Save the Animals

Save the Animals

Ever heard the call of the wild? What about the wolf howling in the distant mountains? For most people the answer is no. This is because the wolf was eradicated from most areas of our country when the white man decided that he wanted to settle the west. Most of the extermination was because ranchers and farmers lost a good deal of livestock to wolves. Wolves were selected for extermination by the US government untill1976 when the government declared the Mexican gray wolf endangered in the lower 48 states. The trapping and killing of wolves was done by private trappers, hunters, or ranchers. After wolves were declared endangered, several private enterprises sought to give the wolf a chance to come back from almost extinction. One of these groups, P.A.W.S., petitioned, debated, and fought for the reestablishment of the wolf into the southwest and other areas of the country where they once roamed freely. These private enterprises achieved their goals, but they still need the support of the everyday American. Without their support, the wolf could still become extinct, and then the children of America would never know what it was like to hear the call of the wild. People need to understand that to balance nature, wolves need to be reintroduced into areas where they were once abundant.

To claim ownership of this fight, one must understand our planet and its animals. What would our world be like if there were no animals? Animals on this planet are disappearing at an alarming rate. If we do not do something about it, our world will become a barren landscape. A common thread among scientists and naturalists is that we need to preserve animals in their natural habitats. Why? Because they preserve the natural habitats that people love going to. By keeping predators around, they balance out each other. Someone said in regards to cougars coming back into Arizona, “That’s just too many predators.” Well there is no such thing as too much of anything when it is applied to nature. In this case, “too many predators” means that the numbers of predators will increase, but nature will balance them out. The predators will have to fight for territory, meaning they will be more spread out; also, they will use each other as prey, and they will keep the number of prey animals under control.