Habitat destruction, deforestation, ozone depletion, global warming, and poaching. These actions and ecological happenings are creating a world where animals are going extinct at rapid rates. Our world is on the brink of what scientists believe is the sixth mass extinction. Unlike the five previous mass extinction, the latest one killing a majority of the dinosaurs, the main causes for this current extinction are anthropogenic reasons, not natural events.
Scientists calculate that without humans about one to five species would die a year, which is considered the background rate of extinction. But in our current society human activities are destroying many of the chances these animals need to survive. We as a planet are killing species at a rate 1,000 to 10,000 times more than the expected rate. Unlike previous extinctions 99% of the species, listed on the endangered species list, established by the endangered species act, became threatened due to human activities, such as the introduction of invasive species, habitat destruction, and global warming (The Extinction Crisis).
What can we do to stop this? How can we save the very animals we have endangered and threatened?
The Species Survival Plan:
The AZA, Associations of Zoos and Aquariums, have set up a worldwide system to attempt to save these very threatened animals. The program is called the Species Survival Plan. As part of the species survival plan, zoos and aquariums in conjunction with AZA follow a system of rules and plans to help promote the care of these endangered animals in facilities. Each animal, out of the over 500 species AZA protects, has their own management system as set up by the various . The plans are devoted to maintaining genetically diverse populations ...
... middle of paper ...
...ears old and are ready to attempt to bring back the species. At the Turtleback zoo, the main zookeeper for the leopards Danielle agreed to be interviewed for the project. She said as part of the Species Survival Plan, each zoo equipped with the facilities to house the leopards are given a breeding pair in hopes they can produce viable offspring. After the cubs are born, the father is sent away and the babies stay with the mother for about a year. After this year, the cubs, from zoos around the world with Amur leopards, in the Species Survival Program, are paired up by the genetic variation of the new offspring. They are sent to different zoo with their breeding pair to repeat the process. Some of the pairs may even be sent back their natural habitat and be released into the wild in order to boost the wild population (Interview with Turtleback Zookeeper Danielle).
Some captive species even have problematic changes in reproduction such as not be able to reproduce anymore (Lynn 1817). These changes in behavior and high cost are a major factor in whether these programs are sophisticated and whether the animals can be reintroduced into the wild and if it would benefit their
They are the stars, they’re the attraction people travel hundreds of miles to see. The Denver Zoo is known for their community service work and how they save animals and bring them into their safe environment. Not only do they rescue animals in danger, they also play a huge role in the breeding and cultivation of endangered species such as the endangered Panamanian Golden Frog. They have research facilities in Botswana, Mongolia, the Rocky Mountains, the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia, and Vietnam. From these facilities they conduct important and developmental research that is integral to the growing field of animal medicine and animal care. Toano the Bald Eagle is an example of the type of creatures they rescue and bring to their zoo. Toana was found by the Wildlife Game and Fish when he was found sick with the West Nile Virus. He was brought to the Denver Zoo after his recovery and rehabilitation back to good health. He has been with the Denver Zoo since 2000. Another story of not saving a specific animal, but of a successful breeding was the mating of two Amur tigers. Zaria from Denver Zoo and a male from Hogle Zoo were sent to Asia to perform their task, where they successfully mated and provided a strong genetic line. The procedure of mating is a very important process to the environment and is a priority for Denver
Humans are destructive. Not a lot of us think about how what we do affects the world around us. We almost act like we are the only ones on this planet. We go around polluting and destroying our world with no regard for our actions. The things that live out in the wild are paying the price for it. Every day that passes there is another animal or plant that is placed on an endangered list. This is happening at an alarming rate. Because of man’s desire to expand and conquer their surroundings, there are animals and plants that are on the brink of extinction that will not be around for our kids and future generations to enjoy if something is not done about it now. This problem has been going on for hundreds of years. There are animals and plants that can only been seen in paintings or early photography. It is because of our early ancestors that we have this problem today and we have to do more to prevent more animals and plants from disappearing forever.
The movie, Racing Extinction, was a great insight on how humanity is about to cause the 6th mass extinction. One way that humans are causing the sixth mass extinction is carbon emissions. Our factories, methods of transportation, and dietary needs are putting an awful lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carbon we release then enters the oceans and this is making the oceans more acidic, which is killing aquatic life. Another way humans are causing the 6th mass extinction is over hunting. This was prevalent in Indonesia and China, where people were bringing mantas and a particular species of shark close to extinction trying to profit from the species’ valuable body parts.
Earth has gone through five fully major extinctions before. We currently are in the process of Earth’s sixth mass extinction. This mass extinction is closely related in severity to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Earth’s extinctions are broken into three different areas. The first area was the large number of animals caught by hunter-gathers. The discovery of agriculture led to the second area of extinction, wildlife habitats. These wildlife habitats were destroyed due to humans starting to stay in one area.
Because of breeding, such endangered species, two examples of which being the golden lion tamarin and the Przewalski’s wild horse, have improved in numbers significantly (Smithsonian). Although they are bred in captivity, it protects and preserves the animals from s...
In the wild, female elephants are constantly pregnant or nursing. This is natural for them because their instincts tell them that they need to keep their number up in the wild or else they will be preyed on to extinction. In zoos it is much harder to accomplish this. Since there are so few elephants in North American zoos, it is hard to form breeding pairs without inbreeding. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums or AZA is an organization which is in charge of and supervises all of the zoos and aquariums in North America. Even if the elephants are just distant cousins, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums will not allow them to breed together. This is to prevent diseases and other problems from emerging. Zoos also cannot bring in new blood to breed with their elephants because new elephants are no longer ...
== = = Human beings are dependent on the Earth's diversity of species for our survival. Wild species play a vital role in the maintenance of the planets ecological functions, yet everyday on the planet 40-100 species become extinct.
...a faster rate than ever. Data from graphs evidently prove this theory. From the graph the greatest leap of extinction is seen 1920s till now. This trend line is drastically increasing (figure 4). Experts say that approximately half of the world’s current species will be entirely gone by the end of the century, hence proving that we are in the middle of an anthropogenic mass extinction.
Any species which fall into the categories vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered are considered to be at risk of extinction. Robert Redford said “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security defense of our resource’s because it’s just as important as defense abroad otherwise what is there to defend?” People should all take the environment more seriously and protect the future for those to come. It’s our responsibility to ensure that the children to come may enjoy all of earth’s beauty, and not through old issues of National Geographic’s.
Because the CO2 levels are rising, the ice caps are melting and many more animals can become extinct. When pangea started splitting, there was a lot of volcanic activity, which cause the death of many dinosaurs. A meteor also hit earth and the mass extinction of many land and marine animals happened. There have been five mass extinctions in Earth’s history. The worst one wiped out ninety-six percent of marine life and seventy percent of land organisms. This took millions of years to recover.
Everyone’s all seen those wildlife shows on tv. The shows on National Geographic and such, showing animals in beautiful environments, everything lush and growing and nothing at all wrong that could threaten these creatures and places. But, have anyone seen the other side? The side where all these beautiful creatures and plants starve, are decimated by predators that have never been there before, and sometime even become poisoned by their very own homes and habitats? Of course no one has. That doesn’t mean that its not happening. It is happening, and its happening everywhere. And guess who is to blame? People. Society. Humans as a race pollute the environment, hunt animals simply for their parts, fish way more than humans will ever need just for the sake of money, introduce new species to new places for our own gain, and even purposefully destroy entire regions just for human expansion. And its starting to take its toll. While it is true that nature is constantly in flux and certain species come and go, humans are causing more species to disappear in the past few hundred years then nature has ever caused since the age of the dinosaurs, and therefore it is up to humans to repair the damage caused, be it cleaning the environment and habitats of these creatures, or taking more direct action to protect and preserve the species that are on the brink of extinction.
Some main causes of Endangerment are habitat loss, pollution, hunting, competition from non-native plants and animals, plant collecting, logging, clearing forests, and trading animal parts. The growing population also causes some problems because men cause most problems. Diseases or viruses are also a problem.
There is nothing normal about today’s rate of extinction. Booming human population growth over the last two century’s has put and continues to put many life forms in danger. The problem is no one knows how extinction of organisms will affect the other members of its ecosystem but the removal of a single species can set off a chain reaction affecting others. Species are lost as their habitats are destroyed. In nineteen seventy three congress passed the endangered species act recognizing that endangered and threatened species of wild life and plants are esthetic,ecological,historical,recreational and scientific value to the nation and its people. The question is are we doing enough to save and protect the wildlife and plants.
Pollution is the main offender in the disruption of several animal and plant ecosystems. We are the base problem for the pollution that is taking away from our wildlife and plant life. We burn heaps of garbage that is dumped out at sites, with machines that run on fossil fuels. These fuels are tainting the air and having a national effect on the world around us. This effect being,global warming. With temperatures at a rise from the constant burning of fossil fuels and the sickly gas puffing out of our mufflers,we are slowly killing wildlife across the globe. One example of an animal species that is being greatly impacted by global warming is the polar bear. Due to the rapidly changing climate temperature,sea ice platforms are breaking off and slowly drifting apart. This makes it very difficult for polar bears to hunt because they can only spend a short time submerged under the arctic waters before they have to reach land,in this case sea ice. Although the polar bear has not been placed on the endanger species list,researches say that they could be on there very soon. Another issues surrounding pollution and the safety of our wild life would be the contamination of soils. The contamination of soils has been cause to the tainting of vegetation that our wildlife ingests. This contamination is caused by metals and other things such as coal ash. Due to past use of