Endangered Species
More than 10 million species are yet to be discovered in the world, many of which are found in the deepest parts of the ocean, some, too small to see without a microscope. Some of these species are endangered due to the rate at which their habitats are being destroyed, many of the discovered species that are not endangered are to be endangered soon due to the previously stated reason. (Endangered Species International) Species in the world are being endangered in more than one way including: habitat destruction, moving a species into a new habitat, and abusing the use of the species. The species of the world are a great part of everyday life; they give humans the basic needs to survive and also provide other species with their needs to survive.(“Endangered Species”) Species are endangered in many ways and there are many organizations working to make the world safe from extinction.
Some people are confused about what an endangered animal is. As said by Environment Advisor, "endangered species are those considered to be at risk of extinction, meaning that there are so few left of their kind that they could disappear from the planet altogether." (“Endangered Species”) There are many endangered species across the world that need the attention of people that are willing to help them from going extinct. Some people, however, think that saving the endangered species is a waste of time. These people choose to believe in natural selection. Natural Selection
The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years . Creatures across the land, rivers, and the seas are destroyed as humans killed them for food in unsuitable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats.
Since earth was created, there has been a natural phenomenon of species across the globe appearing and disappearing. However, in the past century, many species of animals have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Mainly, this rapidly occurring issue is caused by humans. Humans that contribute to the harmful actions that cause side effects such a pollution, deforestation, habitat loss and poaching. The natural rate of extinction pales in comparison to the extinction rate caused by all of these. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the current rate of extinction is 11,000 times greater than the natural extinction rate. Several different efforts have been made in order to stop or slow down the extinction of earth’s species. The Endangered Species Act is possibly the most successful example of these efforts. It’s main purpose is to get a commitment from the American people that they will work hand in hand to help save species that are at risk of becoming extinct and never returning. This act was put in place in 1973 and since then, no other law about the disappearance of wildlife has been quite as accomplished. Many different species that are protected under this law are either fully recovered or on their way to becoming safer. Laws like these are helping many different creatures left and right, however, at the alarming rate that they are disappearing, something else needs to be done. What people don’t seem to realize is that we depend on many of the animals that we are
Many species vital to ensuring that today’s environment will thrive are becoming extinct. If a species is slowly dwindling, and in imminent danger of becoming nonexistent, this species is considered to be endangered. “One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70% of the world’s assessed plants on the… IUCN Red List are in jeopardy” (IUCN, 2016). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, upwards of 16,000 species are threatened with extinction, including both plants and animals (IUCN, 2016). Before becoming endangered, a species will show warning signs, either by starting to lose biological diversity or by losing the habitats for that species to flourish in, or in the worst case, both. The word endangered can sometimes be confused with threatened, extirpated, or extinct. Extirpated refers to the state of a species where its population has died out in a certain area or range, but other populations of said species still exist elsewhere (Olden, Julian D., 2008). When a species is considered threatened, or vulnerable, this refers to the state of the species being susceptible to endangerment and extinction (“Extinction crisis escalates”). So if a species is threatened, the first signs of endangerment come along, which are similar signs to that of a species in danger of becoming threatened, including lack of genetic diversity, or overhunting may be evident. (“Extinction crisis escalates”). When a species is labelled
An endangered species is a plant or an animal at risk of becoming extinct. Scientists have estimated that up to one-third of species in the U.S. are at a high risk of extinction. In addition to donating millions of acres of land, this is essential to the recovery and survival of the endangered; the Act has shown a ninety percent recovery rate for species in the U.S. The main causes of endangerment include loss of habitat, excessive hunting, and pollution.
Conservation of our biodiversity not only demonstrates foresight, it protects the natural resources so vital to our own continued existence. The value of any single species to an ecosystem is immeasurable; the environment will not endure without its species, despite size or niche. These animals are not dispensable. And, they are apt to face extinction in the not too distant future, unless a resolve for their preservation is insisted by the public and enforced by governments internationally.
Long-term survival of a species depends on its ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions (Murphy, 1994). Genetic diversity within a species, which has taken 3.5 billion years to evolve, makes adaptations to these changing environments possible. Unfortunately, the rate of extinction of genetically diverse organisms is rapidly increasing, thus reducing this needed biodiversity, largely due to the human impacts of development and expansion. What was an average of one extinction per year before is now one extinction per hour and extinct species numbers are expected to reach approximately one million by the year 2000 (WWW site, Bio 65). As a result governmental and societal action must
A report from Recovering America’s Wildlife Crisis states, “More than 150 species have already gone extinct and about 40% of freshwater fish species are imperiled.” Animals are being killed off by the minute. Now the wildlife species are going to abolished from Earth.
In today’s world, hardly any species of wildlife become extinct from natural causes. Europeans hunt animals to such an extent that we classify it as overhunting. We destroy their habitat, and introduce other animals that are a threat to endangered animals or are competition for resources and food. Habitat destruction is the greatest threat to both animals and plants.
Over the past decade, permitted by the Species at Risk Act (“SARA”), the former Conservative Government of Canada made a series of decisions that raise troubling ques-tions with regard to the conservation of endangered species in Canada. This essay exam-ines how the lenient wording of SARA permitted the Federal Government to circumvent the intent of the Act and to inadequately protect the country’s endangered species.
Elizabeth Kolbert, a journalist, took her curiosity of science and traveled all around the world to see just how the lives of different varieties of species deal with predators, habitat changes, climate changes, etc. Just some of the places Kolbert visited were the United States, Panama, France, the island of Ischia, One Tree Island, and many, many more. Extinction, the disappearance of a particular species, is a crucial topic in this particular book. Many species over the whole entire world, are quickly declining in numbers. Humans have a vital responsibility for some of these species going extinct, and we need to advertise what we are doing to animals world wide so we aren’t a source of the majority of extinctions.
An endangered species is defined by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as "an animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range." In the United States, these animals can be listed under and protected by the Endangered Species Act. Endangered Species in the United States include the black-footed ferret and the California red-legged frog. The International Union for Conservation of Nature also keeps a Red List of Threatened Species, the most widely recognized list of endangered and threatened species. On this list, for example, are all the surviving subspecies of tiger, which range from endangered to critically
Surprisingly, in spite of scientist’s concern for the future of biodiversity and how many species might go extinct, scientists do not know the total number of species, in fact their best estimate is between three and ten million (Mora
Bill Freedmen, author of “Endangered Species—Human Causes Of Extinction and Endangerment” notes, “scientists approximate that present extinction rates are 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than the average natural extinction rate.” These distressing numbers should be acted upon to save the endangered species and avoid the catastrophic change to this planet if these species were to become extinct. In order to produce change, people need to recognize that habitat loss, climate change, and poaching are all factors in why our animal species are going extinct.
Endangered species contain of plants and animals, it is a type of organism that is threatened by extinction because their home was destroyed or loss of their genetic variation. (National Geographic 3). A species can be classified as vulnerable if its population has declined 30-50%. The first ever huge call for broad supposed to save animals was in 1961 by Morges Manifesto (Mclaughlin 5) Endangered species can become endangered from being hunted, loss of food, loss of home, and their genetic variation decreasing at a fast rate. Sometimes animal or even plant species could die off very quickly, or it can take a long time. Jut like the polar bear, it began being extinct years ago, and as of today they are still dying off because their homes are melting.
Many species are becoming extinct due to environmental issues, pollution, and change in habitats. When an animal becomes extinct, it means the last of their kind has died many of these beautiful and ravishing animals that reside in the world may never be seen again. The endangered species that are still living do not have much of a future if something is not done about it. Humans are not the only ones on the planet and as the human population goes up another species has been wiped out of existence humans can fix what they started. Endangered animals is a topic that is overlooked and needs to be addressed it needs humans full attention because they are the ones that can truly make a change.