I sell tub faucets and I just recently had a really good sales call to the Bronx Zoo in New York. I met with several zookeepers and was able to complete sales for tub faucets to all of them. I was interested in the conservation concerns for several of their animals.
I sold a tub faucet to the keeper of the False Gharial. These animals are crocodilians. I had never heard of crocodilians before, but that is a group name that is the name for all species of alligators, crocodiles, caimans and gharials.
I was interested to find out that False gharials are endangered. They have almost disappeared completely from some of the places that they used to live. This is especially true in Thailand. By the middle of the 20th century, widespread commercial hunting for the skin trade brought some crocodilians to the brink of extinction. The keepers do not interfere much with the False Gharial, but there is a care center with a tub and a tub faucet.
The tub faucet that this keeper purchased was to go into a second care center for another species of crocodilian. There are twenty three species of crocodilians and twelve are in need of conservationists work. The Bronx zoo plans to help as much as possible.
It is hard to believe that an entire species could become extinct due to growing human population and increased agricultural expansion. I'm glad that there are conservationists out there studying crocodilian species in the Caribbean, South America, Central America, Africa and Asia. They are studying the diet, habitat and other needs of these predators. The zookeeper that I spoke with was very passionate about the conservationists' efforts. She was so receptive to my sales pitch for the tub faucets.
The Bronx Zoo has a 20 year old male polar bear. He loves the season changes and his favorite seasonal change is snow. The care station for the polar bear exhibit has tubs that are badly in need of tub faucets.
I was happy to demonstrate my tub faucets to the zookeeper while he told me about polar bears. He told me that the human disturbance of the Arctic ecosystem with toxic pollution, drilling for oil and gas, and, most hazardously, global warming are foremost among the threats facing polar bears today.
After he signed the papers for the new tub faucets, he continued to tell me about polar bears. He says that all of the human disturbances cause many health problems. The primary diet of the polar bear is from hunting on the ice.
Polar bears must fast during the warmer months when the ice breaks up. Now, the summer thaw lengthens at either end due to the Earth's rising temperatures. For longer and longer periods of time, polar bears are left onshore. This leaves them stranded and hungry.
I felt really badly when the zookeeper told me that when polar bears lose weight, the females will start to produce less milk for their cubs and that there is a significant decline in birthrates. Polar bears are currently listed as threatened. I'm glad that Blizzard the polar bear lives happily in the Bronx Zoo and I hope he enjoys his new tub faucets.