Walnford program trains junior eco-explorers
By ruth calia stives
Staff Writer

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Monmouth County Park System ranger Kelly Cole shows Emma Doty, 8, of Oceanport, and Ian Herrighty, 8, Allentown, fossils found at the Eco-Explorers program at Walnford Park, Upper Freehold, last week.

ÞUPPER FREEHOLD — For many years the Monmouth County Park System has presented a series of summer programs for children in parks around Monmouth County, including historic Walnford Park, a historic area currently undergoing restoration.

One program invited third- and fourth-grade students to become "eco-explorers" and to learn how and why so many species of animals have become extinct, particularly within the last two centuries.

Park ranger and instructor, Kelly Cole, explained that choosing to concentrate on the time period paralleling the existence of the United States as a nation gives the children a time frame they can more easily grasp and understand. And, as it turns out, the list of extinct animals from that time period tops out at a staggering 52.

On a hot morning last week, Ian Herrighty, 8, of Robbinsville, Luke Vrabel, 9, of Millstone and Emma Doty, 8, of Oceanport began to keep count as Cole showed them pictures and read information from a book about endangered and extinct species.

The animals included a species of zebra, the cape lion, last seen in 1860 and the Barbary lion, from Algeria, which was extensively hunted throughout the 1870s and 1880s, until it was declared endangered. Unfortunately, hunting continued until the lion became extinct between 1920 and 1930.

Between 1888 and 1914 the Tasmanian tiger was hunted into extinction, primarily by farmers who killed approximately 2,200 tigers, claiming the animals destroyed their flocks of sheep. The pig-footed bandicoot was last seen in 1907, and the long-tailed hopping mouse of central Australia disappeared in 1901.

The laughing owl of New Zealand was described as white-faced birds that called loudly to each other just before rainstorms. They were declared extinct in 1914.

The great auk, a species of bird, was almost eliminated by a volcano in Iceland in 1830, and they were rendered extinct by a hunt in 1844.

Cole explained that these days there are more protections for wildlife, especially endangered species, and there are groups and organizations keeping watch to prevent hunting of such animals.

Unfortunately they weren’t able to prevent one of the most recent animal extinctions, which happened around 1980, with the demise of the Javan tiger, an animal native to China.

One of the most recent extinctions in the United States occurred in 1948, in Louisiana, when hundreds of thousands of acres were cleared for soy plantations, destroying the habitat of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

"People didn’t take responsibility for what they did. They didn’t stop to think about how they were harming the birds and animals," said Cole.

Cole asked the children if they could think of reasons for such extinctions to occur, especially in the United States. With a bit of prompting, they explored the idea that, after the Revolutionary War, the population began to steadily increase. As more of the animals’ natural habitats were destroyed by clearing, building, and industrial pollution, more species became scarce.

Cole explained how the formation of groups to preserve wildlife has helped slow the process of extinction, and has made more people aware of the importance of preserving endangered species.

Cole said, "Even in our area, we have to be careful about building roads and developments because of the bog turtle."

Some of the other activities in the Eco-Explorers program included making plaster casts of turkey footprints and constructing water scopes, a tube-like structure for looking beneath the surface of the nearby creek.

"Unfortunately, the water was so murky we didn’t see much of anything," said Cole. The eco-explorers brought the water scopes home, to use in swimming pools, bathtubs, or wherever the water was clear.

The children also kept nature journals, writing down their observations from walks through the woods and the areas around the big green barn where they met each day. They agreed that discovering beautiful wildflowers and observing baby birds were among their favorite experiences.

Some of the displays in their meeting room included a collection of books about shore birds, insects, wetland areas, and all manner of flora and fauna.

The table around which they sat held several glass cases containing ancient fossils, shark teeth of many sizes, shapes and colors, and other remnants of extinct animals, as well as the jawbone of a walrus.

Ian, who seemed to have a special interest in dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures, also contributed a story about an extinct bird, called the dodo.

The bird lived on an island, he said, referring to the island of Mauritius.

He explained that on the island, the birds had no need to fly. But when settlers came to the island the birds couldn’t survive, and after a while they became extinct.

After the dodo became extinct a certain kind of tree, the calvaria tree, stopped sprouting from seeds and nearly faced extinction as well.

Ian explained that the dodo bird used to eat the seeds of the tree and then leave them in their droppings, where they took root and grew into new trees. Without the dodo there were no new trees.

Cole pointed out that in the comfortable atmosphere of a rural setting, children who participate in the summer programs at Walnford Park have an enjoyable morning, and take with them an expanded sense of the importance of plants and animals in the world. "And that’s a good thing," said Cole.