The title of my independent study: Construction of a Habitat for North and South American Endangered Canids and Felids Using Native (Arkansas) Flora. The site plan included: habitats, a research facility, a raptor rehabilitation facility and a bat complex. (Yes, Arkansas has endangered bat species.) The North American species I focused on: Red Wolf, Ocelot (which may actually be included in either continent due to their range). The South American species: Bush Dog, Crab-Eating Fox, Red-Maned Wolf and Fruit Bat.
This is the cover of the study and they are, starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise: Bush Dog, Crab-Eating Fox, Red Wolf, Fruit Bat (center), Ocelot and Maned Wolf.
I throughly enjoyed this project. In order to base this project in the context of reality, I applied the Federal standards according to the: US Departments of Agriculture, Health and Public Safety, Fish and Wildlife, and Transportation, and included comments from the appropriate officials. On the local level, I applied the standards and verified the projected land use through the county offices of: Planning and Development and Health, and of course, Little Rock Wastewater Utility and the Little Rock Zoo.
Many an hour was spent in the Ottenheimer Library researching. As I developed the structure, and spent hours at the proposed site, Fouche Creek Waste Water Treatment, the possibilities congealed into a reality. Also included in the study were the comparisions, examples and suggestions from: the National Conservation Facility, (Front Royal, VA) and the Research Facility located in the National Zoo (Washington, DC).
The wonder of these magnificent animals was a conflict with the reality of their situation. All suffer destruction of habitat, poaching and mass killings. The Fruit Bat is now extinct in Manilla.
As stewards of this planet, they, and
all life, are our responsibility.