climate fluctuations as well. Some ecologists have decided to put Lovejoy’s experiment in reverse and instead of creating the patches of forest, plant wildlife corridors connecting the patches together.

I love the idea of the connecting corridors, which will be approximately six-tenths of a mile wide, and researchers have already identified where 20 such corridors can be built. When I think of it from a bird’s eye view (a very high flying bird) it would be like looking down at a maze. The corridors won’t stave off extinction of the species, but they may slow the demise enough for larger areas of forest to be repopulated. The golden lion tamarins have already started using the corridor created in the Atlantic Forest north of Rio de Janeiro.

My character Timmy would absolutely love this project, and he and Rin would want to fly off to Rio de Janeiro to help with the planting. Timmy would be planting industriously while Rin ran down the corridor giggling and calling out to all his new friends.

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Outside of the health benefits and the satisfaction having a piece of chocolate brings, one chocolate company is having a beneficial impact on endangered species. Madécasse, a Brooklyn based company, works directly with the farmers in Madagascar — home of the mouse lemur. The mouse lemur population has been decreasing in Madagascar due to deforestation. Madécasse is helping farmers by planting more cacao trees. The farmers don’t mind the critters in the trees because they help distribute the seeds and keep the insect population down.

The second book in the Guardian Angel Animal Series, A CinderElla Tail, features a baby mouse lemur named Ella. In the story, Ella must help Allison resolve her family issues because Allison’s dad has remarried and she now has to put up with the terrible twins whose mission is to make Allison’s life miserable. The story will have plenty of Timmy and his lovable Golden Lion Tamarin, Rin, because Timmy and Rin want to help as many people as they can.

Who could resist a chance to help a cute little animal like the mouse lemur? Especially when you can do it by eating chocolate.

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(Image: Gerald Kuchling/Turtle Survival Alliance)

The Madushan Monster is actually a Chinese Giant Softshell Turtle and the death of Lonesome George, the sole Pinta Island Giant Tortoise, the Chinese Giant Softshell Turtle is the most endangered of all turtles. There are 3 known turtles left. Two in the Suzhou Zoo, that are 90 and 110-years-old, and a solitary (probably) male in a Vietnam reservoir. The zoo has made several attempts to have their turtles procreate, but due to some damage to the male, they have not been successful.

But then rumors from fishermen arose about the possibility of two turtles living in the Madushan reservoir, so hope remains, though faint, that the turtles can be found and saved from extinction. The search for the turtles has been likened to searching for the Loch Ness Monster (a link to another of my projects: Homeless Myths series aka The Star Warriors) And the hunt continues.

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Photo credit: Michael Marschall

I’ve been going a little crazy with sloth pictures of late, so this post ISN’T about sloths, but about another adorable animal — the Golden Lion Tamarin. A new baby was born at the Adelaide Zoo on October 13th to parents Aurora and Rio. The little baby tamarin is the seventh child of Aurora, so joins its six siblings, who will help to care for the newest member of the family.

Since Golden Lion Tamarins are on the endangered species list and among the rarest animals on the Earth, the birth of any of these small new world monkeys is something to be celebrated. The little monkey born in Adelaide will be named once the gender has been determined, a few months from now as it must cling tight to its mother at present. And will have a name of South American origin starting with ‘A’ if a girl and ‘R’ if a boy after its parents.

The little tyke is just starting to open its eyes and is about 10cm in length and weighs about 100g. The yellow coloring to its fur makes it unique from its siblings as their hair is the more traditional reddish-orange. I imagine our little Rin, from Timmy and the Golden Lion Tamarin was just as adorable at this age.

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Sergio was quite excited to share with you the island where he grew up, Isla Escudo de Veraguas, which is off the coast of Panama. The pygmy three-toed sloth is critically endangered and is ONLY found on the Isla Escudo de Veraguas. Because of the limited resources of space and food, the sloths on the island are 40% smaller than their mainland cousins.

While he loves his beautiful island, he is happy to have left Panama to live with Luna because together they will have many adventures. When I mentioned he was barely in his picture, he grumbled. I asked what was wrong. His response: Do you know how hard it is to take a picture when you have long nails and only three fingers?

He may have a point.

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Last week I received a package in the mail, and imagine my delight when Sergio, the pygmy three-toed sloth, popped out of the box. We bonded instantly. What makes Sergio so special?? Well, aside from being an adorable ball of fuzz with the ability to give excellent hugs, Sergio is a character from the Timmy and the Golden Lion Tamarin Guardian Angel Animal series, and has inspired a spin-off series called The Adventures of Sergio and Luna.

Sergio comes into the Timmy and Rin books as the guardian angel animal to help out Luna, a seven-year-old girl with autism who is having difficulty adjusting to the changes in her life. When co-author Olivia Claire and I were discussing the series and the story lines for each of the books, we knew we wanted to have a book dealing with autism, but had no idea about anything else. Once I realized the animal should be something able to give great hugs, the long arms of a sloth immediately came to mind. And once Sergio filled my mind, the ideas have not stopped since.

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Some of you may recall the Tour of Secrets in August to celebrate the launch of Heather McCorkle’s novel, The Secret of Spruce Knoll, well, she’s at it again.

A special edition of Heather McCorkle’s The Secret Of Spruce Knoll is releasing from Compass Press this month and she’s doing a special tour to go along with it. The special part, a percentage of the proceeds from every special edition sold (in every format) between its release date and 12-12-2012, will go toward Heather’s favorite charity that protects endangered species. Her goal is to make at least $10,000 for the charity.

Of course there are prizes during the tour which goes from December 1st through the 17th. Prizes include a symbolic endangered species adoption of the winner’s choice (a $50 donation by Heather to the charity for the endangered species of the winner’s choice, and cute stuffed animal for the winner!), signed copies of her novels and great swag. For full details, and to enter, go here. http://heathermccorkle.blogspot.com

For the tour Heather has asked each blog host to pick their favorite endangered species and she will tell us a fun or interesting fact about that animal. And I selected the arctic fox — who could resist this little guy?

Heather: The arctic fox has such amazing hearing that it can actually hear its prey beneath the snow. Sadly, they are losing their territory to the larger red fox, which is now unchecked due to the fact that their major predator, the gray wolf, has been hunted near to extinction in the arctic.

Where can you get one of these special edition books which will help protect endangered species? Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Just click the links. Go ahead, you know you want to.

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