There are 299 mammal species in South Africa, of which two are critically endangered, 11 are endangered, 15 are vulnerable, and 13 are near-threatened. Two of the species listed for South Africa are considered to be extinct.The flora and fauna of South Africa are becoming endangered fast due to different causes such as habitat loss and habitat fragmentation. Following are some of South Africa’s endangered species.
The Bread Palm or Encephalartos Cupidus is a very rare and attractive dwarf cycad with blue green leaves that usually grows to about three feet tall. It may be found in South Africa’s steep slopes, rocky grasslands or in open forests. Its name, Encephalartos Cupidus, means desirable or highly attractive, the name originates from its desirability as a collected plant. The Bread Palm is an endangered species because is was constantly collected and separated from its habitat. Blyde River Nature Reserve keeps the plant safe where it can be monitored and taken care of.
The Disa Physodes Sw. is 250-600 mm tall and has leaves 50-300 mm long and 30-40 mm in diameter. The flower...
specimens with the corresponding scientific description, photographs, specific maps and there are drawings that document the research. This collected images of plants continue the artist’s fascination with documentation, community engagement and art as a way to address larger social issues. This exhibit was interning to me to see all the different plant and to know that plants in the city unknown to most there are often edible, medicinal or even poisonous plants.
Dandelions, known to the botanist as Taraxacum officinale, are classified in the Composite (Compositae) family of flowering plants. The genus name, Taraxacum is derived from the Persian word for "bitter herb," (Myer, 1994). Accompanying the golden ruse of the dandelion are the daisies, aster, sunflowers, goldenrod, Joe Pye weed and many other wildflowers.
...ong, and shorter stalks are 20-100mm long. The flower length from the axils are one to three centimeters long. The optimum flowering time is from May through August. The fruit are pod shaped with seedlings coiled into two to three spirals with a strong net vein three to four millimeters long (montanaplant-life.org).
one time, they lived all across Africa, but are now extinct in northern and southern
...2100 if man continue on their harmful rampage. At the present time, there are 3,947 animals critically endangered and 5,766 endangered. The percentages of animals in danger of extinction are 41% of amphibian species, 33% of reef-building corals, 30% of conifers, 25% of mammals, and 13% of birds. Educator is the country with the highest endangered animals, with an insane 2,211.
are at a very high risk of extinction. There are over 3000 endangered species around the world due to many factors including over-fishing, hunting, destruction of habitat, climate change and a decrease in food supply. As the number of endangered species are increasing quickly it is very important that action is taken to preserve them for a number of reasons. If endangered species are not preserved it could easily lead to the species becoming extinct which could upset the food chain and lead to further extinction of other species. This could have not only negative effects on there predators but would eventually lead to having negative effects on species further up the food chain including the human species. Over the years researches have come to discover and find that all species play an important part in looking after our ecosystem and extinction could cause a big hole in the system.
What exactly does the term endangered species denote? There can be numerous definitions that correctly describe the term. It is any plant or animal whose survival is in jeopardy of becoming extinct. Extinction, of course, is when the species no longer exists, and there is no way it can be brought back to this earth. In most cases, the cause of this displeasing calamity is generally human-related.
Cotton is an annual, biennial or perennial plant, but in cultivation it is generally treated as an annual; herbaceous to short shrub or small tree - two to six feet tall. It consist of a primary axis, erect and branched with a vegetative lower zone having monopodial branches, and a fruiting upper zone with sympodial branches. The leaves of the cotton plant alternate, cordate petiolate, three to nine lobed and palmately veined, with varying size, texture, shape and hairiness. The large, showy, cream yellow, red or purple flowers are extra axillary, terminal, solitary, and borne on sympodial branches. The calyx (= collectively the sepals) consists of a very short cup-shaped structure at the base of the corolla. The five petals of the corolla are either free or slightly united at the base of the convoluted bud (Sundararaj, 1974).
World Commission on Protected Areas (1995-2006) WCPA West and Central Africa Region Key Issues The World Conservation Union
In the world today, there are about five thousand endangered species. Around one species dies every year. Some animals become endangered because people are killing them for their horns, as in the case of the Black Rhino of Africa. Others become extinct because pesticides are put on the food we eat, causing the animals that eat the insects off the plant to become contaminated, which causes their predators to become contaminated, which often affects the shell of that organism?s egg. Here is a list of the endangered species, 91 endangered birds, 76 endangered mammals, 36 endangered reptiles, 21 endangered amphibians, 115 endangered fish, 70 endangered clams, 35 endangered snails, 44 endangered insects, 12 endangered arachnids, 21 endangered crustaceans, 594 endangered flowering plants.
The dynamic natural environment and abundant wildlife are the most prominent features of the African continent. Due to its wide variety of biomes ranging from tropical forests to arid deserts, Africa consists of bountiful wildlife diversity. However, because of environmentally harmful human interactions, the variety of biomes is shrinking to all-time lows, which causes wildlife to die out. These detrimental human interactions, particularly livestock overgrazing and desertification, occur partly because the native people who depend on the land for daily life do not realize the potential benefits of wildlife and the unsustainability of their current ways. Poaching for horns and other valuable animal parts has also contributed to the decreasing amount of species present in the wild. However, the methods for conserving the wildlife environment differ in how they address the issue of the dwindling wildlife populations. The conventional method of conservation created in the mold of the Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State (also known as the London Convention) involves the complete centralization of wildlife resources to the government. The newer, more effective method called the Sustainable Use Approach makes drastic changes to the London Convention principles by decentralizing ownership of wildlife and allowing small communities and villages to manage it themselves.
The African elephant’s range has declined by over 50 percent since 1979 – and their populations are breaking up
Due to lack of the lack of management and resources in the conservation programs has led to a further increase in poaching which has triggered to drastic decline in elephant populations. According to the Huffington post, a reputable news source, it reports, “an estimated 22,000 elephants were illegally killed across Africa in 2012”. In February alone there were as many as “650 elephants killed in a matter of days” If the elephant death continues at such a rapid rate it could lead to their demise. “Elephant poaching could wipe out 20 percent of African population in [the] next decade” (Huffington Post). An extinction in elephants would mean the possibly of many other species becoming endangered of going extinct as well.
In our world today we have approximately 26,021 endangered species. Endangered species are organisms that may possible become extinct. The term 'endangered species' refers to all species that fits this description. However some conservation biologists and scientists normally use the term ‘endangered species’ to refer to species that are put on the IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature)Red List. Many factors can be looked at when considering the conservation status of a species. Factors such as human threats or environmental threats can cause a species to become endangered.
Shah, Anup. Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions. Global Issues, 19 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 May 2014.