Words with Webster (Extinction) and Friendly Fill-Ins for December 30

Words with Webster: Extinction

The iconic and majestic cheetah. Now that is a cat. But cheetahs could disappear
forever unless humans act to protect them.
Photo credit: Zoological Society of London.

Hello, all. Webster here, coming to you from near the Christmas tree.

The cat world got some shocking and upsetting news this week when Panthera revealed a study showing that just 7,100 cheetahs remain in the wild. The study’s authors want the cheetah’s status to be changed from “Vulnerable” to “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The cheetah has been driven out of 91% of its historic range, the study says. This is a big problem because cheetahs do not stay in one little place; they get around, and so they are often not in protected areas. In Zimbabwe, the cheetah population has plunged from 1,200 to no more than 170 in just 16 years. That means 85% of Zimbabwe’s cheetahs have been lost in that time.

This is a population headed in the wrong direction.

No more cheetahs means no more cheetah cubs.
Photo credit: Zoological Society of London.

And so, I choose “extinction” as our word for this week. It means

the act of making extinct or causing to be extinguished :  Quenching, Suppression, Extermination, Destruction, Annihilation.

Once a species is extinct, it is gone … forever. The thought of seeing this happen to a species as iconic as the cheetah is distressing. I hope the humans out there will work together to find a way to make sure this does not happen.

Read more about the study here, and check out this infographicfrom Panthera.

Friendly Fill-Ins

 And now, on a lighter note, it's time for Friendly Fill-Ins. from 15andmeowing and McGuffy’s Reader. They are a fun way to learn a little bit about the authors of the blogs you read. The first two questions, answered by old SoLT, are from Ellen of 15andmeowing, and the next two, answered this week by Real Cat Paisley, are from Annie of McGuffy’s Reader.

Old SoLT’s answers

1. The highlight of my Christmas was spending time with my family.

2. My New Year's resolution is … well, I don’t really do resolutions, but I am in the process of getting my office more organized and hope to keep it that way (stop laughing!). I also got myself a new guitar for Christmas and plan to learn to strum a few songs (again, stop laughing!).

Real Cat Paisley’s answers

3. This year, 2016, was a nice year, except there was too much politics among the humans. Cats don’t have politics, which is one reason we are superior. Also, somewhat unfortunately, our family got a new dog.

4. Next year, 2017, I promise to try to get along better with the dog (and if you believe that, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona I’m looking to unload on the cheap!).