IntroductionAs the human population grows in numbers, we need more food and more living space for all of these people. The problem is, we can’t just make more space appear for us. We can’t simply manufacture real meat either. This is causing animals to become endangered or even become extinct.
Every animal plays some sort of role on Earth, whether it is useful or not. As quoted by worldbookonline.com (Greta Nilsson, 2016) “Most biologists consider a species endangered if they expect it would die off completely in less than 20 years if no special efforts were made to protect it, or if the rate of decline far exceeds the rate of increase.” This means that if we don’t do anything to help all of these animals, many unique species could die off in a matter of years. A big obstacle in our path is that many people are killing these endangered animals and speeding up the process of their extinction. As you continue, you will learn about the why animals are becoming endangered and extinct, and how we can stop this growing problem. |
Why are animals becoming endangered? |
A big reason for endangerment and extinction is habitat loss. Most animals are adapted to living in the conditions of their habitat. If their habitat is gone, there is a great threat of extinction. Forests have been completely cut down, and pollution is effecting a great majority of places all around the world. Then there’s wildlife trade. Wildlife trade is when someone captures an animal for pets, zoos, research etcetera and killing the animals for a special thing about them such as fur or horns. In the illegal trade market, the people, commonly known as poachers, earn money by giving the market stuff like elephant ivory and tiger products. The more rare an animal is, the more money earned in trade. A few animals, from Asia, that are impacted by wildlife trade are multiple species of tiger, many species of rhino, elephant, and the orangutang. Many animals have also been the victim to overhunting such as the West Indian manatee. Close to Wildlife trade, animals are over hunted and killed for either food or fur making them become endangered. Competition with domestic and non-native animals is a big threat to lots of animals. In various places, animals have been threatened as domestic animals have been introduced. Domestic cats have the possibility to kill off rodents and rats have been known to kill small birds and their eggs. Domestic animals seem to crowd many of the native animals. Though pollution is a threat to us, it is a bigger threat to animals. Many chemicals used for farming and industrial waste can drain into bodies of water and harm the animals. The gases and fossil fuel burned can create air pollution, and acid rain poses a threat to animals as well. Toxic chemicals are no better, (WWF, 2015) “They [Toxic chemicals] can travel great distances by air or accumulate in the bodies of animals and humans who absorb chemicals through the skin or ingest them in food or water. While some chemicals may be harmless, others can cause damage.” Says WWF. Finally, the growing human population is killing off many animals. The human population needs more food and shelter making it harder for other animals to survive. We are also going to need to burn more fuel for making more products, energy, and cars.
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What are we doing to stop this? |
Luckily, we aren’t all the bad people who illegally kill animals and bring them to the brink of extinction. Many of us have been trying our best to help bring back the population of animals. We have made laws making it illegal to poach or kill endangered species. For example, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects endangered and threatened wildlife and plants from hunting, trading, and other things that hurt them or their habitats. Since this law was created, many endangered animals, like the bald eagle, and peregrine falcon, have increased in population so much that they aren’t on the endangered list. We have nature reserves where animals can live in their habitat without the worry of being killed. Many people have been working on rebuilding habitats all around the world for animals dying from habitat loss. Though it may be impossible to have an exact copy of the once natural habitat, worldbookonline.com says, (Greta Nilsson, 2016) “Trees cleared by logging can be replanted, re-creating habitat for forest creatures. People can remove dams from rivers and restore wetlands. Parks in cities can provide homes for wildlife.” Another amazing thing people Zoos have been breeding endangered species (captive breeding) and then they returned them to the wild with the hopes of increasing the animal's population. A condor chick has a more positive outcome of survival if it is breed in captivity than in the wild.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, animals in Asia are becoming endangered rapidly. Whether because of wildlife trade or habitat loss. Asia is home to many endangered animals and they all do something for us and our world. Humans play a big part in the endangerment of animals and some animals even have under a few dozen of their species left. Animals are becoming like this due to problems such as deforestation and pollution. We are trying our best to bring these animals back in many ways, such as re-creating habitats, and captive breeding. Maybe you could find a way to help endangered animals.