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Image by Rodion Kutsaiev

The Endangered

   
EXTINCT……a crushing word! Gone forever!
 
Species are going extinct at the fastest rate ever, an unprecedented rate never before seen. 
 
Visualize this for a moment… The year is 2124, one hundred years from now. Your children’s kids are now senior citizens. Climate is hot, storms are raging; and there are no wild animals left on earth ... none! 
 
Just as we read about dinosaurs, those humans in 2124 have never even seen a wild animal, they can only read about them or watch videos about those vague, distant animals.
 
The extinction process is ongoing. The following is a list of all the species that have become extinct in the past 100 years:

                Tasmanian Tiger                                                                   Desert Tortoise
                Pinta Island Tortoise                                                             Sandhill Crane
                Western Black Rhino                                                            Prairie Rattlesnake
                Caspian Tiger                                                                       Wood Stork
                Carolina Parakeet                                                                 Woodland Caribou
                Golden Toad                                                                         Bobwhite Quail
                Sicilian Wolf                                                                         Prairie Dog
                Xerces Blue Butterfly                                                          Whooping Crane
                Japanese Sea Lion                                                                Wallaby
                Bubal Hartebeest                                                                  St. Helens Dragonfly
                Kakawahie Bird                                                                   Guam Flying Fox
                Siamese Catfish                                                                   Yunnan Lake Newt
                Rotand Rock Snail                                                               Pyrenean Ibex
 
Wildlife populations have fallen by more than 2/3rds over the last 50 years, as reported by the World Wildlife Fund, and the sharpest declines have occured mostly throughout the world’s rivers and lakes where freshwater wildlife has plummeted by 84% since 1970… averaging 4% per year.
 
We care…. because the health of Nature is intimately linked to the health of humans. The emergence of Covid-19 is related to the recent destruction of forests and wilderness. As more and more species meet extinction, the very life support systems we depend on have become eroded. 
 
How does an animal become extinct? How do they become endangered?
 
In 1973, a group of concerned men formed what is known as The Endangered Species Act (ESA).... a law passed by Congress that established a well-defined program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals, including their habitat in which they live. The Act is governed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin. (NOAA). 
 
The Fish and Wildlife group is responsible for maintaining a worldwide list of all endangered species… including birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. They also ensure that their  actions will not jeopardize the very existence of those listed species. This new law is meant to prevent extinction and to help creatures recover to a point of not needing further protection.
 
The act, signed and endorsed by President Richard Nixon,  distinguishes between two categories… “Endangered” and “Threatened”. Citizens may petition to have species listed, which usually brings about the creation of new specific recovery plans.
 
The FSW maintains a worldwide list of endangered species to include birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, antelope, even insects, crustaceans, flowers, flora, grasses, and trees. It provides a framework to preserve and protect endangered and threatened species and their habitats, both domestically and abroad. Just how good is the new law? The Act has built up a stellar success rate, saving 99% of the species it protects. Eighty nations joined and signed Agreements. For the first time, global biodiversity trends have been reversed. 
 
However, today’s humans are reckless and greedy. Profiteers are destroying whole forrests, cutting down trees… trees that generate life-giving oxygen and clean air. When a forest is destroyed all those animals lose their homes, forcing them to move on to find new homes wherever they can.
 
Starting nearly 150 years ago, forest loss has changed biodiversity around the globe. Changes to the land… from pristine forests to pastures or croplands… has become the greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide. 
 
What exactly is “biodiversity”? It is all the extraordinary varieties of life on Earth….  all living species on the planet, including all the plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi… all the extraordinary varieties of life.   
Farmers are killing off invasive hungry animals seeking something to eat, either crops or livestock. The lowest form of trechery are those individuals who kill for profit… the Poachers. 
 
Poaching, by law, means the illegal killing, shooting, trapping, or the taking of any game, fish, or plants. Poaching is a major threat to all wildlife species, worldwide… causing a great loss to biodiversities. In medieval Europe, kings and feudal landowners enforced their rights to restrict the hunting or fishing on their property. It was a serious crime, and poachers were punished by death. In those medieval times, laws were passed restricting the hunting rights on those private lands. Gamekeepers were hired to protect those lands and its wildlife, often fierce battles developed.
 
The modern poacher kills for profit using the black market to cash in, and he is a serious threat to many wild species. Many such species have been depleted to the point of extinction. Such activity has led to the critical loss of the African rhinoceros, hunted for its horn. The African elephant is being slaughtered for its ivory tusks. The Bengal Tiger in India’s mangroves and the African gorilla are also facing the same serious threats. Asian and African pangolins are heavily poached for their organs, skin, scales, and other parts to make ancient medicines. They are listed as Endangered, some even Critically Endangered. Many species of parrots face the same threat, as do dozens of tropical fish, which is called River Poaching. There are numerous “Plant Poachers” who steal and illegally gather ornamental plants, cacti, and orchids, at least they do not kill their quest.
 
In Africa, game wardens now patrol several regions to counteract poaching, but it has been mostly ineffective even though a few fierce battles have occurred
 
Shocking news burst out of Botswana in 2017. NINETY (90) elephant carcasses were discovered, with their tusks hacked off, killed by poachers…. NINETY… Africa’s worst mass poaching spree yet! They were shot with heavy caliber rifles while at watering spots in the Okavango area,  home to the largest elephant population in Africa… more than 135,000 pachyderms.  
 
Elephants in Zambia and Angola have been poached to near extinction. Overall, some 111,000 elephants are no longer with us. About 30,000 elephants are killed per year.
A single tusk sells for $1000 in China.




 
THE RED LIST
 
The IUCN has developed a Red List, used  all over the world for defining the level of Endangerment for all Species. The levels are:
 
1. Data Deficient (the lowest)
2. Least Concern
3. Near Threatened
4. Vulnerable
5. Endangered
6. Critically Endangered
7. Extinct in the Wild
8. Extinct

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