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Marsican Bear Draft #1

Characteristics/ Biology

The Marsican Brown Bear lives their lives in isolation. With their existence dwindling, the 50 bears that remain in the Abruzzo National Park have characteristics that differ greatly from their sibling subspecies. The Marsican Brown Bear, otherwise known as the Abruzzi Brown Bear, have a relatively calm temperament, with no aggression shown towards humans. In terms of size, the male Marsican Bear is larger than most bear subspecies, which a weight of around 480 pounds, while the female is significantly smaller, at around 310 pounds. These bears are known to be omnivorous in nature, mainly eating berries, while occasionally eating small animals such as chickens and other livestock. All of these traits the bear shows can likely be attributed to its existence in isolation.

Behavior

The Marsican Brown bear is a very typical brown bear, and behaves like most other types of bears. These bears are mainly nocturnal, except when with their pups or mating, where they seem to be very independent and self-contained. Mating season for these bears is usually between May and July, landing birthing of the cubs in early winter. Around February every year females give birth anywhere from one to three cubs, weighing less than 500 grams at birth, but heavily relying on the size of their mother. Marsican Cubs grow up very quickly because of their mother’s fat-induced milk they feed on, allowing them to roam on their own and be independent after only a few months of existence. On average, Marsican Brown Bear pups stay with their mothers for a little over a year. As they grow older, females become fertile and sexually mature at around age three, allowing reproduction early in the mother’s life. These bears mature very quickly and develop a very good sense of hearing and smell, which will help them find food and roam their environment. In oppose to this, the eye-sight of the Marsican Brown Bear is rather ordinary, or average. As they start to grow, they turn to eating more of a plant based diet including: grass, fruit, berries, etc. Because they are omnivores, it is a common pattern seen with this specific species of brown bears. The Mariscan bear’s favorite food is known to be the Buckthorn Berry, which they feast on in the late summer time in the mountains of the Abruzzo park, where the remainder of the species remain. Other components of their diet include meat of course, eating carcasses as well as hunting for certain wild animals, which is why they are not considered a harmful predator. to those around them. On the other hand, some domestic animals including sheep, chicken, turkey and a few others may fall victim to the big bear and its sharp claws. Aside from its eating habits, the Marsican Bear also learns to begin to look for a dry and safe place to spend their winter.

Environment

As very few of these Marsican Brown bears remain, those who do are all located in the Abruzzo National park of Italy, where high peaks merge into woodland, lots of water and land, with humans scattered in villages amongst it. Marsican bears are commonly known to hang out in wooded areas, building up little paces to live in. Although wooded environments are usually preferred, it is not uncommon for bears to reach high altitude grasslands or cultivated areas on valley floors. They are usually either seen camping out in one primary area for a while, or being very mobile and on the move looking for food sources. There are roughly only 50 of these bears left, and it is mainly because of the environment that they live in. They are often killed accidentally by being poisoned, poached, hit by a motor vehicle, or one of the many other abstract ways a bear could pass. Bears often travel in Abruzzo to the high-altitude meadows in the summer, and then up to the warmer areas of valley when the temperatures start to cool. As the temperature decreases, the bears learn awareness to start looking for a dormitory, and planning out their winter. In their dens they start to become more relaxed and slowed down, requiring less food and beginning to adjust to the colder temperatures. Bears will hide in their dens most of winter, but are not in full-hibernation unlike most animals. Bears keep a very reasonable level of consciousness and awareness to their external changes throughout the winter, and might even take a stroll on a nice sunny day. This period of time is where all of the fat build-up throughout the year becomes very critical, as they need enough fat to burn to stay alive. They do not fully sustain themselves during this period, and use the extra fat burning off for energy reserve as well as a thermal resource. Overall, these bears are very well at living as an individual, and does not face many other threats in their environment except for poachers. Being omnivores, these bears can adapt themselves to diverse habitats, and strive as long as they are not disturbed often, and have a developed source of food nearby.

Range

The Marsican Brown Bear is a small, isolated population of bears. It is found in the Central Apennines Mountains in Italy where there are a range of settings like lakes, woods, and settlements of citizens, this enclosed, lush area is a likely factor for why the endangered species is not leaving. This part of the country consists of mainly beechwood, which the bear is particularly fond of, though grasslands and meadows can be found at higher altitudes as well. They are usually found in the National Parks of Abruzz, Lazio, and Molise. This bear may, also, be found in nearby locations: Sibillni National Park, Gran Sasso-Laga National Park, Sirente- Velino Regional Park, and Simbruini Regional Park. The population range of the Marsican Brown Bear has significantly reduced over the past hundreds of years. Since they emerged in an isolated area, it does have a smaller population compared to other brown bears but it has been on the brink of extinction for decades now. In the 1980's, there were about 100 of them, but currently there is an estimate of about 43 bears on average still living in this area. Only about 10-12 of the Marsican Brown Bears living in this area are females that are able to reproduce. In Italy, their state of critical endangerment has been stressed greatly by government officials, for their extinction is still a possibility. According to Giuseppe Ross, "the number of bears have fallen below the threshold of survival."

Conservation

The Marsican Brown Bear, sub-population of the brown bear, has been included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. People have started to acknowledge and support the need for conservation of these bears. Ecotourism has improved their urgency for conservation of these areas. Italy officially protected the Marsican Brown Bear in 1923 by making the National Park of Abruzz, Lazio,and Molise. The National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise (PNALM) has had a major impact in conserving the bears. They ensure to that habitats will stay intact or preserve more, supply more food to the bears, and policies that will reduce bear-human conflicts. Another effort made by Italians is the Piano d'Azione Nazionale per la Tutela dell'Orso Bruno Marsicano (PATOM) was made to protect the bears.

During 2001, the Italian Ministry of the Environment for Protection of the Territory and the Sea made the Action Plan for the Conservation of the Marsican Brown Bear. It made the collection of basic health data of the Marsican Brown Bear a very important priority. It has a specific attention to infectious diseases that could affect the bears and local wildlife.

Up until 2014, Italy and the European Union teamed up to conserve the bears in the Apennine Mountains. It was called the Life Arctos Project. It was partially funded by the European Union due to expense cost of $7.3 million. They planted trees closer to the hills, away from civilians to prevent bear-human interactions. They put up electric fences around farms and vegetables gardens to push the Marsican Bears away from humans.

Hunting has been a problem on conserving the bears, whether it was legal or illegal. However, poaching has decreased in numbers so the population may be increased. There are multiple things that still need to be done or be more concerned about to save these bears. One is controlling how the land will be used in the future. There are discussions about whether diseases from the cattle will spread and kill off the Marsican Brown Bears. In addition, it is suggested that there be more plans to preserve their habitats and food.

What is already in the article?

1. It has 253 words currently.
2. It currently has a small lead section, range and conservation status, biology, see also, and references.
3. There are currently 6 sources.

Annotative Bibliography Marsican Bear

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Marsican%20brown%20bear&item_type=topic

- Biology and Conservation

http://www.fondationsegre.org/urgent-measures-for-the-conservation-of-the-critically-endangered-marsican-brown-bear-in-central-apennines/

- Protection

http://www.second-opinion-doc.com/animal-facts-marsican-brown-bear.html

- Background information

https://www.ecotur.org/en/marsican_brown_bear.xhtml

- Basics

http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/marsican-or-appenine-brown-bear/

-basic facts

https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/italys-rare-bear-in-losing-battle-against-extinction.html

-conservation

http://www.parcoabruzzo.it/Escheda-orso.php

-facts

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/italy-has-its-own-subspecies-of-bear-but-there-are-only-50-left-a7808156.html

-facts and conservation

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/brown-bears-in-the-alps-the-great-bear-comeback-a-383038.html

-alpine brown bear

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/alps/our_solutions22222/large_carnivores/bear/

-alpine brown bear

https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/not-far-from-rome-italys-distinct-bear-faces-down-extinction/

-habits

http://uw8rw3ad9q.search.serialssolutions.com/?genre=article&issn=00903558&title=Journal%20of%20Wildlife%20Diseases&volume=51&issue=1&date=20150101&atitle=Serologic%20Evidence%20for%20Selected%20Infectious%20Diseases%20in%20Marsican%20Brown%20Bears%20%28%20Ursus%20arctos%20marsicanus%29%20in%20Italy%20%282004-09%29.&spage=209&pages=209-213&sid=EBSCO:Environment%20Complete&aulast=Di%20Francesco,%20Cristina%20Esmeralda

-infectious diseases/ conservation

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2192/07GR022.1

-alpine brown bear populatiion

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3873224?seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents

-conservation efforts

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=9fec3d6f-0f6a-46c1-8833-8574862f56dd%40sessionmgr4010&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLGNvb2tpZSx1cmwsY3BpZCx1aWQmY3VzdGlkPXM4ODYzMTM3JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=HOB169034456011&db=n5h

-conservation

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=56c66073-6696-454c-bddd-25309b1184df%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLGNvb2tpZSx1cmwsY3BpZCx1aWQmY3VzdGlkPXM4ODYzMTM3JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=21478664&db=eih

-conservation

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=6122c8b8-783c-4186-83a1-4bc0d0d1f83c%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=111813577&db=a9h

-conservation

https://search.proquest.com/environmentalscience/docview/16229037/FFE1FBB6A099462DPQ/1?accountid=11667

-Facts/History/ Conservation efforts

https://search.proquest.com/environmentalscience/docview/16229891/FFE1FBB6A099462DPQ/3?accountid=11667

-Facts about population

https://search.proquest.com/environmentalscience/docview/39819914/FFE1FBB6A099462DPQ/4?accountid=11667

-Facts( Habitats) and conservation

- http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/marsican-or-appenine-brown-bear/

- Description/ behavior

- http://www.second-opinion-doc.com/marsican-brown-bear-facts.html

- Facts

- http://www.facts-about.info/brown-bear/

- Brown bear

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2011/0503/Italy-s-largest-animal-is-on-the-brink-of-extinction

-conservation

Second Draft of How-to-guide For World Language

Many articles about world language follow the same format and tools. It should be organized with certain headings to make the article to easier to comprehend. It should include the history of the language, phonology, classification, and grammar sections. The tone and word choice of the article should be kept neutral. World language articles should be 5000- 6500. Links should be written to give the author credibility and make the article reliable. There are certain ways to cite all the sources by what kind they are and what format one should use. Certain design elements can be added to enhance the article to be like a featured article. All these elements will transform any article into a Wikipedia good- or featured- article.

Contents

Organization

When starting an article about a language, one should start with the history of the language. This section should be able to answer where it started, when it started, and if possible, by who it started with. For example, the Mayan languages article's history section answers the where question within the first couple of sentences. Within the same paragraph, it starts naming specific groups that used the language and a rough estimate of when the Mayan language was first used. The slight insight of origins gives the reader an idea of accents that are used in the language later on. The next section of the article should be phonology. Phonology discusses the unique sounds of a language. This section can be broken down into multiple subcategories of constants, stresses, vowels, and more. It is up to the writer what they want to include. There are usually charts to help explain the phonology of languages. For instance, the Tamil language has a chart within their phonology section to help explain their letters. If one chooses to, they may add a classification section right before the history section. This is a little bit different from the history segment. The classification piece states what the language is categorized now like the denomination of it and where it is spoken. A grammar section should be included,too. In this area, the correct ways of phrasing statements and questions is discussed here.

Word Choice and Tone

The tone should be left being monotoned and neutral as stated in Five pillars of Wikipedia. The diction chosen for these articles should not cause controversy or debate at all. The wording should be strictly professional. Words that are specific to a language should be explained and defined. If possible, it should have a phonetic way of saying any of the words in parenthesis. In the Mayan languages article, it talks about the K'iche Maya and explains what it is to the audience since it is not common.

Length

A featured-article-like content is typically around 5000-6500 words. The Mayan language article, for example, has 6647 words in the whole article. In contrast, some articles are closer to the 5,000 words such as the Tamil language article. It should thoroughly explain all the points made in the different sections. However, there are some exceptions to this rule if the article deals with different types of sign language. For instance, the Black American Sign Language article only has 1800 words in total.

Links

To prove one's credibility, links need to be provided throughout the article. All the links included will direct the reader to outside sources. There are two types of links: Wikipedia links and external links. As a writer, one can simultaneously use a combination of both. Wikipedia links will take readers to a different Wikipedia article. These articles will give additional details about the main topic. External links will pull up a whole different website with its own URL. Make sure these websites are credible and accurate.

Citations

Format

Many users a numeral system to indicate what sources they use. Every time a source is used a number is put beside it. A crucial point in a numeral system is to continue citing chronologically, even if the same source is used. All the numbers should be listed in the reference section with the author's name or a link to where the information is found. In addition, there should be a separate bibliography section. Each source used has to be listed in alphabetical order. APA style should be used since many language articles prefer it. The authors'/ publisher's' name, date of publication, article name, publisher, pages, and what type of source it is should be found in every single citation. If one wants more or needs additional guidance, they can refer to outside sources such as Purdue Owl.

Type of Sources

Language sources should use, if possible, up-to-date sources. The first place to start language research is the Encyclopedia of language & linguistic. English language and Tamil language articles use it as one of their references. Many use linguistic novels to retrieve basic information of each language. For example, English language uses The Handbook of English Linguistics, African-American English: a linguistic introduction, and An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. In addition, the use of science journals about languages are highly recommended to further establish credibility.

How many is the right amount?

To establish credibility, one should use at least 20 or more sources. For example, the Black American Sign Language article only uses 18, whereas the English language article uses over 55 sources, the Swedish language article uses 22 sources, and the Tamil language article uses 25 sources.

Design Elements

Maps

The usage of maps are very useful when talking about the origins of languages. One could specifically show readers where in the world they are talking about. For instance, the Swedish language article uses a color-coded map in the very beginning of their history section. It displays where the origins and similar languages were spoken during that time period.

Information Boxes

Information boxes can give a quick facts about the language. It is located to the upper right-hand corner of language articles. It should have the pronunciation of the language title at the beginning. The geographic region of where it is found, what language family it falls under, if it has official statuses, and language codes are found in the information box. For example, the Tamil language information box states what it is like in thee native language, a map of where it is geographically located, the official status of the language, and more.

Audio Boxes

Audio boxes help with the pronunciation of words. For some readers, it is easier to hear how a word is suppose to sound instead of just reading the phonetic way of saying it. The Tamil language article has two audio boxes under the dialect section to help explain stories and songs from the native country.

First Draft of How-to-Guide For World Language

There are millions of different languages out in the world. Therefore, it gets confusing when trying to learn the basics of a new language. Wikipedia has many articles written on languages but not all of them the best. The authors trying to make a language simpler somehow fails and makes it even more confusing than before. For one to write a great, featured-article-content-like piece they need to have five elements: an amazing lead section, clarity through organization, plenty of details for comprehension, media that supports the content, and professional language. The organization of a language article is crucial and one of the most important elements of it. One should start off with a history of the language. Black American Sign Language, for example, starts with the history to give the reader some information about the origins of the language. Within the history, stating the area and time period of origin gives a little insight on slight accents in the language. After that, there should be a place for phonology. The phonology section can be broken down into more subcategories like constants, stresses, etc. It is up to the writer what to put in but it should be enough to explain the basics of the language. The grammar sections should be next. Basically discuss how you would use the words in phrases the correct ways. The lead section should be a priority on this how-to guide. It should adequately summarize all the points without giving away all the secrets of the article as stated in Wikipedia:Manual Style/ Lead Section. Many users of Wikipedia only read this compared to the whole article. It should be clear, cut, and concise. Another name for this section is the summary of the article. Make sure to keep the length of the lead section relatively close to the main article if that makes sense. A lead should not be longer than the whole article but at the same time it should not be only one sentence. The lead for a language article should be able to answer a few key questions: where is it spoken and why should I read this article. Many details need to go into each paragraph to clarify every statement made. Readers need to understand why the "k" in knife silent in the English language. They cannot simply be told this is true because I said so type situation. Eah subheading made needs to have at least a paragraph explaining it. More would sometimes be nice but do not put in any unnecessary details. According to Five Pillars of Wikipedia every article needs to be written from a neutral point of view. That will tie along with professional language. There should not be a no negative or positive connotation associated with most of the words used. The article needs to be read in a monotone voice. Also, there should not be any huge, studious words used. The audience is intended for the everyday reader. Be careful on using big words no one understands.

Lead Section for Bermuda

Bermuda is an inland in the Atlantic Ocean. It was discovered and named after Juan de Bermudez in the 1500's. It was left inhabited until 1615 when British colonists came back to the island. After they left, Bermuda was divided into nine "tribes," later called parishes. The settlers slowly found their one dependence on tobacco could not work on the island. In 1649, a civil war broke out in England, their so-called main land. This caused an increase of feelings of loyalty to the crown. During the 17th century in Bermuda, agriculture was taking off again. This island relied more on indentured servants than slaves until the Black population got too large. Reliance on Black Slaves stayed so their population could decrease. Finally in 1834, all slaves were deemed as free.

Bermuda's economy shifted from relying on agriculture to maritime. Salt mines became very popular in the area and made the country's economy better. Therefore, workers would leave their homes for months at a time and return back to Bermuda when salt could not be mined. Eventually this caused tensions between Bermuda and the Bahamas, where they mined for salt. There were many questions between the two countries about power, authority, and legitimacy when it came to the salt.

Since the salt industry was threatened, Bermuda expanded to different products and services like privateering . Naval and military bases became an important part of the island's economy and relations with other countries. During the Anglo Boer War, Bermuda transformed into a prison for about 5,000 Boer prisoners of war. While during World War II, Bermuda sent troops to fight alongside the British army. It became an important military base due to its location in the Atlantic Ocean. IN more recent history, Bermuda has a prospering economy and tourism has become an important activity.