Saving Endangered Animals

Saving Endangered Animals

1. One way of trying to rebuild the world's fish population is through marine protected areas (MPAs). These protected areas give habitats a chance to recover. Indiscriminate fishing using nets and traps can unbalance ecosystems.

2. When an animal or plant disappears from a food chain, it can have drastic consequences. We need to look after all animals because they all have a place in their ecosystem.

3. Scientists know about 2 million species of animals but they estimate there could actually be 5 million to 100 million different species living on Earth.

4. The most common threat to wildlife survival is the loss or degradation of their habitats. Degradation is when a habitat is damaged.

5. Loss, or degradation, of a habitat is usually due to human activity, such as clearing land for agriculture, removing trees for logging, building transport routes, building houses or other developments, energy production, and mining.

6. Humans also cause a threat to the survival of some animals by overexploitation. This is when too many of a particular kind of animal are hunted, fished, or poached.

7. The Red List of Threatened Species is an international database that lists more than 79,800 species of plants and animals. This vital list is maintained by the IUCN which is group made up of governments and other organizations.

8. In most countries, legal hunting has strict rules in place. There are controls over what type of weapons can be used and the user needs to hold a license for these weapons.

9. Illegal hunting is also known as poaching. This is when hunters illegally take or kill animals. Poachers do this because there is a lot of money to be made.

10. Poaching is a big business and is often run by criminal groups. Illegally selling wildlife is a major source of criminal earnings, coming only third behind arms smuggling and drug trafficking.

11. Organizations such as the WWF want to deter people from poaching by making the rewards from poaching less atractive. The WWF wants to work with countries and their anti-poaching teams to offer training and the most up-to-date technology to help teams keep ahead of the poachers.

12. Getting the support of local communities is important in the fight against poaching. Local people can help alert rangers to the threat of poachers.

13. Overfishing happens when people catch more fish than nature can replace, It's a big problem for both the fish population and for people.

14. Natural habitats are also being lost due to mining as humans try to extract the precious resources from under the Earth's surface. Pipelines and roads are built to support mining activities. Industrial developments and housing also cause more pressure on natural habitats.

15. Human activity is the biggest threat to animal conservation. Climate change, loss of habitat, pollution, and poaching are all puting the lives of animals around the world at risk. If an ecosystem collapses, it can have major consequences for the humans who live in it, as food and water supplies can be severely affected.

16. Experts predict that by 2050, two-thirds of the world's population will live in urban areas, and that urban settlements will cover more than 115,830 square miles (3 million sq km). That's about the size of India!