Turning back the clock
HOW SCIENCE IS TRYING TO SLOW DOWN THE SIXTH MASS EXTINCTION
Humans might be the driving force behind this accelerated extinction event, but we are also the answer to stopping it. The world is awash with scientists, conservationists and environmentalists working in both the laboratory and in political battlegrounds to protect endangered species.
From tackling global pollution emissions in the 2016 Paris Agreement to the UK’S Global Resource Initiative that combats deforestation, legislation will always be at the forefront of the fight against mass extinction. In particular, one of the biggest direct threats to endangered life is the illegal animal trade.
In wake of the current global pandemic, wildlife markets have been put into the spotlight as not only being environmentally irresponsible, but potentially dangerous to human health through zoonotic diseases – those that jump from animals to humans – such as COVID-19. These markets are found throughout the world and trade live exotic animals or products derived from them. For example, China’s bear farms cage 20,000 Asiatic black bears for their bile, resulting in the wild population declining.
Lawmakers are tackling these kinds of markets with growing success. In Vietnam, for example, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuân Phúc signed a new directive that bans wildlife imports and closes illegal wildlife markets.
NEW EYES IN THE SKY
One of the best ways to help prevent species from becoming extinct is to monitor their populations and identify any problems before it’s too late to help. Currently camera traps and surveys conducted on foot or from aircraft are the main method of data collection. However, recent research has used a combination of satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to observe animals from space. Using high-resolution aerial photographs of Africa’s grasslands, researchers created an algorithm to sweep over thousands of miles and count every elephant pictured in the blink of an eye. The technology is still in its infancy and is limited to areas where large animals, such as elephants, aren’t obscured by forest habitats.
SAVED BY CLONING
Another potential solution to combat extinction could be to clone species. In February 2021, scientists revealed they had successfully cloned
a black-footed ferret, from an animal that had died more than 30 years ago. Native to North America, these small mammals were thought to be extinct until a small colony was found in the early 1980s, which were entered into a breeding program and reintroduced around America. Due to inbreeding, the population of around 650 ferrets is at risk of extinction once again. This inspired researchers to create a genetic copy from the preserved cell of a wild female, named Willa, who died in the 1980s. The process of cloning was similar to that used to clone Dolly the sheep back in the early 1990s. Scientists hope that after time spent in captivity, cloned members of the species can successfully re-enter the wild, offering a new conservation tool to protect endangered species.
It is legal, scientific and technological advances such as these that will help to conserve Earth’s wildlife and hopefully slow down the sixth mass extinction.