Endangered animals are defined as species that are at a high risk of going extinct in the wild. As of right now, there are currently “41,415 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and 16, 306 of these are threatened with extinction.” (Day, 2011, p. 3) which is out 8.7 million of different species that currently live on this planet (Black, 2011).
Animals are like tigers, elephants, rhinoceros, and even sea turtles are all endangered with many other animals due to human involvement and activities such as poaching, hunting, pollution, and even the destruction of their habitat.
Hunting and poaching have played a major role in the decline of animals from humans as they see hunting animals for fun, sport, or even as a hobby. But the main reason why animals are being hunted or poached due to markets wants to turn them into products like their fur, skin or any internal body parts and be turned into a luxury item, piece of clothing or even as medicine. A prime example of this is the animal known as the Pangolin where they are eight species of them and all are threatened on the verge of extinction. “The pangolin, now recognized as the world’s most trafficked mammal, is currently undergoing population collapse across South and Southeast Asia” (Aisher, 2016, p. 317). The reason why they are being hunted and poached is because of how profitable they are with their scales and meat as they are being hunted used for traditional Chinese medicine, exotic food clothing items, and other products.
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| The Pangolin, the most traffic species (Sarore, 2021) |
Pollution plays a major role in the animal population declining as it has a toxic effect on the animals that destroys their homes and affect their physical well-being. Plastic pollution, in particular, has drastically destroyed marine life’s as it poisons their home especially when certain marine species as “over 260 species including invertebrates, turtles, fish, seabirds and mammals, have been reported to ingest or become entangled in plastic debris, resulting in impaired movement and feeding, reduced reproductive output, lacerations, ulcers, and death” (Wabnitz & Nichols, 2010, p. 1).
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| Sea Turtle eating plastic that is toxic to them (Mayne, 2006) |
Destruction of wildlife habitats like the forest due to human activities like deforestation, mining, and even agriculture. A prime example of the deforestation of tropical forests in Southeast Asian countries where they destroy these areas mainly for harvesting palm oil as palm oil is used worldwide and profitable. “Tropical forests inhabited by endangered orangutans, rhinos, tigers, and elephants in South-east Asia are threatened by deforestation, including oil palm expansion” (Gatti & Velichevskaya, 2020, p. 1) meaning at the cost of harvesting palm oil, the price are the homes of these endangered species home which would lead to their decline and eventual extinction if nothing is done.
But another big factor that causes numbers of species to decline is climate change which is mainly from humans and man-made activities. Climate change is the change in weather patterns with carbon emission going into the atmosphere as “carbon emissions and entailing climate change also produces habitat loss and species decline” (Sollund, 2012, p. 137).
Animals play an important in the world, especially the eco-system where animals or any living organism live and functions, should a particular species suddenly go extinct it would lead to dire consequences. If these animals have gone it can lead to an overpopulation of species that has the potential to spread disease and destroy forest when stated by Dr. Robert Baldwin by that if a predator goes extinct then can cause a trophic cascade and using deer as an example stated that “they can really change the ecosystem because they can destroy forests, and they also carry disease” (Williams, 2021). But other consequences to the extinction of a species can lead to disrupting the food chain, destroying pollination, and destroying the ecosystem as this system relies on other species to function and if one is gone, then the whole ecosystem will be gone with it.
Not only does the extinction affect the environment and eco-system but also affects humans’ life that has social and economic consequences. Most countries rely on animals for income as they are a “contribution of wildlife tourism to poverty reduction and local livelihoods'' (Homewood, Trench & Brockington, 2012, p. 2), as this helps local communities with income but also the countries tourism industry like multiple countries in Africa that heavily rely on eco-tourism from the animals.
There have been solutions to help these endangered species, researchers and conservationists will use resources and extra effort to ensure these species survive and repopulate their numbers. Some methods are using protection to prevent poachers from targeting them but this is more of a short-term solution. There are long-term solutions that have been efficient and sustainable are educational campaigns to teach and encourage people about these endangered species and how they can assist them. Another long term is zoos and animal conservation breed animals in captivity and reintroduces them to the wild. But seem the most efficient method is boycotting products made from these endangered species as they are being hunted and turned into luxury items to be seen as a high class by “collectors of specimens and exotic pets, luxury products such as caviar” (Hall, MilnerGulland & Courchamp, 2008, p. 77), with the boycott of these products as fewer animals will be killed and turn into these products.
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| Fur coat made from the fur of a Harp Seal pup (1stDibs, 2021) |
