Animal species on earth are going extinct at a rate never seen since the extinction of the dinosaurs. About 200 animal species go extinct every day, which is about 1000 times the natural rate of extinction. If it continues to stay at this rate this would mean seriously consequences for our planet.
One of the main causes of animal extinction is global warming. This happens when global warming heats up the habitat of an animal and this can cause animals which are not adapted to it to be affected.
Habitat loss is another cause. This occurs when humans or some natural cause takes away animals’ natural habitat making it harder for them to find food and shelter. Forms of habitat loss include deforestation and desertification.
Another major cause of extinction is hunting and poaching. Hunting and poaching may be done for meat, fur, bones or medical use and trophy hunting. This is done all over the world and hunting isn’t bad if it is done moderately. But if hunting and poaching is done excessively it could endanger the entire species’ survival.
We humans must take responsibility for the rise in the extinction rate and do something about it. We are the main reason many animal species get wiped out and it is not doing us any good. There are many ways we can help save animals from going extinct and I will discuss a few in this post.
One of the best ways to help animals in danger of going extinct is to protect the habitat in which they live. We can turn forests, mountains and other environments into national parks to protect their habitats. We must also take care of these parks and prevent them from being used as places in which animals cannot thrive in. This will cause extinction due to habitat loss to fall dramatically.
Another way to help stop extinction is to do what you can to slow down global warming. You can recycle more, use more sustainable energy, you can campaign for big companies to be more environmentally friendly and raise awareness of the issue of global warming. This may also help slow the rate of animal extinction by global warming.
Ways to stop animal extinction due to poaching include hiring rangers to protect wild animals and to stop and deter people from hunting animals illegally, reduce the market for ivory, fur, traditional medicines and other unnecessary uses of animals. We can also help by not purchasing unneeded animal products or product that are produced by destroying the habitat of animals. For example, in Indonesia palm oil is often grown on land that used to be a forest that was home to orangutans.
Organisations have already tried and succeeded in using some of these methods to help fight animal extinction. For example, in 1975 there were only 600 Indian rhinos in the world. Their main threat was poaching. To help save this animal the Indian government improved the protection of the animals and started anti-poaching programs in the area. And now, thanks to these conservation efforts, there are over 3000 Indian rhinos alive today.
You too can help save animals from extinction. You can start off small, like recycling, and then you can eventually do something bigger, like joining an animal protection charity. But it doesn’t matter what you do, just as long as you do something to help.
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