Research Paper on Extinction & Endangered Species: A Human-Catalyzed Catastrophe

Introduction

Extinction is a natural phenomenon that occurs in wild animals and plants. An animal is said to be extinct when none of its species is still alive on earth, and it is a natural course of evolution. The problem comes when the process is catalyzed or hastened by human actions. This is what causes the mass number of species going to extinction in a short period instead of letting the natural causes occur which takes place over a long period. The second term is an endangered species. It is almost relayed to the animal extinction as one comes after the other. The endangered species are those animals that are on the verge of extinction. Only a few animals remain and after they die the species is proclaimed extinct. Some of the natural causes of animal extinction include the natural selection where the conditions standing do not favor the animal and hence are naturally eliminated (Tawil). This can be through predation by other animals, climate and weather change that threatens the animal's existence, lack of its primary food due to migration and drought leading to starvation of the animal species.

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The major extinction the occurred in the historical evolution; then there was the evolution that took place 66 million years ago. It was a catastrophe that would cause the death of almost eighty percent of the world's living organisms. An asteroid the size of a mountain came falling to earth at great speeds of up to 64,000 km/hr. The impact it had on the earth surface was the creation of a large crater that would cover hundreds of miles killing every living creature on its path. This was the time when the age of dinosaurs came to an end. Almost all the dinosaurs died instantly. Hence, the most feared incident that if by chance another one of such case happens, there would be mass deaths and the damages would be irreversible (Oshima 236). It is one of the examples that shows the kind of extinction that was caused by natural calamities. As compared to the current situation, the major causes of extinction are humans. Even though this kind of extinction at present is not instant such as the one explained, it is the most dangerous since it is not visible the effects will only be felt after the damage had been caused.

Some reasons can be due to the animal breeding patterns such as those of the California condor bird. It has a low birthrate that makes if endangered species. At the moment it should have gone to extinction if not for the scientists and the zoo owners who managed to regenerate the bird from taking its egg (Tawil). Such animal will fail to multiply to the point that the birthrates will be able to counter the number of death rates reducing their population tremendously to the point that there are no living species and the animal is said to be extinct. That is what happened to this bird if not for the scientist who bred the animal in the zoos. They incubated it and took care of the young birds in the zoo and the project was successful the bird population at the zoo is now growing. Pollution such as dumpsites may attract some animals to forage in them for food. This will eventually kill the animals since the sites harbor diseases, and the animals end up ingesting chemicals that are harmful to their bodies leading to the spread of diseases and deaths. The natural causes of the species going to extinct due to lack of evolution are common. During the evolution times, animals tend to change and adapt to the new environment as a result of a change in the climate and weather. All the existing animals currently must have evolved from something different for example before, the giraffe did not have a long neck, and due to evolution and adaptations, it had to survive by growing a long neck. Those animals that failed to develop in this way became extinct (Tawil).

At the moment, there are two top causes of animal extinction, to begin with, is the destruction of habitats. Due to human activities animals, the natural home has been destroyed majorly by human settlement encroaching into the forested areas lived by these animals. When the natural habitat is destroyed the animals are left exposed and vulnerable, this reduces the food availability and exposes the animals to poaching and other death casing agents. Hence the animals begin dying one by one, and within no time all the species become extinct from earth.

The second major cause is environmental pollution. Pollution is caused by the deposition of waste matter into the environment hence making it unhealthy to live in. It may be through air, water, soil, and land pollution. Water pollution has led to mass deaths of aquatic life. At this time the marine lives are vulnerable to infections and deaths. The zoos are the only places that some of the endangered species are found, some of the animals in these zoos are the only single species remaining on earth. Animals such as the New Guinea singing dog is an example of an animal that is the only one remaining of such species. The animals were dying because they were mistaken for the typical wild dog, it was only later that it was discovered to be different and it was too late only a few numbers had remained, and now they are kept at the zoos for protection. Another most featured animal that is at the verge of extinction is the Pinta Island tortoise, and it is the only remaining tortoise. The animal was rescued and taken to the zoo when the vegetation of the island was cleared leaving it exposed and no food. It is said that the animal is the only one remaining and once it dies that will be the end of that generation hence nicknamed the loneliest animal on earth at the moment putting into consideration that none of its close species are nonexistent (Lovejoy 8441). All the above are a result of human actions of poaching, land clearing, and environmental degradation.

The animals have to be protected, and there are several organizations, both governmental and non-governmental that are working towards the restoration of the animal species. The government through the police force and the courts managed to make laws to protect the wildlife where the law perpetrators would be taken into the arms of the law to be answerable for their acts. They are working towards educating the crowds and providing funds to ensure that the animal is protected from any form of causes that may bring them to the verge of extinction (Lovejoy 8440). Organizations such as the Defenders of wildlife are always on their toes to ensure that the animals are protected, they are always ready to go to the field and even to courts to ensure that justice is found and the perpetrators of animal poaching and brought to justice.

Animal extinction is not only a blow to the animal species fraternity but also have detrimental effects on humanity itself. When animals go extinct, the intrinsic advantages obtained from them goes along with them. The best examples are the bees and pollination. Even though other animals take part in pollution as well as other agents such as water and wind, all the plants that depend on bees for pollination well die. When one imagines what would happen if all bees die, it shows their importance on earth. Bees are the primary pollinators of all flowers worldwide, and studies have shown that if all bees are to be extinct, more than half of the plant population would be unproductive and would be extinct too within and short period. This shows how far humanity would be affected it also shows that after a while the human population would decrease if the plant population has reduced by more than half.

One of the animals that when it went to extinction showed its importance to human was the American bison. The bison was a good source of food, leather, and hides and soon it was the most hunted animal in America for its hide by the natives. Soon the animal was on the verge of extinction, and there was a deficiency of their hides and skin for leather production. That is when the people discovered the importance of protection of the animal. Another way the wildlife affects humans that makes it need the urge to protect them is the fact that these animals act as disease vectors. Acting as disease vectors mean that they become barriers between humans and diseases (Daskin, and Robert 328). This means that illnesses that would have affected human beings affect them instead. They can keep humans health by reducing the chances of the infection reaching to humans. Some are medicinal sources to cure several diseases that affect humans; hence their extinction would mean that the animals that these diseases would be common and their cure would be hard to find.

Therefore, as humans, we have been viewed for a long time for the main cause of animal extinction today. So, it is essential to try to correct it and start protecting these animals. Returning to the old modes of destruction where the natural cause took place should come back by reducing the current sources of extinction. This can be reduced through the following; to begin with, is those close to use, we should always educate our families, friends, and neighbors. Thus, giving an insight into the people on the endangered species in the place where we live. Giving the people the advantages that come with these endangered species would increase the number of people who are taking care of the animals hence reducing the danger facing them (Daskin, and Robert 328). The second way is through living a sustainable life. This means that the way we live today has to be done in a way that the future generations are taken care of. It should ensure that they will be able to meet their need meaning that the resources of today are sparing to the point that the same resources will meet their needs this means protecting even the animals that and endangered such that the future generation would be able to use their benefits too (Byard 126).

The other way to reduce animal extinction is to reduce water consumption and reduce draught casing agents, during prolonged droughts animals living in the wild face a lot of challenges when it comes to food. Most of them starve to death especially the newborns who would have replaced their parent. A situation where the young ones die would mean that there would be no generation to replace the old animals when they die; this means their death would bring the species to extinction. The significant causes of extinction which include pollution and poaching have to be eliminated. Poaching should be taken seriously, and the culprits found poaching has to be taken into the arms of the law and prosecuted. This will ensure that the chances of animals going to extinction as a result of poaching are minim used or reduced to zero (Williams and James 109). At the moment the ban on the trade of wildlife products is illegal in almost all the regions in the world. On the hand, the causes that include pollution can be eliminated by going green which means implementing all the environmentally friendly option.

Conclusion

To sum up all these, extinction of wildlife is a natural process that has been hastened by human activities such as pollution and poaching. At the time these happen the intrinsic importance of these animals are not recognized but after their death is when people begin to learn their need in human lives. Some of the causes are out of our control; they are natural phenomena that cannot be prevented. This includes incidences such as the one that led to the elimination of all dinosaurs in the world. Numerous measures are being out in place at the moment to protect them, these means such as by use of the zoos that will help in multiplying these animals and protecting them from the hazards of the natural environment. The other measure is through the growth of awareness about the urge to preserve these animals thanks to the numerous organization pumping in a lot of funds to ensure that the consciousne...