Transcript CAUSES OF ENDANGERMENT - species-in

Wild animals are beautiful creatures with varying sizes, colors,
and habitats. Although some can be seen in zoos, the place they are
meant to be is in their own environment. Unfortunately, animals such as
whales, panda bears and sea otters, are not always safe in these places
and are dying out. What is causing their threat of extinction? Several
factors have an influence on this growing problem.
When discussing the causes of endangerment, it is important to
understand that individual species are not the only factors involved in
this dilemma. Endangerment is a broad issue, one that involves the
habitats and environments where species live and interact with one
another. Although some measures are being taken to help specific cases
of endangerment, the universal problem cannot be solved until humans
protect the natural environments where endangered species dwell.
There are many reasons why a particular species may become
endangered. Although these factors can be analyzed and grouped, there
are many causes that appear repeatedly.
I found it amazing, when I was doing
research on wild animal endangerment, what
information is out there. I have done extensive
research on this topic because it really struck
home with me. I have been helping to rescue
animals for several years and realized that the
issue of animal endangerment goes just beyond
domestic pets.
Three hundred and fifty wild species have been
lost on our planet in the last fifteen years.
Beautiful, sometimes dangerous, they are an
essential part of our global eco-system. Each
fills a place that is part of our inter-dependent
planetary survival.
Sometimes a danger that affects
a wild species may be survivable,
but the danger can be transferred
to a domestic or semi-domestic
species.
This applies in the case of the
wild bumblebee. It can survive
the varrao mite but that mite kills
the Honey bee.
Travel by humans and the
transportation of goods can bring
dangerous diseases from one part of
the world to another. For example the
transportation of rabid racoons from
Florida to Georgia by hunters has
encouraged that rabid disease to travel
north to Canada's Eastern Provinces.
We are all familiar with the efforts
made to rescue seabirds and mammals from
oil spills. South Africa made a huge and
successful effort to clean and rehabilitate
penguins after an offshore oil spill. Excessive
warming of the planet is a less visible killer.
Some species are abandoning their
traditional migration routes. Alternatively they
depart later and return earlier thus damaging
their nesting instincts and our reliance on
nature's pollinators to seed the earth.
Wetlands, forests and other areas of
wilderness habitat are rapidly diminishing.
For example the Gran Chaco of Brazil is
being transformed into farmland, displacing
both wildlife and its indigenous peoples.
Natural environmental change is slow and
allows nature and animals in the wild to
adapt. Turning wilderness areas into
farmland leaves no time for adaptation and
the animals become homeless and
threatened.
Hunting, trapping, and poisoning
to protect livestock have taken a great toll
among predatory mammals and birds.
Overharvesting is currently threatening
species worldwide, especially food fish
species such as the cod. A large number
of species are threatened by introduced
species, or “exotics,” plants or animals
wich bring with them diseases or the
ability to compete more effectively than
native species.
Another important threat is destruction of habitat by chemical
pollutants. For example, bird populations have suffered great losses
because of insecticides. The chemicals they contain, such as DDT,
accumulate in birds' bodies and interfere with calcium metabolism. As a
result, the females lay eggs with extremely thin shells or no shells at all, so
the embryos do not survive to hatching. Acid rain has destroyed the habitats
of many North American fish and amphibians by lowering the PH of surface
waters. It is also changing the soil chemistry and harming many tree
species.
Most serious of all, the destruction of physical habitat—by the
drainage and filling of swamps and marshes, by the damming of rivers, by
the leveling of forests for residential and industrial development, by strip
mining, and by oil spills and water pollution—has left many creatures with
literally no room in which to live and breed.
Habitat destruction
Our planet is continually changing, causing
habitats to be altered and modified. Natural changes
tend to occur at a gradual pace, usually causing only a
slight impact on individual species. However, when
changes occur at a fast pace, there is little or no time
for individual species to react and adjust to new
circumstances. This can create disastrous results, and
for this reason, rapid habitat loss is the primary cause
of species endangerment.
The strongest forces in rapid habitat loss are human beings. Nearly every
region of the earth has been affected by human activity, particularly during this past
century. The loss of microbes in soils that formerly supported tropical forests, the
extinction of fish and various aquatic species in polluted habitats, and changes in global
climate brought about by the release of greenhouse gases are all results of human
activity.
It is hard to identify or predict human effects on individual species and habitats,
especially during a human lifetime, but it is quite apparent that human activity has
greatly to species endangerment.
For example, although tropical forests may look as
though they are lush, they are actually highly
susceptible to destruction.
It may take Centuries to re-grow a forest
that was cut down by humans or destroyed by fire,
and many of the world's severely threatened
animals and plants live in these forests.
Introduction of exotic species
Native species are those plants and animals that are part of a
specific geographic area, and have ordinarily been a part of that particular
biological landscape for a lengthy period of time. They are well adapted to
their local environment and are accustomed to the presence of other native
species within the same general habitat. Exotic species, however, are
interlopers. These species are introduced into new environments by way of
human activities, either intentionally or accidentally. These interlopers are
viewed by the native species as foreign elements. They may cause no
obvious problems and may eventual be considered as natural as any native
species in the habitat. However, exotic species may also seriously disrupt
delicate ecological balances and may produce a plethora of unintended yet
harmful consequences.
The worst of these unintended yet harmful consequences arise when
introduced exotic species put native species in jeopardy by preying on them.
This can alter the natural habitat and can cause a greater competition for
food. Species have been biologically introduced to environments all over the
world, and the most destructive effects have occurred on islands. Introduced
insects, rats, pigs, cats, and other foreign species have actually caused the
endangerment and extinction of hundreds of species during the past five
centuries. Exotic species are certainly a factor leading to endangerment.
Pollution
Because animals are all intertwined on the food chain,
contamination of a water source that a species drinks for
example, will not only effect them, but the animal that eats
them as well, having the ability to cause cancer and other
deadly diseases. If a mother drinks toxins, they become apart of
her milk and she passes on those toxins to her babies. Because
the off spring are considerably smaller than the mother, these
chemicals and toxins will have a greater negative impact on
them. Among these problems is a shorter life span, directly
effecting the time they have to reproduce and multiply their
species, not to mention the damage the pollutions have already
caused on their systems and ability to thrive.
Contamination of water due to oil spills is another large
problem. Because oil and water do not mix, and oil floats to the
top and spreads easily and quickly, it is that much harder to
clean up. Oil spills may be due to natural disasters, such as
hurricanes, or can happen by people who do not want to dispose
of oil properly and dump it into the ocean to get rid of it. Birds
can be covered and will not be able to fly because of their
feathers being covered. Oil covers sea otters and coats their fur,
covering the air bubbles in their fur which are there to help them
stay warm in freezing waters. Due to the oil coating these
bubbles they die of hypothermia. So many different animals
dying in mass quantity from oil spills also contributes to animal
endangerment.
Hunting, Fishing and Whaling
One of the greatest effects on water animals, such as whales, is
exploitation. Exploitation is decreasing a particular species faster than nature is able
to replace the population. Whaling has been a large contributor to the decrease of
whales in the ocean. This unrestricted hunting or whaling purpose was for their skin,
fur, teeth, meat or other reasons. Although some organizations, such as the
International Whaling Commission (IWC) have been established, as well as laws and
regulations, people do not always follow these laws and whales are still hunted.
Animal parts make a lot of money and illegal activities pursued for the money that
people can make.
In Japan whale is still a popular dish and hunted for consumption. Along
with whaling, other fishing takes place. Large nets for fishing can entangle species
they are not meant to capture, nor desired to capture. These lives are lost as a
negative by product of mass commercial fishing efforts. The large commercial
fishing takes out so many animals, so quickly that they can not replace
themselves.
Human carelessness seems to be the overriding influence on all these
factors.
As people are concerned about the impact that their choices and actions make on wild
life, their habitats and environments will be protected. People taking precautions will
effect the environment for humans and wild animals alike.
In conclusion, disease, pollution,
and limited distribution are more factors
that threaten various plant and animal
species. If a species does not have the
natural genetic protection against
particular pathogens, an introduced
disease can have severe effects on that
specie. For example, rabies and canine
distemper viruses are presently
destroying carnivore populations in East
Africa. Domestic animals often transmit
the diseases that affect wild populations,
demonstrating again how human
activities lie at the root of most causes
of endangerment. Pollution has seriously
affected multiple terrestrial and aquatic
species, and limited distributions are
frequently a consequence of other
threats.
Populations confined to few
small areas due to of habitat loss, for
example, may be disastrously affected
by random factors.
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