ENDANGERED SPECIES

ENDANGERED SPECIES

It seems that every area of the environment is under attack, air and water pollution, traffic levels, deforestation and many other environmental problems.

People are interested in all of them but, maybe, the most emotional area at general concern is animals.

Endangerment is a broad issue, it involves the habitats and environment where species live and interact each other.

Our planet is continually changing, however, when changes occur at a fast pace, there is little or no time for individual species to react and adjust to new circumstances. This can create disastrous results, and for this reason, rapid habitat loss is the primary cause of species endangerment. The strongest forces in rapid habitat loss are human beings.

Some scientists estimate that up to half of presently existing species may become extinct by 2100.

Directory of species in danger of extinction according to the World Wildlife Fund:

http://worldwildlife.org/species/directory?sort=extinction_status&direction=desc

There are many reasons why a particular species may become endangered but the most important can be:

·         Habitat Destruction 

·         Introduction of Exotic Species 

·         Overexploitation 

·         More Factors

We are not going to analyze these factors ( you can visit the web http://www.endangeredspecie.com/causes_of_endangerment.htm). 

We would like to present some curious cases related to some species due to human actions.

Cat-burning

In the medieval and early modern periods, cats, which were associated with vanity and witchcraft, were sometimes burned as symbols of the Devil.

A lot of the cat population was killed off during the black death plague for superstitious reasons and that fact actually made the black plague worse, given that the rat population which carried the disease, as a result, had a population boom.

Vultures are attacking people

As a result of the prohibition of the existence of deposits of dead animals makes vultures hunger and they are attacking live animals and even some human. They have developed a change in their behaviour.

Proliferation of jellyfish

Overfishing of small species causes explosive growth in jellyfish populations due to jellyfish has no competitors for plankton. Besides that, the removal of predators like water turtles or other fish that keep the jellyfish population under control, makes they proliferate uncontrolled.


Alien species invasions

The Asian Giant Hornet is the world's largest and the most lethal hornet. It preys on native honeybees, wasp and other pollinators, potentially devastating hives and threatening honey and crop production.
European honeybees have no innate defense against the hornets, which can rapidly destroy their colonies.
The species is prevalent in several French areas after being imported from Asia via goods shipments. They have already reached the North of Spain.
They are responsible for multiple deaths each year.


Image Source:  http://nationalreport.net

Touching  images of endangered animals: 

TALKING ABOUT...

·         Have you ever taken any action in animal protection?

·         What do you think of very radical groups who protest in a violent way?

Image Source:  www.animanaturalis.org

Image Source:  Flickr

Protecting species contributes to a thriving, healthy planet.