Extinction of Animals

The Dodo bird, the West African Black Rhinoceros, the Iberian wild goat. These are some of the animals that we may have heard of but will never get to see. These animals are extinct, and humans are to blame.

Each year, we lose hundreds or even thousands of animal and plant species. All over the world, plants and animals are disappearing faster than we are saving them.

What is Extinction?

When something is extinct, such as an animal or a plant species, it means that the species has died out for good and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. People think that this happens gradually over a long period of time.

However, there are instances where extinction happens at a much faster rate than usual. According to scientists, there are several ‘mass extinctions’ events that have taken place. One example is the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

These were due to factors such as climate change, catastrophic meteor strikes or even volcanic eruptions.

How Are Animals Going Extinct?

There are many factors that cause the extinction of plants and animals. Here are several reasons:

Destruction of Habitat

The jungles and rainforests were here on Earth long before we were. It is important to know that the entire ecosystem live within the forests and jungles. To wipe out even a section of the forest means wiping out an entire ecosystem. Unfortunately, human interference has caused deforestation, the permanent clearing of forest to make way for other land use. Today, deforestation is the biggest cause of animal extinction.

Deforestation happens because of several reasons. The first is 'population growth' among humans. Having more people on Earth means needing more space to live in. To make space for homes, jungles and rainforests are cleared so that houses and factories can be built.

Deforestation also happens because of logging. Logging provides the world’s wood and paper products. Because of this, thousands of trees are cut down, and many of them are done so illegally.

Pollution and Climate Change

Factories churn out a lot of unnatural chemicals which are released into the air and sea. These chemicals are filled with poisonous compounds, and are dangerous to humans and animals. Scientists have found that these chemicals can react badly with the animals’ health system, hence causing harm to them.

With the rise of global warming, the climate has changed drastically over the years. Animals are affected by this in a variety of ways. As temperature rises, animals living in colder climates are unable to adapt to the changes and many die out. Coral reefs are also dying and becoming bleached because of rising temperatures. As reefs are home to many sea animals, these animals are in turn affected and could be lost permanently.

Hunting of Animals

Many animals are killed because of human beings’ unethical activities and greed for money and sport. In fact, research has shown that in the past 40 years, nearly 52 per cent of Earth’s wildlife species have been eliminated!

Poaching plays a major role in the decline of animals. Poaching is the illegal hunting, killing and capturing of wild animals for sale. Animals such as tigers are killed because certain parts of their body are believed to contain medicinal properties.

Many animals are also killed for sport or captured to be kept as exotic ‘pets’.

However, the owners of these animals either abuse them or do not know how to care for them. Hence, the outcome is usually a sad and dismal one. The animal eventually suffers and dies.

Today, many animals such as Elephants and Sea Turtles are still being poached and quickly becoming endangered. All types of hunting will eventually lead to extinction of some plants or animals.

Save the Animals

Sadly, there is nothing we can do for the plants and animals that are extinct. However, there are many endangered animals left on Earth. Therefore, there is an urgent, dire need to protect these plants and animals before they are gone for good. We need to remember that extinction can disrupt ecological processes and even cause entire food chains and ecosystems to collapse.

That means, we human beings will be affected as well!