Why We Should Stop Extinction

The extinction of indigenous animals has been an ongoing problem that has not received the attention it deserves. Biologists have studied the pattern of mass extinction with growing concern. The world’s species are declining at a rate 10,000 times faster than normal according to a census of the world’s species (Dugan). What is causing such a rapid increase in extinction is unknown however there is one thing that is indisputable: human interference is playing a direct role.

Poaching is the illegal hunting, killing or capturing of animals. Poachers sell the animals as pets, foods, and fur. During the 1960s jaguars, leopards and tigers were poached for fur and meat. The animals organs and meat were then sold as aphrodisiac medicines and the skin was used for making accessories. During the sixties and seventies, around 18,000 jaguars were killed every year for their beautiful coat. Formerly prized furs, such as those from the leopard, cheetah, or jaguar, may no longer be hunted in the countries where they are indigenous, and many other countries forbid their importation (Miller). Another example of an animal being hunted to near extinction is the whaling industry in the 19th Century. Southern Right Whales were hunted because they float when dead, can yield, many barrels of oil, have long baleen plates and come close to shore. Whale oil was used for candles, light fuel, soap, heating and lubricant. Baleen or “whalebone” was used in corsetry, bookbinding, whip, and umbrella making (Environment). Between the years 1835-1844 whales in New Zealand and Australia were hunted to near extinction. As a result the hunting whales was no longer profitable and by 1935 the whales were internationally protected through the League of Nations and b...

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...hat Earth is faced with a mounting loss of species that equals or exceeds any mass extinction in the geological record.

Sources

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/an-epidemic-of-extinctions-decimation-of-life-on-earth-829325.html

http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/jaguar.htm

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/coasts/whales/hist.html

http://www.actionbioscience.org/biodiversity/simberloff.html

http://www.birdlife.org/action/science/sowb/pressure/30.html

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/ThinkGloballyActLocally/LossOfHabitat/default.cfm

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/380463/urban_expansion_straining_wildlife_with_growth_altering_their_habitat_animals/index.html (Henderson)

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/10/21/Study-World-is-undergoing-mass-extinction/UPI-86681224612180/

DeWeerdt