The Importance Of Species Endangerment

My research aims first necessitated a fundamental understanding of species endangerment in a general sense. Put simply, the term “endangerment” encompasses all those species who are significantly threatened with eventual extinction. The most popular and comprehensive method of quantifying and assessing the extent of a given species’ endangerment is the IUCN Red List, a scientific inventory which self-professedly aims to “catalyze appropriate conservation action” through the monitoring of species population and diversity. Beyond the basic categories of “extinct” and “endangered,” the IUCN further prioritizes species based upon the perceived criticality of their individual levels of endangerment; for example, “critically endangered” species,

Specifically, most industrial fishing operations catch—and, thereby, usually kill—organisms that are not the primary fishing target, a mechanism of overfishing commonly referred to as “bycatch.” These incidental mortalities especially contribute to species endangerment when they affect those species with relatively long life expectancies and low reproduction rates; for instance, estimates indicate that thousands of already-endangered marine turtles suffer bycatch from shrimp and prawn trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and US Atlantic annually (Epperly et al., 80). The extent to which I could collect precise statistical data, however, was indeed limited and problematic: bycatch prevalence rates remain only roughly estimated, with collectable data being limited by the lack documentation of non-target species capture in tandem with the natural distribution patterns of the affected marine species. (Lewison et al., 599) To recall my earlier example, sea turtles’ migratory trajectory averages over 1,300 miles annually and even includes terrestrial component during egg laying and hatchling travel, making it especially difficult to quantify sea turtle populations

Though ostensibly similar to the aforementioned mechanisms of overexploitation, illegal wildlife trading systems differ essentially in their levels of necessity; that is to say, though illegal wildlife trade too encompasses the transmission of such life-essential products as meat and flora, it is also often aesthetically underscored, manifesting as—for example,— illicit exotic pet keeping and ivory collection. Within the latter example, non-indigenous animals are trafficked and kept for human companionship; oftentimes, trafficking procedures operate negligently of individual species’ levels of endangerment and sustainability, ultimately proving devastatingly destructive against both the captured pets as individuals as well as the habitats from which they are wrongfully withdrawn. Beyond the more shocking examples of tigers and chimpanzees, illegal wildlife trading systems impact even socio-culturally celebrated and accepted species. For example, although parrots are the most popularly kept order of birds, over 37% of the world’s population of parrot species is listed by the IUCN as being threatened with extinction. Parrot endangerment, indeed, corresponds to the bird’s commercial popularity and resultant overexploitation within illegal trading mechanisms. Generally, parrot harvesting entails either the forceful capture of eggs and hatchlings from their respective nests or the removal