essay about animal extinction

Essay on Extinct Animals

Students are often asked to write an essay on Extinct Animals in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Extinct Animals

What are extinct animals.

Extinct animals are species that don’t exist anymore. They vanished forever due to various reasons like habitat loss, hunting, or climate change.

Examples of Extinct Animals

Famous extinct animals include the Dodo, a bird from Mauritius, and the Tasmanian Tiger, a carnivorous marsupial from Australia.

Why Animals Become Extinct

Animals become extinct mainly due to human activities. Deforestation, pollution, and overhunting are major causes.

Importance of Preventing Extinction

Preventing extinction is crucial for biodiversity. Each species plays a role in the ecosystem, and their loss can disrupt the balance.

250 Words Essay on Extinct Animals

Introduction.

Extinct animals refer to species that no longer exist on Earth. Their disappearance, often a result of human activities or natural phenomena, leaves a significant impact on the biodiversity and balance of our ecosystem.

The Causes of Extinction

The primary causes of animal extinction include habitat loss, climate change, overexploitation, and invasive species. The relentless expansion of human civilization often leads to habitat destruction, leaving animals without homes or food sources. Climate change disrupts the delicate balance of ecosystems, making survival difficult for many species. Overhunting and overfishing have also led to the extinction of numerous species. Lastly, invasive species, introduced either intentionally or accidentally, can outcompete native species for resources, leading to their extinction.

Impact on Biodiversity

The extinction of animals greatly affects biodiversity. Each species plays a unique role within its ecosystem, and its loss can disrupt the balance, leading to cascading effects on other species. For instance, the extinction of a predator can lead to overpopulation of its prey, which may then overconsume vegetation and disrupt the ecosystem.

Conservation Efforts

Conservation efforts are crucial to prevent further extinctions. These include habitat protection, regulation of hunting and fishing, and breeding programs for endangered species. Additionally, raising public awareness about the importance of biodiversity and the consequences of extinction can drive societal changes necessary for conservation.

In conclusion, the extinction of animals is a pressing issue that requires immediate attention. Through understanding its causes and impacts, and implementing effective conservation strategies, we can hope to preserve the remaining biodiversity for future generations.

500 Words Essay on Extinct Animals

The natural world is a vast, interconnected web of life, with each species playing a unique role in the balance of the ecosystem. However, in recent centuries, human activities have greatly accelerated the rate of animal extinction, leading to a loss of biodiversity. This essay will delve into the topic of extinct animals, exploring the causes and consequences of extinction, and the importance of conservation efforts.

The primary causes of animal extinction are habitat destruction, overexploitation, climate change, and invasive species. Human activities such as deforestation, urbanisation, and industrialisation have led to the loss and fragmentation of habitats, making it difficult for many species to survive. Overexploitation, driven by hunting, fishing, and wildlife trade, has also led to the rapid decline of numerous species. Moreover, climate change is altering habitats at an unprecedented rate, forcing many species into extinction. Lastly, invasive species introduced by humans can outcompete native species for resources, leading to their extinction.

The Consequences of Extinction

The extinction of animals has far-reaching implications. Firstly, it disrupts the balance of ecosystems. Each species plays a unique role in its ecosystem, and the loss of a single species can trigger a cascade of changes that affect other species. Secondly, extinction can lead to the loss of genetic diversity, which is crucial for the resilience of ecosystems in the face of environmental changes. Thirdly, the extinction of animals can have economic implications, affecting industries such as tourism and agriculture that rely on biodiversity.

Extinct Animals: A Case Study

The dodo bird, native to Mauritius, serves as a poignant example of human-induced extinction. Unaccustomed to predators, these birds were easy prey for humans and invasive species introduced by sailors in the 17th century. Their extinction within less than a century of their discovery highlights the devastating impact of human activities on biodiversity.

The Importance of Conservation

Given the dire consequences of extinction, conservation efforts are crucial. These include the establishment of protected areas, regulations on hunting and wildlife trade, and efforts to mitigate climate change. Furthermore, conservation science, which uses tools such as population modelling and genetic analysis, can help identify at-risk species and develop strategies to protect them.

In conclusion, the extinction of animals is a pressing issue that has been largely driven by human activities. The loss of species has profound implications for ecosystems and human societies. Therefore, it is imperative that we intensify our conservation efforts to protect biodiversity. The fate of many species lies in our hands, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they do not go the way of the dodo.

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If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Can Animals Think
• Essay on Animal Freedom
• Essay on Animal Cruelty

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Extinction of Animals Essay

This  extinction of animals essay question appeared recently in the IELTS test.

It is about how animals become extinct and whether humans should take steps to prevent this from happening.

It is a natural process that animal species become extinct, as the dinosaurs did in the past. There is no reason for people to prevent this from happening.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Choosing a Side

With agree / disagree type essays you can discuss both sides of the issue but you can come down firmly on one side and focus on only this in your response.

This can be an easier way to answer such questions and is certainly recommended if you are just needing the lower band scores, such as 7 and especially 6.

This is an example of an essay where the writer disagrees with the opinion and has given three reasons for this, set out in three body paragraphs.

For the higher band scores there is a risk the examiner thinks for a fully addressed answer , both sides of the issue should have been considered. So if you need a band 8 or 9, look at both sides of the issue as in this model answer.

Take a look at the model answer for this animal extinction essay and the comments below.

Extinction of Animals Essay Sample

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer

It is commonly known that many species have gone extinct throughout history, including the dinosaurs. Some argue that preventing extinction is not necessary, as it is a natural process. However, I believe that humans have a moral obligation to protect endangered species and prevent their extinction.

Firstly, human activities such as deforestation, overfishing, and pollution have caused a rapid decline in animal populations, leading many species to be at risk of extinction. As a result, humans have a responsibility to conserve the environment and prevent further harm to wildlife. It is unfair for humans to cause the extinction of a species due to their actions, particularly when they have the ability to prevent it.

Another reason is that many species play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. For example, bees are essential pollinators that are responsible for pollinating 80% of flowering plants, and thus if bees were to become extinct, it would have a devastating impact on our food supply and ecosystem. Similarly, the loss of predators can cause a ripple effect, leading to overpopulation of other species and causing imbalances in the food chain.

Lastly, preventing extinction is not only a matter of responsibility but also a matter of morality. Species have intrinsic value, and it is not our place to determine which species should exist and which should not. Humans must respect the inherent value of all life forms and do what they can to protect them.

In conclusion, while extinction may be a natural process, it is not a justification for humans to sit idly by and watch as countless species go extinct. By taking action to conserve the environment, humans can ensure that future generations can enjoy the same diversity of life that we have today.

(294 Words)

This extinction of animals essay would achieve a high IELTS band score.

It's organised well so would score highly for coherence and cohesion . It has a clear introduction that introduces the topics and then gives the writers opinion (the thesis statement).

Each body paragraph clearly sets out and explains a key idea, then the conclusion summarises the writers view and gives some final thoughts. The linking between sentences is also very good.

It has a clear opinion and that opinion is reflected in the response. The ideas are fully supported and explained. The question is fully addressed and the essay does not go off-topic. It would therefore score highly for task response . 

The essay also had a good range of high-level and accurate lexis and grammar , so it would also score well for those criteria.

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November 1, 2023

20 min read

Can We Save Every Species from Extinction?

The Endangered Species Act requires that every U.S. plant and animal be saved from extinction, but after 50 years, we have to do much more to prevent a biodiversity crisis

By Robert Kunzig

Snail Darter Percina tanasi. Listed as Endangered: 1975. Status: Delisted in 2022.

© Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

A Bald Eagle disappeared into the trees on the far bank of the Tennessee River just as the two researchers at the bow of our modest motorboat began hauling in the trawl net. Eagles have rebounded so well that it's unusual not to see one here these days, Warren Stiles of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told me as the net got closer. On an almost cloudless spring morning in the 50th year of the Endangered Species Act, only a third of a mile downstream from the Tennessee Valley Authority's big Nickajack Dam, we were searching for one of the ESA's more notorious beneficiaries: the Snail Darter. A few months earlier Stiles and the FWS had decided that, like the Bald Eagle, the little fish no longer belonged on the ESA's endangered species list. We were hoping to catch the first nonendangered specimen.

Dave Matthews, a TVA biologist, helped Stiles empty the trawl. Bits of wood and rock spilled onto the deck, along with a Common Logperch maybe six inches long. So did an even smaller fish; a hair over two inches, it had alternating vertical bands of dark and light brown, each flecked with the other color, a pattern that would have made it hard to see against the gravelly river bottom. It was a Snail Darter in its second year, Matthews said, not yet full-grown.

Everybody loves a Bald Eagle. There is much less consensus about the Snail Darter. Yet it epitomizes the main controversy still swirling around the ESA, signed into law on December 28, 1973, by President Richard Nixon: Can we save all the obscure species of this world, and should we even try, if they get in the way of human imperatives? The TVA didn't think so in the 1970s, when the plight of the Snail Darter—an early entry on the endangered species list—temporarily stopped the agency from completing a huge dam. When the U.S. attorney general argued the TVA's case before the Supreme Court with the aim of sidestepping the law, he waved a jar that held a dead, preserved Snail Darter in front of the nine judges in black robes, seeking to convey its insignificance.

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Now I was looking at a living specimen. It darted around the bottom of a white bucket, bonking its nose against the side and delicately fluttering the translucent fins that swept back toward its tail.

“It's kind of cute,” I said.

Matthews laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. “I like this guy!” he said. “Most people are like, ‘Really? That's it?’ ” He took a picture of the fish and clipped a sliver off its tail fin for DNA analysis but left it otherwise unharmed. Then he had me pour it back into the river. The next trawl, a few miles downstream, brought up seven more specimens.

In the late 1970s the Snail Darter seemed confined to a single stretch of a single tributary of the Tennessee River, the Little Tennessee, and to be doomed by the TVA's ill-considered Tellico Dam, which was being built on the tributary. The first step on its twisting path to recovery came in 1978, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, surprisingly, that the ESA gave the darter priority even over an almost finished dam. “It was when the government stood up and said, ‘Every species matters, and we meant it when we said we're going to protect every species under the Endangered Species Act,’” says Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Listed as Endangered: 1967. Status: Delisted in 2007. Credit: © Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

Today the Snail Darter can be found along 400 miles of the river's main stem and multiple tributaries. ESA enforcement has saved dozens of other species from extinction. Bald Eagles, American Alligators and Peregrine Falcons are just a few of the roughly 60 species that had recovered enough to be “delisted” by late 2023.

And yet the U.S., like the planet as a whole, faces a growing biodiversity crisis. Less than 6 percent of the animals and plants ever placed on the list have been delisted; many of the rest have made scant progress toward recovery. What's more, the list is far from complete: roughly a third of all vertebrates and vascular plants in the U.S. are vulnerable to extinction, says Bruce Stein, chief scientist at the National Wildlife Federation. Populations are falling even for species that aren't yet in danger. “There are a third fewer birds flying around now than in the 1970s,” Stein says. We're much less likely to see a White-throated Sparrow or a Red-winged Blackbird, for example, even though neither species is yet endangered.

The U.S. is far emptier of wildlife sights and sounds than it was 50 years ago, primarily because habitat—forests, grasslands, rivers—has been relentlessly appropriated for human purposes. The ESA was never designed to stop that trend, any more than it is equipped to deal with the next massive threat to wildlife: climate change. Nevertheless, its many proponents say, it is a powerful, foresightful law that we could implement more wisely and effectively, perhaps especially to foster stewardship among private landowners. And modest new measures, such as the Recovering America's Wildlife Act—a bill with bipartisan support—could further protect flora and fauna.

That is, if special interests don't flout the law. After the 1978 Supreme Court decision, Congress passed a special exemption to the ESA allowing the TVA to complete the Tellico Dam. The Snail Darter managed to survive because the TVA transplanted some of the fish from the Little Tennessee, because remnant populations turned up elsewhere in the Tennessee Valley, and because local rivers and streams slowly became less polluted following the 1972 Clean Water Act, which helped fish rebound.

Under pressure from people enforcing the ESA, the TVA also changed the way it managed its dams throughout the valley. It started aerating the depths of its reservoirs, in some places by injecting oxygen. It began releasing water from the dams more regularly to maintain a minimum flow that sweeps silt off the river bottom, exposing the clean gravel that Snail Darters need to lay their eggs and feed on snails. The river system “is acting more like a real river,” Matthews says. Basically, the TVA started considering the needs of wildlife, which is really what the ESA requires. “The Endangered Species Act works,” Matthews says. “With just a little bit of help, [wildlife] can recover.”

The trouble is that many animals and plants aren't getting that help—because government resources are too limited, because private landowners are alienated by the ESA instead of engaged with it, and because as a nation the U.S. has never fully committed to the ESA's essence. Instead, for half a century, the law has been one more thing that polarizes people's thinking.

I t may seem impossible today to imagine the political consensus that prevailed on environmental matters in 1973. The U.S. Senate approved the ESA unanimously, and the House passed it by a vote of 390 to 12. “Some people have referred to it as almost a statement of religion coming out of the Congress,” says Gary Frazer, who as assistant director for ecological services at the FWS has been overseeing the act's implementation for nearly 25 years.

Gopher Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus . Listed as Threatened: 1987. Status: Still threatened. Credit: ©Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

But loss of faith began five years later with the Snail Darter case. Congresspeople who had been thinking of eagles, bears and Whooping Cranes when they passed the ESA, and had not fully appreciated the reach of the sweeping language they had approved, were disabused by the Supreme Court. It found that the legislation had created, “wisely or not ... an absolute duty to preserve all endangered species,” Chief Justice Warren E. Burger said after the Snail Darter case concluded. Even a recently discovered tiny fish had to be saved, “whatever the cost,” he wrote in the decision.

Was that wise? For both environmentalists such as Curry and many nonenvironmentalists, the answer has always been absolutely. The ESA “is the basic Bill of Rights for species other than ourselves,” says National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, who is building a “photo ark” of every animal visible to the naked eye as a record against extinction. (He has taken studio portraits of 15,000 species so far.) But to critics, the Snail Darter decision always defied common sense. They thought it was “crazy,” says Michael Bean, a leading ESA expert, now retired from the Environmental Defense Fund. “That dichotomy of view has remained with us for the past 45 years.”

According to veteran Washington, D.C., environmental attorney Lowell E. Baier, author of a new history called The Codex of the Endangered Species Act, both the act itself and its early implementation reflected a top-down, federal “command-and-control mentality” that still breeds resentment. FWS field agents in the early days often saw themselves as combat biologists enforcing the act's prohibitions. After the Northern Spotted Owl's listing got tangled up in a bitter 1990s conflict over logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, the FWS became more flexible in working out arrangements. “But the dark mythology of the first 20 years continues in the minds of much of America,” Baier says.

Credit: June Minju Kim ( map ); Source: David Matthews, Tennessee Valley Authority ( reference )

The law can impose real burdens on landowners. Before doing anything that might “harass” or “harm” an endangered species, including modifying its habitat, they need to get a permit from the FWS and present a “habitat conservation plan.” Prosecutions aren't common, because evidence can be elusive, but what Bean calls “the cloud of uncertainty” surrounding what landowners can and cannot do can be distressing.

Requirements the ESA places on federal agencies such as the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management—or on the TVA—can have large economic impacts. Section 7 of the act prohibits agencies from taking, permitting or funding any action that is likely to “jeopardize the continued existence” of a listed species. If jeopardy seems possible, the agency must consult with the FWS first (or the National Marine Fisheries Service for marine species) and seek alternative plans.

“When people talk about how the ESA stops projects, they've been talking about section 7,” says conservation biologist Jacob Malcom. The Northern Spotted Owl is a strong example: an economic analysis suggests the logging restrictions eliminated thousands of timber-industry jobs, fueling conservative arguments that the ESA harms humans and economic growth.

In recent decades, however, that view has been based “on anecdote, not evidence,” Malcom claims. At Defenders of Wildlife, where he worked until 2022 (he's now at the U.S. Department of the Interior), he and his colleagues analyzed 88,290 consultations between the FWS and other agencies from 2008 to 2015. “Zero projects were stopped,” Malcom says. His group also found that federal agencies were only rarely taking the active measures to recover a species that section 7 requires—like what the TVA did for the Snail Darter. For many listed species, the FWS does not even have recovery plans.

Endangered species also might not recover because “most species are not receiving protection until they have reached dangerously low population sizes,” according to a 2022 study by Erich K. Eberhard of Columbia University and his colleagues. Most listings occur only after the FWS has been petitioned or sued by an environmental group—often the Center for Biological Diversity, which claims credit for 742 listings. Years may go by between petition and listing, during which time the species' population dwindles. Noah Greenwald, the center's endangered species director, thinks the FWS avoids listings to avoid controversy—that it has internalized opposition to the ESA.

He and other experts also say that work regarding endangered species is drastically underfunded. As more species are listed, the funding per species declines. “Congress hasn't come to grips with the biodiversity crisis,” says Baier, who lobbies lawmakers regularly. “When you talk to them about biodiversity, their eyes glaze over.” Just this year federal lawmakers enacted a special provision exempting the Mountain Valley Pipeline from the ESA and other challenges, much as Congress had exempted the Tellico Dam. Environmentalists say the gas pipeline, running from West Virginia to Virginia, threatens the Candy Darter, a colorful small fish. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provided a rare bit of good news: it granted the FWS $62.5 million to hire more biologists to prepare recovery plans.

The ESA is often likened to an emergency room for species: overcrowded and understaffed, it has somehow managed to keep patients alive, but it doesn't do much more. The law contains no mandate to restore ecosystems to health even though it recognizes such work as essential for thriving wildlife. “Its goal is to make things better, but its tools are designed to keep things from getting worse,” Bean says. Its ability to do even that will be severely tested in coming decades by threats it was never designed to confront.

T he ESA requires a species to be listed as “threatened” if it might be in danger of extinction in the “foreseeable future.” The foreseeable future will be warmer. Rising average temperatures are a problem, but higher heat extremes are a bigger threat, according to a 2020 study.

Scientists have named climate change as the main cause of only a few extinctions worldwide. But experts expect that number to surge. Climate change has been “a factor in almost every species we've listed in at least the past 15 years,” Frazer says. Yet scientists struggle to forecast whether individual species can “persist in place or shift in space”—as Stein and his co-authors put it in a recent paper—or will be unable to adapt at all and will go extinct. On June 30 the FWS issued a new rule that will make it easier to move species outside their historical range—a practice it once forbade except in extreme circumstances.

Credit: June Minju Kim ( graphic ); Brown Bird Design ( illustrations ); Sources: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System; U.S. Federal Endangered and Threatened Species by Calendar Year https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-listings-by-year-totals ( annual data through 2022 ); Listed Species Summary (Boxscore) https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/boxscore ( cumulative data up to September 18, 2023, and annual data for coral ); Delisted Species https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-delisted ( delisted data through 2022 )

Eventually, though, “climate change is going to swamp the ESA,” says J. B. Ruhl, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, who has been writing about the problem for decades. “As more and more species are threatened, I don't know what the agency does with that.” To offer a practical answer, in a 2008 paper he urged the FWS to aggressively identify the species most at risk and not waste resources on ones that seem sure to expire.

Yet when I asked Frazer which urgent issues were commanding his attention right now, his first thought wasn't climate; it was renewable energy. “Renewable energy is going to leave a big footprint on the planet and on our country,” he says, some of it threatening plants and animals if not implemented well. “The Inflation Reduction Act is going to lead to an explosion of more wind and solar across the landscape.

Long before President Joe Biden signed that landmark law, conflicts were proliferating: Desert Tortoise versus solar farms in the Mojave Desert, Golden Eagles versus wind farms in Wyoming, Tiehm's Buckwheat (a little desert flower) versus lithium mining in Nevada. The mine case is a close parallel to that of Snail Darters versus the Tellico Dam. The flower, listed as endangered just last year, grows on only a few acres of mountainside in western Nevada, right where a mining company wants to extract lithium. The Center for Biological Diversity has led the fight to save it. Elsewhere in Nevada people have used the ESA to stop, for the moment, a proposed geothermal plant that might threaten the two-inch Dixie Valley Toad, discovered in 2017 and also declared endangered last year.

Does an absolute duty to preserve all endangered species make sense in such places? In a recent essay entitled “A Time for Triage,” Columbia law professor Michael Gerrard argues that “the environmental community has trade-off denial. We don't recognize that it's too late to preserve everything we consider precious.” In his view, given the urgency of building the infrastructure to fight climate change, we need to be willing to let a species go after we've done our best to save it. Environmental lawyers adept at challenging fossil-fuel projects, using the ESA and other statutes, should consider holding their fire against renewable installations. “Just because you have bullets doesn't mean you shoot them in every direction,” Gerrard says. “You pick your targets.” In the long run, he and others argue, climate change poses a bigger threat to wildlife than wind turbines and solar farms do.

For now habitat loss remains the overwhelming threat. What's truly needed to preserve the U.S.'s wondrous biodiversity, both Stein and Ruhl say, is a national network of conserved ecosystems. That won't be built with our present politics. But two more practical initiatives might help.

The first is the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, which narrowly missed passage in 2022 and has been reintroduced this year. It builds on the success of the 1937 Pittman-Robertson Act, which funds state wildlife agencies through a federal excise tax on guns and ammunition. That law was adopted to address a decline in game species that had hunters alarmed. The state refuges and other programs it funded are why deer, ducks and Wild Turkeys are no longer scarce.

The recovery act would provide $1.3 billion a year to states and nearly $100 million to Native American tribes to conserve nongame species. It has bipartisan support, in part, Stein says, because it would help arrest the decline of a species before the ESA's “regulatory hammer” falls. Although it would be a large boost to state wildlife budgets, the funding would be a rounding error in federal spending. But last year Congress couldn't agree on how to pay for the measure. Passage “would be a really big deal for nature,” Curry says.

Oyster Mussel. Epioblasma capsaeformis.  Listed as Endangered: 1997. Status: Still endangered. Credit: © Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

The second initiative that could promote species conservation is already underway: bringing landowners into the fold. Most wildlife habitat east of the Rocky Mountains is on private land. That's also where habitat loss is happening fastest. Some experts say conservation isn't likely to succeed unless the FWS works more collaboratively with landowners, adding carrots to the ESA's regulatory stick. Bean has long promoted the idea, including when he worked at the Interior Department from 2009 to early 2017. The approach started, he says, with the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

When the ESA was passed, there were fewer than 10,000 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers left of the millions that had once lived in the Southeast. Humans had cut down the old pine trees, chiefly Longleaf Pine, that the birds excavate cavities in for roosting and nesting. An appropriate tree has to be large, at least 60 to 80 years old, and there aren't many like that left. The longleaf forest, which once carpeted up to 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas, has been reduced to less than three million acres of fragments.

In the 1980s the ESA wasn't helping because it provided little incentive to preserve forest on private land. In fact, Bean says, it did the opposite: landowners would sometimes clear-cut potential woodpecker habitat just to avoid the law's constraints. The woodpecker population continued to drop until the 1990s. That's when Bean and his Environmental Defense Fund colleagues persuaded the FWS to adopt “safe-harbor agreements” as a simple solution. An agreement promised landowners that if they let pines grow older or took other woodpecker-friendly measures, they wouldn't be punished; they remained free to decide later to cut the forest back to the baseline condition it had been in when the agreement was signed.

That modest carrot was inducement enough to quiet the chainsaws in some places. “The downward trends have been reversed,” Bean says. “In places like South Carolina, where they have literally hundreds of thousands of acres of privately owned forest enrolled, Red-cockaded Woodpecker numbers have shot up dramatically.”

The woodpecker is still endangered. It still needs help. Because there aren't enough old pines, land managers are inserting lined, artificial cavities into younger trees and sometimes moving birds into them to expand the population. They are also using prescribed fires or power tools to keep the longleaf understory open and grassy, the way fires set by lightning or Indigenous people once kept it and the way the woodpeckers like it. Most of this work is taking place, and most Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are still living, on state or federal land such as military bases. But a lot more longleaf must be restored to get the birds delisted, which means collaborating with private landowners, who own 80 percent of the habitat.

Leo Miranda-Castro, who retired last December as director of the FWS's southeast region, says the collaborative approach took hold at regional headquarters in Atlanta in 2010. The Center for Biological Diversity had dropped a “mega petition” demanding that the FWS consider 404 new species for listing. The volume would have been “overwhelming,” Miranda-Castro says. “That's when we decided, ‘Hey, we cannot do this in the traditional way.’ The fear of listing so many species was a catalyst” to look for cases where conservation work might make a listing unnecessary.

An agreement affecting the Gopher Tortoise shows what is possible. Like the woodpeckers, it is adapted to open-canopied longleaf forests, where it basks in the sun, feeds on herbaceous plants and digs deep burrows in the sandy soil. The tortoise is a keystone species: more than 300 other animals, including snakes, foxes and skunks, shelter in its burrows. But its numbers have been declining for decades.

Urbanization is the main threat to the tortoises, but timberland can be managed in a way that leaves room for them. Eager to keep the species off the list, timber companies, which own 20 million acres in its range, agreed to figure out how to do that—above all by returning fire to the landscape and keeping the canopy open. One timber company, Resource Management Service, said it would restore Longleaf Pine on about 3,700 acres in the Florida panhandle, perhaps expanding to 200,000 acres eventually. It even offered to bring other endangered species onto its land, which delighted Miranda-Castro: “I had never heard about that happening before.” Last fall the FWS announced that the tortoise didn't need to be listed in most of its range.

Miranda-Castro now directs Conservation Without Conflict, an organization that seeks to foster conversation and negotiation in settings where the ESA has more often generated litigation. “For the first 50 years the stick has been used the most,” Miranda-Castro says. “For the next 50 years we're going to be using the carrots way more.” On his own farm outside Fort Moore, Ga., he grows Longleaf Pine—and Gopher Tortoises are benefiting.

Whooping Crane. Grus americana.  Listed as Endangered: 1967. Status: Still endangered. Credit: © Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

The Center for Biological Diversity doubts that carrots alone will save the reptile. It points out that the FWS's own models show small subpopulations vanishing over the next few decades and the total population falling by nearly a third. In August 2023 it filed suit against the FWS, demanding the Gopher Tortoise be listed.

The FWS itself resorted to the stick this year when it listed the Lesser Prairie-Chicken, a bird whose grassland home in the Southern Plains has long been encroached on by agriculture and the energy industry. The Senate promptly voted to overturn that listing, but President Biden promised to veto that measure if it passes the House.

B ehind the debates over strategy lurks the vexing question: Can we save all species? The answer is no. Extinctions will keep happening. In 2021 the FWS proposed to delist 23 more species—not because they had recovered but because they hadn't been seen in decades and were presumed gone. There is a difference, though, between acknowledging the reality of extinction and deliberately deciding to let a species go. Some people are willing to do the latter; others are not. Bean thinks a person's view has a lot to do with how much they've been exposed to wildlife, especially as a child.

Zygmunt Plater, a professor emeritus at Boston College Law School, was the attorney in the 1978 Snail Darter case, fighting for hundreds of farmers whose land would be submerged by the Tellico Dam. At one point in the proceedings Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., asked him, “What purpose is served, if any, by these little darters? Are they used for food?” Plater thinks creatures such as the darter alert us to the threat our actions pose to them and to ourselves. They prompt us to consider alternatives.

The ESA aims to save species, but for that to happen, ecosystems have to be preserved. Protecting the Northern Spotted Owl has saved at least a small fraction of old-growth forest in the Pacific Northwest. Concern about the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and the Gopher Tortoise is aiding the preservation of longleaf forests in the Southeast. The Snail Darter wasn't enough to stop the Tellico Dam, which drowned historic Cherokee sites and 300 farms, mostly for real estate development. But after the controversy, the presence of a couple of endangered mussels did help dissuade the TVA from completing yet another dam, on the Duck River in central Tennessee. That river is now recognized as one of the most biodiverse in North America.

The ESA forced states to take stock of the wildlife they harbored, says Jim Williams, who as a young biologist with the FWS was responsible for listing both the Snail Darter and mussels in the Duck River. Williams grew up in Alabama, where I live. “We didn't know what the hell we had,” he says. “People started looking around and found all sorts of new species.” Many were mussels and little fish. In a 2002 survey, Stein found that Alabama ranked fifth among U.S. states in species diversity. It also ranks second-highest for extinctions; of the 23 extinct species the FWS recently proposed for delisting, eight were mussels, and seven of those were found in Alabama.

One morning this past spring, at a cabin on the banks of Shoal Creek in northern Alabama, I attended a kind of jamboree of local freshwater biologists. At the center of the action, in the shade of a second-floor deck, sat Sartore. He had come to board more species onto his photo ark, and the biologists—most of them from the TVA—were only too glad to help, fanning out to collect critters to be decanted into Sartore's narrow, flood-lit aquarium. He sat hunched before it, a black cloth draped over his head and camera, snapping away like a fashion photographer, occasionally directing whoever was available to prod whatever animal was in the tank into a more artful pose.

As I watched, he photographed a striated darter that didn't yet have a name, a Yellow Bass, an Orangefin Shiner and a giant crayfish discovered in 2011 in the very creek we were at. Sartore's goal is to help people who never meet such creatures feel the weight of extinction—and to have a worthy remembrance of the animals if they do vanish from Earth.

With TVA biologist Todd Amacker, I walked down to the creek and sat on the bank. Amacker is a mussel specialist, following in Williams's footsteps. As his colleagues waded in the shoals with nets, he gave me a quick primer on mussel reproduction. Their peculiar antics made me care even more about their survival.

There are hundreds of freshwater mussel species, Amacker explained, and almost every one tricks a particular species of fish into raising its larvae. The Wavy-rayed Lampmussel, for example, extrudes part of its flesh in the shape of a minnow to lure black bass—and then squirts larvae into the bass's open mouth so they can latch on to its gills and fatten on its blood. Another mussel dangles its larvae at the end of a yard-long fishing line of mucus. The Duck River Darter Snapper—a member of a genus that has already lost most of its species to extinction—lures and then clamps its shell shut on the head of a hapless fish, inoculating it with larvae. “You can't make this up,” Amacker said. Each relationship has evolved over the ages in a particular place.

The small band of biologists who are trying to cultivate the endangered mussels in labs must figure out which fish a particular mussel needs. It's the type of tedious trial-and-error work conservation biologists call “heroic,” the kind that helped to save California Condors and Whooping Cranes. Except these mussels are eyeless, brainless, little brown creatures that few people have ever heard of.

For most mussels, conditions are better now than half a century ago, Amacker said. But some are so rare it's hard to imagine they can be saved. I asked Amacker whether it was worth the effort or whether we just need to accept that we must let some species go. The catch in his voice almost made me regret the question.

“I'm not going to tell you it's not worth the effort,” he said. “It's more that there's no hope for them.” He paused, then collected himself. “Who are we to be the ones responsible for letting a species die?” he went on. “They've been around so long. That's not my answer as a biologist; that's my answer as a human. Who are we to make it happen?”

Robert Kunzig is a freelance writer in Birmingham, Ala., and a former senior editor at National Geographic, Discover and Scientific American .

 / 

Conservation

In defense of biodiversity: why protecting species from extinction matters.

By Carl Safina • February 12, 2018

A number of biologists have recently made the argument that extinction is part of evolution and that saving species need not be a conservation priority. But this revisionist thinking shows a lack of understanding of evolution and an ignorance of the natural world. 

A few years ago, I helped lead a ship-based expedition along south Alaska during which several scientists and noted artists documented and made art from the voluminous plastic trash that washes ashore even there. At Katmai National Park, we packed off several tons of trash from as distant as South Asia. But what made Katmai most memorable was: huge brown bears. Mothers and cubs were out on the flats digging clams. Others were snoozing on dunes. Others were patrolling.

During a rest, several of us were sitting on an enormous drift-log, watching one mother who’d been clamming with three cubs. As the tide flooded the flat, we watched in disbelief as she brought her cubs up to where we were sitting — and stepped up on the log we were on. There was no aggression, no tension; she was relaxed. We gave her some room as she paused on the log, and then she took her cubs past us into a sedge meadow. Because she was so calm, I felt no fear. I felt the gift.

In this protected refuge, bears could afford a generous view of humans. Whoever protected this land certainly had my gratitude.

In the early 20th century, a botanist named Robert F. Griggs discovered Katmai’s volcanic “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.” In love with the area, he spearheaded efforts to preserve the region’s wonders and wildlife. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson established Katmai National Monument (now Katmai National Park and Preserve ), protecting 1,700 square miles, thus ensuring a home for bear cubs born a century later, and making possible my indelible experience that day. As a legacy for Griggs’ proclivity to share his love of living things, George Washington University later established the Robert F. Griggs Chair in Biology.

That chair is now occupied by a young professor whose recent writing probably has Griggs spinning in his grave. He is R. Alexander Pyron . A few months ago,  The Washington Post published a “ Perspective” piece by Pyron that is an extreme example of a growing minority opinion in the conservation community, one that might be summarized as, “Humans are profoundly altering the planet, so let’s just make peace with the degradation of the natural world.” 

No biologist is entitled to butcher the scientific fundamentals on which they hang their opinions.

Pyron’s essay – with lines such as, “The only reason we should conserve biodiversity is for ourselves, to create a stable future for human beings” and “[T]he impulse to conserve for conservation’s sake has taken on an unthinking, unsupported, unnecessary urgency” – left the impression that it was written in a conservative think tank, perhaps by one of the anti-regulatory zealots now filling posts throughout the Trump administration. Pyron’s sentiments weren’t merely oddly out of keeping with the legacy of the man whose name graces his job title. Much of what Pyron wrote is scientifically inaccurate. And where he stepped out of his field into ethics, what he wrote was conceptually confused.

Pyron has since posted, on his website and Facebook page, 1,100 words of frantic backpedaling that land somewhere between apology and retraction, including mea culpas that he “sensationalized” parts of his own argument and “cavalierly glossed over several complex issues.” But Pyron’s original essay and his muddled apology do not change the fact that the beliefs he expressed reflect a disturbing trend that has taken hold among segments of the conservation community. And his article comes at a time when conservation is being assailed from other quarters, with a half-century of federal protections of land being rolled back, the Endangered Species Act now more endangered than ever, and the relationship between extinction and evolution being subjected to confused, book-length mistreatment.

Pyron’s original opinion piece, so clear and unequivocal in its assertions, is a good place to unpack and disentangle accelerating misconceptions about the “desirability” of extinction that are starting to pop up like hallucinogenic mushrooms.

In recent years, some biologists and writers have been distancing themselves from conservation’s bedrock idea that in an increasingly human-dominated world we must find ways to protect and perpetuate natural beauty, wild places, and the living endowment of the planet. In their stead, we are offered visions of human-dominated landscapes in which the stresses of destruction and fragmentation spur evolution. 

White rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ). Source: Herman Pijpers/ Flickr

Conservation International ditched its exuberant tropical forest graphic for  a new corporate logo  whose circle and line were designed to suggest a human head and outstretched arms. A few years ago, Peter Kareiva, then chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy,  said , “conservationists will have to jettison their idealized notions of nature, parks, and wilderness,” for  “a more optimistic, human-friendly vision.” Human annihilation of the passenger pigeon, he wrote, caused “no catastrophic or even measurable effects,” characterizing the total extinction of the hemisphere’s most abundant bird — whose population went from billions to zero inside a century (certainly a “measurable effect” in itself) — as an example of nature’s “resilience.”

British ecologist Chris Thomas’s recent book, Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction, argues that the destruction of nature creates opportunities for evolution of new lifeforms that counterbalance any losses we create, an idea that is certainly optimistic considering the burgeoning lists of endangered species. Are we really ready to consider that disappearing rhinos are somehow counterbalanced by a new subspecies of daisy in a railroad track? Maybe it would be simpler if Thomas and his comrades just said, “We don’t care about nature.’’

Enter Pyron, who — at least in his initial essay — basically said he doesn’t. He’s entitled to his apathy, but no biologist is entitled to butcher the scientific fundamentals on which they hang their opinions.

Pyron began with a resonant story about his nocturnal rediscovery of a South American frog that had been thought recently extinct. He and colleagues collected several that, he reassured us, “are now breeding safely in captivity.” As we breathed a sigh of relief, Pyron added, “But they will go extinct one day, and the world will be none the poorer for it.” 

The conviction that today’s slides toward mass extinction are not inevitable spurred the founding of the conservation movement.

I happen to be writing this in the Peruvian Amazon, having just returned from a night walk to a light-trap where I helped a biologist collect moths. No one yet knows how many species live here. Moths are important pollinators. Knowing them helps detangle a little bit of how this rainforest works. So it’s a good night to mention that the number of species in an area carries the technical term “species richness.” More is richer, and fewer is, indeed, poorer. Pyron’s view lies outside scientific consensus and societal values. 

Pyron wasn’t concerned about his frogs going extinct, because, “Eventually, they will be replaced by a dozen or a hundred new species that evolve later.” But the timescale would be millennia at best — meaningless in human terms — and perhaps never; hundreds of amphibians worldwide are suffering declines and extinctions, raising the possibility that major lineages and whole groups of species will vanish. Pyron seemed to have no concerns about that possibility, writing, “Mass extinctions periodically wipe out up to 95 percent of all species in one fell swoop; these come every 50 million to 100 million years.”

But that’s misleading. “Periodically” implies regularity. There’s no regularity to mass extinctions. Not in their timing, nor in their causes. The mass extinctions are not related. Three causes of mass extinctions — prolonged worldwide atmosphere-altering volcanic eruptions; a dinosaur-snuffing asteroid hit; and the spreading agriculture, settlement, and sheer human appetite driving extinctions today — are unrelated.

Rio Pescado stubfoot toad ( Atelopus balios ). Source: De Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios/ Flickr

The conviction that today’s slides toward mass extinction are not inevitable, and could be lessened or avoided, spurred the founding of the conservation movement and created the discipline of conservation biology.

But Pyron seems unmoved. “Extinction is the engine of evolution, the mechanism by which natural selection prunes the poorly adapted and allows the hardiest to flourish,” he declared. “Species constantly go extinct, and every species that is alive today will one day follow suit. There is no such thing as an ‘endangered species,’ except for all species.”

Let us unpack. Extinction is not evolution’s driver; survival is. The engine of evolution is survival amidst competition. It’s a little like what drives innovation in business. To see this, let’s simply compare the species diversity of the Northern Hemisphere, where periodic ice sheets largely wiped the slate clean, with those of the tropics, where the evolutionary time clock continued running throughout. A couple of acres in eastern temperate North America might have a dozen tree species or fewer. In the Amazon a similar area can have 300 tree species. All of North American has 1,400 species of trees; Brazil has 8,800. All of North America has just over 900 birds; Colombia has 1,900 species. All of North America has 722 butterfly species. Where I am right now, along the Tambopata River in Peru, biologists have tallied around 1,200 butterfly species.

Competition among living species drives proliferation into diversified specialties. Specialists increasingly exploit narrowing niches. We can think of this as a marketplace of life, where little competition necessitates little specialization, thus little proliferation. An area with many types of trees, for instance, directly causes the evolution of many types of highly specialized pollinating insects, hummingbirds, and pollinating bats, who visit only the “right” trees. Many flowering plants are pollinated by just one specialized species.

Pyron muddles several kinds of extinctions, then serves up further misunderstanding of how evolution works. So let’s clarify. Mass extinctions are global; they involve the whole planet. There have been five mass extinctions and we’ve created a sixth . Past mass extinctions happened when the entire planet became more hostile. Regional wipeouts, as occurred during the ice ages, are not considered mass extinctions, even though many species can go extinct. Even without these major upheavals there are always a few species blinking out due to environmental changes or new competitors. And there are pseudo-extinctions where old forms no longer exist, but only because their descendants have changed through time. 

New species do not suddenly “arise,” nor are they really new. They evolve from existing species, as population gene pools change.

Crucially for understanding the relationship between extinction and evolution is this: New species do not suddenly “arise,” nor are they really new. New species evolve from existing species, as population gene pools change. Many “extinct” species never really died out; they just changed into what lives now. Not all the dinosaurs went extinct; theropod dinosaurs survived. They no longer exist because they evolved into what we call birds. Australopithecines no longer exist, but they did not all go extinct. Their children morphed into the genus Homo, and the tool- and fire-making Homo erectus may well have survived to become us. If they indeed are our direct ancestor — as some species was — they are gone now, but no more “extinct” than our own childhood. All species come from ancestors, in lineages that have survived.

Pyron’s contention that the “hardiest” flourish is a common misconception. A sloth needs to be slow; a faster sloth is going to wind up as dinner in a harpy eagle nest. A white bear is not “hardier” than a brown one; the same white fur that provides camouflage in a snowy place will scare away prey in green meadow. Bears with genes for white fur flourished in the Arctic, while brown bears did well amidst tundra and forests. Polar bears evolved from brown bears of the tundra; they got so specialized that they separated, then specialized further. Becoming a species is a process, not an event. “New” species are simply specialized descendants of old species.

True extinctions beget nothing. Humans have recently sped the extinction rate by about a thousand times compared to the fossil record. The fact that the extinction of dinosaurs was followed, over tens of millions of years, by a proliferation of mammals, is irrelevant to present-day decisions about rhinos, elephant populations, or monarch butterflies. Pyron’s statement, “There is no such thing as an ‘endangered species,’ except for all species,” is like saying there are no endangered children except for all children. It’s like answering “Black lives matter” with “All lives matter.” It’s a way of intentionally missing the point. 

Chestnut-sided warbler ( Setophaga pensylvanica ). Source: Francesco Veronesi/ Wikimedia

Here’s the point: All life today represents non-extinctions; each species, every living individual, is part of a lineage that has not gone extinct in a billion years.

Pyron also expressed the opinion that “the only reason we should conserve biodiversity is for ourselves …” I don’t know of another biologist who shares this opinion. Pyron’s statement makes little practical sense, because reducing the diversity and abundance of the living world will rob human generations of choices, as values change. Save the passenger pigeon? Too late for that. Whales? A few people acted in time to keep most of them. Elephants? Our descendants will either revile or revere us for what we do while we have the planet’s reins in our hands for a few minutes. We are each newly arrived and temporary tourists on this planet, yet we find ourselves custodians of the world for all people yet unborn. A little humility, and forbearance, might comport.

Thus Pyron’s most jarring assertion: “Extinction does not carry moral significance, even when we have caused it.” That statement is a stranger to thousands of years of philosophy on moral agency and reveals an ignorance of human moral thinking. Moral agency issues from an ability to consider consequences. Humans are the species most capable of such consideration. Thus many philosophers consider humans the only creatures capable of acting as moral agents. An asteroid strike, despite its consequences, has no moral significance. Protecting bears by declaring Katmai National Monument, or un-protecting Bears Ears National Monument, are acts of moral agency. Ending genetic lineages millions of years old, either actively or by the willful neglect that Pyron advocates, certainly qualifies as morally significant.

Do we really wish a world with only what we “rely on for food and shelter?” Do animals have no value if we don’t eat them?

How can we even decide which species we “directly depend’’ upon? We don’t directly depend on peacocks or housecats, leopards or leopard frogs, humpback whales or hummingbirds or chestnut-sided warblers or millions of others. Do we really wish a world with only what we “rely on for food and shelter,” as Pyron seemed to advocate? Do animals have no value if we don’t eat them? I happen not to view my dogs as food, for instance. Things we “rely on” make life possible, sure, but the things we don’t need make life worthwhile.

When Pyron wrote, “Conservation is needed for ourselves and only ourselves… If this means fewer dazzling species, fewer unspoiled forests, less untamed wilderness, so be it,” he expressed a dereliction of the love, fascination, and perspective that motivates the practice of biology.

Here is a real biologist, Alfred Russell Wallace, co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection:

I thought of the long ages of the past during which the successive generations of these things of beauty had run their course … with no intelligent eye to gaze upon their loveliness, to all appearances such a wanton waste of beauty… . This consideration must surely tell us that all living things were not made for man… . Their happiness and enjoyments, their loves and hates, their struggles for existence, their vigorous life and early death, would seem to be immediately related to their own well-being and perpetuation alone. —The Malay Archipelago, 1869

At the opposite pole of Wallace’s human insight and wonder, Pyron asked us to become complicit in extinction. “The goals of species conservation have to be aligned with the acceptance that large numbers of animals will go extinct,” he asserted. “Thirty to 40 percent of species may be  threatened  with extinction in the near future, and their loss may be inevitable. But both the planet and humanity can probably survive or even thrive in a world with fewer species … The species that we rely on for food and shelter are a tiny proportion of total biodiversity, and most humans live in — and rely on — areas of only moderate biodiversity, not the Amazon or the Congo Basin.”

African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ). Source: Flowcomm/ Flickr

Right now, in the Amazon as I type, listening to nocturnal birds and bugs and frogs in this towering emerald cathedral of life, thinking such as Pyron’s strikes me as failing to grasp both the living world and the human spirit. 

The massive destruction that Pyron seems to so cavalierly accept isn’t necessary. When I was a kid, there were no ospreys, no bald eagles, no peregrine falcons left around New York City and Long Island where I lived. DDT and other hard pesticides were erasing them from the world. A small handful of passionate people sued to get those pesticides banned, others began breeding captive falcons for later release, and one biologist brought osprey eggs to nests of toxically infertile parents to keep faltering populations on life support. These projects succeeded. All three of these species have recovered spectacularly and now again nest near my Long Island home. Extinction wasn’t a cost of progress; it was an unnecessary cost of carelessness. Humans could work around the needs of these birds, and these creatures could exist around development. But it took some thinking, some hard work, and some tinkering.

It’s not that anyone thinks humans have not greatly changed the world, or will stop changing it. Rather, as the great wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold wrote in his 1949 classic A Sand County Almanac , “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”

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• 06 May 2019
• Update 06 May 2019

Humans are driving one million species to extinction

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Up to one million plant and animal species face extinction, many within decades, because of human activities, says the most comprehensive report yet on the state of global ecosystems.

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Nature 569 , 171 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01448-4

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9 of the most shocking facts about global extinction - and how to stop it

Across the world, wildlife is under severe threat. Image:  REUTERS/Baz Ratner

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Stay up to date:, future of the environment.

• Wildlife population sizes dropped by 68% between 1970 and 2018.
• Species are becoming extinct quicker nowadays than ever before.
• Biodiversity is vital to the health and livelihoods of the planet's eight billion people.

Earth’s fate and the devastation of the natural world were recently put under the microscope with the release of Sir David Attenborough’s Netflix documentary A Life On Our Planet .

It marks a departure from his usual nature documentary format and instead grieves for the damage wreaked by climate change and other forms of human interference.

Have you read?

David attenborough leads call for world to invest $500 billion a year to protect nature, david attenborough: 'the garden of eden is no more'. read his davos speech in full, sir david attenborough has just joined instagram – and already broken a world record.

It’s an emotional watch, as the naturalist recounts the environmental changes he has seen first-hand throughout his career, such as the devastation of the Borneo rainforest and its native orangutan population.

Here are nine reasons we too should be concerned about the future of the planet and the millions of species which call it home.

1. More than one million species are now at risk of extinction

Over a million species of animal and plant life are now threatened with dying out – more than ever before in human history, according to the International Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

2. Wildlife population sizes dropped by two thirds since 1970

There has been an average 68% drop in global population sizes of amphibians, birds, fish mammals and reptiles between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020 .

3. Tropical sub-regions of Americas showing biggest declines

The WWF study added that there was a 94% decline of wildlife populations in tropical sub-regions of the Americas over the 50 years from 1970 – the largest fall observed anywhere on Earth.

4. Species dying off more frequently than ever before

Species are dying off 1,000 times more frequently today than during the 60 million years before the arrival of humans, according to a 2014 study by Brown University in the US. The report reinforces the “urgency to conserve what is left”, said lead author Jurriaan de Vos.

5. Freshwater species declining faster than anything else

Populations of freshwater wildlife species are declining disportionately faster than others, dropping by an average of 84% between 1970 and 2018, WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020 showed. The figure also marks a rise of 1% on the 83% reported two years ago.

6. Swathes of tropical forest lost to agriculture

Some 100 million hectares of tropical forest were lost between 1980 and 2000, according to the IPBES. This was largely down to cattle ranching in Latin America and plantations in South-East Asia, researchers added.

7. Nearly 40% of plants at risk of extinction

Four in 10 (39.4%) plants are at risk of dying out, according to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report. An additional challenge is identifying them before extinction, with 1,942 new species of plants identified last year alone.

8. Industrial agriculture driving decline of insects

Dramatic rates of decline could lead to over 40% of the world’s insect species disappearing within decades – with habitat loss due to industrial agriculture the main driver behind the decrease, according to a study published in Science Direct.

9. Bird species also seeing populations threat

Some 3.5% of domesticated birds have become extinct since 2016, the IPBES reported. In addition, nearly a quarter (23%) of threatened birds have already been affected by climate change, The global assessment report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services added.

Our ocean covers 70% of the world’s surface and accounts for 80% of the planet’s biodiversity. We can't have a healthy future without a healthy ocean - but it's more vulnerable than ever because of climate change and pollution.

Tackling the grave threats to our ocean means working with leaders across sectors, from business to government to academia.

The World Economic Forum convenes the Friends of Ocean Action , a coalition of global leaders from a wide range of sectors who are working together to protect the seas. From a programme to scale blue carbon benefits through coordinated action with governments to unlock finance, strengthen and empower local communities, to a global partnership to catalyze science-based actions towards healthy and sustainable blue food value chains, the Forum’s Ocean Action Agenda is pushing for new solutions and aiming to support 1000 Ocean Startups by 2030 that are creating a wave of innovation to address global challenges.

The Forum's Ocean Action Agenda also works closely with our industry partners, such as offshore wind developers and ports, to support them in their transitions towards a nature positive and net zero future. Climate change is an inextricable part of the threat to our ocean, with rising temperatures and acidification disrupting fragile ecosystems. The Forum runs a number of initiatives to support the shift to a low-carbon economy , including hosting the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, who have cut emissions in their companies by 9%.

Is your organization interested in working with the World Economic Forum? Find out more here .

Why is biodiversity important?

Both the 2019 IPBES and 2020 WWF reports stress that the loss of habitats and species pose as much of a threat to life on Earth as climate change.

For biodiversity is not only vital for a flourishing natural world. Its deterioration also threatens the livelihoods, economies, food security and health of the world's eight billion people – a fact brought into sharp focus by the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

But all is not lost. While Attenborough brands the damage as human kind’s “greatest mistake”, his final message is more optimistic: “If we act now, we can yet put it right.”

What can we do to save the planet?

Experts agree that one of the best ways of saving the planet is through transformation of the global food system, with agriculture accounting for nearly 60% of global biodiversity loss and about a quarter of CO2 emissions worldwide .

Consumers can make a difference by choosing to eat less meat and making more sustainable food choices, as farming animals uses a lot of land and water.

Meanwhile farmers can be supported to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides, diversify crops and phase out ploughing to lessen the environmental impact.

Conservation is also vital to reverse the loss of biodiversity, with the IPBES highlighting the importance of involving the local community – to benefit nature and people alike.

The devastation of biodiversity and climate change are two sides of the coin, so measures to reduce carbon emissions and pollution – such as travelling less, using greener forms of energy and making more eco-friendly consumer choices – are also key.

For as Attenborough says: “If we take care of nature, nature will take care of us.” As the world continues to suffer the fallout of COVID-19, perhaps never before has such as sentiment been more important.

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Endangered Species

An endangered species is a type of organism that is threatened by extinction. Species become endangered for two main reasons: loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation.

Biology, Ecology, Geography, Conservation

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An endangered species is a type of organism that is threatened by extinction . Species become endangered for two main reasons: loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation . Loss of Habitat A loss of habitat can happen naturally. Nonavian dinosaurs , for instance, lost their habitat about 65 million years ago. The hot, dry climate of the Cretaceous period changed very quickly, most likely because of an asteroid striking Earth. The impact of the asteroid forced debris into the atmosphere , reducing the amount of heat and light that reached Earth’s surface. The dinosaurs were unable to adapt to this new, cooler habitat. Nonavian dinosaurs became endangered, then extinct . Human activity can also contribute to a loss of habitat. Development for housing, industry , and agriculture reduces the habitat of native organisms. This can happen in a number of different ways. Development can eliminate habitat and native species directly. In the Amazon rainforest of South America, developers have cleared hundreds of thousands of acres. To “clear” a piece of land is to remove all trees and vegetation from it. The Amazon rainforest is cleared for cattle ranches , logging , and ur ban use. Development can also endanger species indirectly. Some species, such as fig trees of the rainforest, may provide habitat for other species. As trees are destroyed, species that depend on that tree habitat may also become endangered. Tree crowns provide habitat in the canopy , or top layer, of a rainforest . Plants such as vines, fungi such as mushrooms, and insects such as butterflies live in the rainforest canopy. So do hundreds of species of tropical birds and mammals such as monkeys. As trees are cut down, this habitat is lost. Species have less room to live and reproduce . Loss of habitat may happen as development takes place in a species range . Many animals have a range of hundreds of square kilometers. The mountain lion ( Puma concolor ) of North America, for instance, has a range of up to 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles). To successfully live and reproduce, a single mountain lion patrols this much territory. Urban areas , such as Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, grew rapidly during the 20th century. As these areas expanded into the wilderness, the mountain lion’s habitat became smaller. That means the habitat can support fewer mountain lions. Because enormous parts of the Sierra Nevada, Rocky, and Cascade mountain ranges remain undeveloped, however, mountain lions are not endangered. Loss of habitat can also lead to increased encounters between wild species and people. As development brings people deeper into a species range, they may have more exposure to wild species. Poisonous plants and fungi may grow closer to homes and schools. Wild animals are also spotted more frequently . These animals are simply patrolling their range, but interaction with people can be deadly. Polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ), mountain lions, and alligators are all predators brought into close contact with people as they lose their habitat to homes, farms , and businesses. As people kill these wild animals, through pesticides , accidents such as collisions with cars, or hunting, native species may become endangered.

Loss of Genetic Variation Genetic variation is the diversity found within a species. It’s why human beings may have blond, red, brown, or black hair. Genetic variation allows species to adapt to changes in the environment. Usually, the greater the population of a species, the greater its genetic variation. Inbreeding is reproduction with close family members. Groups of species that have a tendency to inbreed usually have little genetic variation, because no new genetic information is introduced to the group. Disease is much more common, and much more deadly, among inbred groups. Inbred species do not have the genetic variation to develop resistance to the disease. For this reason, fewer offspring of inbred groups survive to maturity. Loss of genetic variation can occur naturally. Cheetahs ( Acinonyx jubatus ) are a threatened species native to Africa and Asia. These big cats have very little genetic variation. Biologists say that during the last Ice Age , cheetahs went through a long period of inbreeding. As a result, there are very few genetic differences between cheetahs. They cannot adapt to changes in the environment as quickly as other animals, and fewer cheetahs survive to maturity. Cheetahs are also much more difficult to breed in captivity than other big cats, such as lions ( Panthera leo ). Human activity can also lead to a loss of genetic variation. Overhunting and overfishing have reduced the populations of many animals. Reduced population means there are fewer breeding pairs . A breeding pair is made up of two mature members of the species that are not closely related and can produce healthy offspring. With fewer breeding pairs, genetic variation shrinks. Monoculture , the agricultural method of growing a single crop , can also reduce genetic variation. Modern agribusiness relies on monocultures. Almost all potatoes cultivated , sold, and consumed, for instance, are from a single species, the Russet Burbank ( Solanum tuberosum ). Potatoes, native to the Andes Mountains of South America, have dozens of natural varieties. The genetic variation of wild potatoes allows them to adapt to climate change and disease. For Russet Burbanks, however, farmers must use fertilizers and pesticides to ensure healthy crops because the plant has almost no genetic variation. Plant breeders often go back to wild varieties to collect genes that will help cultivated plants resist pests and drought, and adapt to climate change. However, climate change is also threatening wild varieties. That means domesticated plants may lose an important source of traits that help them overcome new threats. The Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) keeps a “Red List of Threatened Species.” The Red List de fines the severity and specific causes of a species’ threat of extinction. The Red List has seven levels of conservation: least concern , near threatened , vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered , extinct in the wild , and extinct. Each category represents a different threat level. Species that are not threatened by extinction are placed within the first two categories—least concern and near-threatened. Those that are most threatened are placed within the next three categories, known as the threatened categories —vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered. Those species that are extinct in some form are placed within the last two categories—extinct in the wild and extinct. Classifying a species as endangered has to do with its range and habitat, as well as its actual population. For this reason, a species can be of least concern in one area and endangered in another. The gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus ), for instance, has a healthy population in the eastern Pacific Ocean, along the coast of North and South America. The population in the western Pacific, however, is critically endangered.

Least Concern Least concern is the lowest level of conservation . A species of least concern is one that has a widespread and abundant population. Human beings are a species of least concern, along with most domestic animals , such as dogs ( Canis familiaris ) and cats ( Felis catus ). Many wild animals, such as pigeons and houseflies ( Musca domestica ), are also classified as least concern. Near Threatened A near threatened species is one that is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future. Many species of violets , native to tropical jungles in South America and Africa, are near threatened, for instance. They have healthy populations, but their rainforest habitat is disappearing at a fast pace. People are cutting down huge areas of rainforest for development and timber . Many violet species are likely to become threatened. Vulnerable Species The definitions of the three threatened categories (vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered) are based on five criteria: population reduction rate , geographic range, population size, population restrictions , and probability of extinction . Threatened categories have different thresholds for these criteria. As the population and range of the species decreases, the species becomes more threatened. 1) Population reduction rate A species is classified as vulnerable if its population has declined between 30 and 50 percent. This decline is measured over 10 years or three generations of the species, whichever is longer. A generation is the period of time between the birth of an animal and the time it is able to reproduce. Mice are able to reproduce when they are about one month old. Mouse populations are mostly tracked over 10-year periods. An elephant's generation lasts about 15 years. So, elephant populations are measured over 45-year periods. A species is vulnerable if its population has declined at least 50 percent and the cause of the decline is known. Habitat loss is the leading known cause of population decline. A species is also classified as vulnerable if its population has declined at least 30 percent and the cause of the decline is not known. A new, unknown virus , for example, could kill hundreds or even thousands of individuals before being identified. 2) Geographic range A species is vulnerable if its “ extent of occurrence ” is estimated to be less than 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles). An extent of occurrence is the smallest area that could contain all sites of a species’ population. If all members of a species could survive in a single area, the size of that area is the species’ extent of occurrence. A species is also classified as vulnerable if its “ area of occupancy ” is estimated to be less than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles). An area of occupancy is where a specific population of that species resides. This area is often a breeding or nesting site in a species range. 3) Population size Species with fewer than 10,000 mature individuals are vulnerable. The species is also vulnerable if that population declines by at least 10 percent within 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer. 4) Population restrictions Population restriction is a combination of population and area of occupancy. A species is vulnerable if it is restricted to less than 1,000 mature individuals or an area of occupancy of less than 20 square kilometers (8 square miles). 5) Probability of extinction in the wild is at least 10 percent within 100 years. Biologists, anthropologists, meteorologists , and other scientists have developed complex ways to determine a species’ probability of extinction. These formulas calculate the chances a species can survive, without human protection, in the wild. Vulnerable Species: Ethiopian Banana Frog The Ethiopian banana frog ( Afrixalus enseticola ) is a small frog native to high- altitude areas of southern Ethiopia. It is a vulnerable species because its area of occupancy is less than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles). The extent and quality of its forest habitat are in decline. Threats to this habitat include forest clearance, mostly for housing and agriculture. Vulnerable Species: Snaggletooth Shark The snaggletooth shark ( Hemipristis elongatus ) is found in the tropical, coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its area of occupancy is enormous, from Southeast Africa to the Philippines, and from China to Australia. However, the snaggletooth shark is a vulnerable species because of a severe population reduction rate. Its population has fallen more than 10 percent over 10 years. The number of these sharks is declining due to fisheries, especially in the Java Sea and Gulf of Thailand. The snaggletooth shark’s flesh, fins, and liver are considered high-quality foods. They are sold in commercial fish markets, as well as restaurants. Vulnerable Species: Galapagos Kelp Galapagos kelp ( Eisenia galapagensis ) is a type of seaweed only found near the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Galapagos kelp is classified as vulnerable because its population has declined more than 10 percent over 10 years. Climate change is the leading cause of decline among Galapagos kelp. El Niño, the natural weather pattern that brings unusually warm water to the Galapagos, is the leading agent of climate change in this area. Galapagos kelp is a cold-water species and does not adapt quickly to changes in water temperature.

Endangered Species 1) Population reduction rate A species is classified as endangered when its population has declined between 50 and 70 percent. This decline is measured over 10 years or three generations of the species, whichever is longer. A species is classified as endangered when its population has declined at least 70 percent and the cause of the decline is known. A species is also classified as endangered when its population has declined at least 50 percent and the cause of the decline is not known. 2) Geographic range An endangered species’ extent of occurrence is less than 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles). An endangered species’ area of occupancy is less than 500 square kilometers (193 square miles). 3) Population size A species is classified as endangered when there are fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. When a species population declines by at least 20 percent within five years or two generations, it is also classified as endangered. 4) Population restrictions A species is classified as endangered when its population is restricted to less than 250 mature individuals. When a species’ population is this low, its area of occupancy is not considered. 5) Probability of extinction in the wild is at least 20 percent within 20 years or five generations, whichever is longer.

Endangered Species: Scimitar -horned Oryx The scimitar-horned oryx ( Oryx dammah ) is a species of antelope with long horns. Its range extends across northern Africa. Previously, the scimitar-horned oryx was listed as extinct in the wild because the last confirmed sighting of one was in 1988. However, the first group of scimitar-horned oryx was released back into the wild in Chad, in August 2016, and the population is growing. Overhunting and habitat loss, including competition with domestic livestock , are the main reasons for the decline of the oryx’s wild population. Captive herds are now kept in protected areas of Tunisia, Senegal, and Morocco. Scimitar-horned oryxes are also found in many zoos . Critically Endangered Species 1) Population reduction rate A critically endangered species’ population has declined between 80 and 90 percent. This decline is measured over 10 years or three generations of the species, whichever is longer. A species is classified as critically endangered when its population has declined at least 90 percent and the cause of the decline is known. A species is also classified as endangered when its population has declined at least 80 percent and the cause of the decline is not known. 2) Geographic range A critically endangered species’ extent of occurrence is less than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles). A critically endangered species’ area of occupancy is estimated to be less than 10 square kilometers (4 square miles). 3) Population size A species is classified as critically endangered when there are fewer than 250 mature individuals. A species is also classified as critically endangered when the number of mature individuals declines by at least 25 percent within three years or one generation, whichever is longer. 4) Population restrictions A species is classified as critically endangered when its population is restricted to less than 50 mature individuals. When a species’ population is this low, its area of occupancy is not considered. 5) Probability of extinction in the wild is at least 50 percent within 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer. Critically Endangered Species: Bolivian Chinchilla Rat The Bolivian chinchilla rat ( Abrocoma boliviensis ) is a rodent found in a small section of the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia. It is critically endangered because its extent of occurrence is less than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles). The major threat to this species is loss of its cloud forest habitat. People are clearing forests to create cattle pastures .

Critically Endangered Species: Transcaucasian Racerunner The Transcaucasian racerunner ( Eremias pleskei ) is a lizard found on the Armenian Plateau , located in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey. The Transcaucasian racerunner is a critically endangered species because of a huge population decline, estimated at more than 80 percent during the past 10 years. Threats to this species include the salination , or increased saltiness, of soil . Fertilizers used for agricultural development seep into the soil, increasing its saltiness. Racerunners live in and among the rocks and soil, and cannot adapt to the increased salt in their food and shelter. The racerunner is also losing habitat as people create trash dumps on their area of occupancy. Critically Endangered Species: White Ferula Mushroom The white ferula mushroom ( Pleurotus nebrodensis ) is a critically endangered species of fungus. The mushroom is critically endangered because its extent of occurrence is less than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles). It is only found in the northern part of the Italian island of Sicily, in the Mediterranean Sea. The leading threats to white ferula mushrooms are loss of habitat and overharvesting. White ferula mushrooms are a gourmet food item. Farmers and amateur mushroom hunters harvest the fungus for food and profit. The mushrooms can be sold for up to $100 per kilogram (2.2 pounds). Extinct in the Wild A species is extinct in the wild when it only survives in cultivation (plants), in captivity (animals), or as a population well outside its established range. A species may be listed as extinct in the wild only after years of surveys have failed to record an individual in its native or expected habitat.

Extinct in the Wild: Monut Kaala Cyanea The Mount Kaala cyanea ( Cyanea superba ) is a large, flowering tree native to the island of Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawai‘i. The Mount Kaala cyanea has large, broad leaves and fleshy fruit. The tree is extinct in the wild largely because of invasive species. Non-native plants crowded the cyanea out of its habitat, and non-native animals such as pigs, rats, and slugs ate its fruit more quickly than it could reproduce. Mount Kaala cyanea trees survive in tropical nurseries and botanical gardens . Many botanists and conservationists look forward to establishing a new population in the wild. Extinct A species is extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last remaining individual of that species has died. Extinct: Cuban Macaw The Cuban macaw ( Ara tricolor ) was a tropical parrot native to Cuba and a small Cuban island, Isla de la Juventud. Hunting and collecting the birds for pets led to the bird’s extinction. The last specimen of the Cuban macaw was collected in 1864. Extinct: Ridley’s Stick Insect Ridley’s stick insect ( Pseudobactricia ridleyi ) was native to the tropical jungle of the island of Singapore. This insect, whose long, segmented body resembled a tree limb, is only known through a single specimen, collected more than 100 years ago. During the 20th century, Singapore experienced rapid development. Almost the entire jungle was cleared, depriving the insect of its habitat.

Endangered Species and People When a species is classified as endangered, governments and international organizations can work to protect it. Laws may limit hunting and destruction of the species’ habitat. Individuals and organizations that break these laws may face huge fines. Because of such actions, many species have recovered from their endangered status. The brown pelican ( Pelecanus occidentalis ) was taken off the endangered species list in 2009, for instance. This seabird is native to the coasts of North America and South America, as well as the islands of the Caribbean Sea. It is the state bird of the U.S. state of Louisiana. In 1970, the number of brown pelicans in the wild was estimated at 10,000. The bird was classified as vulnerable. During the 1970s and 1980s, governments and conservation groups worked to help the brown pelican recover. Young chicks were reared in hatching sites, then released into the wild. Human access to nesting sites was severely restricted. The pesticide DDT , which damaged the eggs of the brown pelican, was banned. During the 1980s, the number of brown pelicans soared. In 1988, the IUCN “delisted” the brown pelican. The bird, whose population is now in the hundreds of thousands, is now in the category of least concern.

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty to sustain and protect the diversity of life on Earth. This includes conservation, sustainability, and sharing the benefits of genetic research and resources. The Convention on Biological Diversity has adopted the IUCN Red List of endangered species in order to monitor and research species' population and habitats. Three nations have not ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity: Andorra, the Holy See (Vatican), and the United States.

Lonesome George Lonesome George was the only living member of the Pinta Island tortoise ( Chelonoidis abingdoni ) known to exist. The Pinta Island tortoise was only found on Pinta, one of the Galapagos Islands. The Charles Darwin Research Station, a scientific facility in the Galapagos, offered a $10,000 reward to any zoo or individual for locating a single Pinta Island tortoise female. On June 25, 2012, Lonesome George died, leaving one more extinct species in the world.

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Animal Extinction and What Is Being Done To Help Essay

Of late, there has been a significant change in the populations of various species of animals. The number of species that was there a century ago is very different from what is there today. This number is changing at an alarming rate, an issue that is drawing the attention of many people around the globe. The affected species, the causes of the change, as well as the possible criterion of arresting the situation, forms the subject of their discussion.

Animal extinction is generally the termination of the life of the final individual of a certain species. This is the time when there is no more existence of the species. “Extinction, though is usually a natural phenomenon, it is estimated that 99.9% of all the species that have ever lived are now extinct.” (Newman, 1994).

The dinosaurs serve as a living example of a species that existed a few centuries ago but is completely nowhere today. The causes of extinction vary depending on the species. Inability to reproduce, which serves as the root precursor behind the extinction of a species is thought to come because of deteriorated health, old-age, absence of one animal of the opposite sex, scarce population of the animals, among others.

There exist quite a number of causes of animal extinction, some of which are undetectable, complicated, while others are easily identifiable. “Just as each species is unique…so is each, extinction…the causes of each are varied…” (Beverly & Stearns, 2000). Human activities play a key role in fuelling the disappearance of any species.

For instance, the increasing global human population has chased away a large number of animals, as people create settlement areas. It is not news that others end up killing them in their attempts to make settlement areas. In addition, the transfer of animals into new places, game parks/reserves, has also sped animal extinction. Some turn to be predators and food competitors of the others, a case that reduces the number of the affected. As this continues, the species might end. Over hunting, among others, are accountable as well.

A number of things are in place to help curb the situation. A lot of money has been raised to cater for advertisement expenses. These advertisements are purely addressing the issue of animal extinction. They let people know the reasons behind animal preservation, showing the critically affected animals, as well as the effect of the absence of those species on the entire food chain, in which man is major consumer, relying entirely on the rest.

Due to the increased deforestation, Ehrlich (1991) posits that stern actions have been introduced against any, found interfering with the habitats of animals. This includes jailing accompanied by a heavy fine. People have protested this issue outside offices of the relevant departments that deal with animals.

This has enlightened the need for urgency in their establishing of the necessary steps worthy taking, to help rescue the affected species. The agencies that deal with animal protection are highly funded today to help them employ more people who protect these animals on a daily basis.

In conclusion, animal extinction is a sensitive issue that needs to be addressed to all people. This follows from what has been realized of late that, failure to this, human species is not far from suffering the consequences. As a result, measures ought to be taken, early in advance, to help prevent, rather than curing.

Reference List

Beverly, P., & Stearns, C. (2000). Preface: Watching, from the Edge of Extinction . Yale University Press.

Ehrlich, A. (1981). Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species . New York: Random House.

Newman, M. (1994). A Mathematical Model for Mass Extinction . Cornell University Press.

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IvyPanda. (2018, July 16). Animal Extinction and What Is Being Done To Help. https://ivypanda.com/essays/animal-extinction-and-what-is-being-done-to-help/

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IvyPanda . (2018) 'Animal Extinction and What Is Being Done To Help'. 16 July.

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Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace

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By Brad Plumer

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WASHINGTON — Humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people all over the world depend on for their survival, a sweeping new United Nations assessment has concluded.

The 1,500-page report, compiled by hundreds of international experts and based on thousands of scientific studies, is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity across the globe and the dangers that creates for human civilization. A summary of its findings , which was approved by representatives from the United States and 131 other countries, was released Monday in Paris. The full report is set to be published this year.

Its conclusions are stark. In most major land habitats, from the savannas of Africa to the rain forests of South America, the average abundance of native plant and animal life has fallen by 20 percent or more, mainly over the past century. With the human population passing 7 billion, activities like farming, logging, poaching, fishing and mining are altering the natural world at a rate “unprecedented in human history.”

At the same time, a new threat has emerged: Global warming has become a major driver of wildlife decline , the assessment found, by shifting or shrinking the local climates that many mammals, birds , insects, fish and plants evolved to survive in. When combined with the other ways humans are damaging the environment, climate change is now pushing a growing number of species, such as the Bengal tiger , closer to extinction.

As a result, biodiversity loss is projected to accelerate through 2050, particularly in the tropics, unless countries drastically step up their conservation efforts.

The report is not the first to paint a grim portrait of Earth’s ecosystems. But it goes further by detailing how closely human well-being is intertwined with the fate of other species.

“For a long time, people just thought of biodiversity as saving nature for its own sake,” said Robert Watson, chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which conducted the assessment at the request of national governments. “But this report makes clear the links between biodiversity and nature and things like food security and clean water in both rich and poor countries.”

A previous report by the group had estimated that, in the Americas, nature provides some $24 trillion of non-monetized benefits to humans each year. The Amazon rain forest absorbs immense quantities of carbon dioxide and helps slow the pace of global warming. Wetlands purify drinking water. Coral reefs sustain tourism and fisheries in the Caribbean. Exotic tropical plants form the basis of a variety of medicines.

But as these natural landscapes wither and become less biologically rich, the services they can provide to humans have been dwindling.

Humans are producing more food than ever, but land degradation is already harming agricultural productivity on 23 percent of the planet’s land area, the new report said. The decline of wild bees and other insects that help pollinate fruits and vegetables is putting up to $577 billion in annual crop production at risk. The loss of mangrove forests and coral reefs along coasts could expose up to 300 million people to increased risk of flooding.

The authors note that the devastation of nature has become so severe that piecemeal efforts to protect individual species or to set up wildlife refuges will no longer be sufficient. Instead, they call for “transformative changes” that include curbing wasteful consumption, slimming down agriculture’s environmental footprint and cracking down on illegal logging and fishing.

“It’s no longer enough to focus just on environmental policy,” said Sandra M. Díaz, a lead author of the study and an ecologist at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina. “We need to build biodiversity considerations into trade and infrastructure decisions, the way that health or human rights are built into every aspect of social and economic decision-making.”

Scientists have cataloged only a fraction of living creatures, some 1.3 million; the report estimates there may be as many as 8 million plant and animal species on the planet, most of them insects. Since 1500, at least 680 species have blinked out of existence, including the Pinta giant tortoise of the Galápagos Islands and the Guam flying fox.

Though outside experts cautioned it could be difficult to make precise forecasts, the report warns of a looming extinction crisis, with extinction rates currently tens to hundreds of times higher than they have been in the past 10 million years.

“Human actions threaten more species with global extinction now than ever before,” the report concludes, estimating that “around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken.”

Unless nations step up their efforts to protect what natural habitats are left, they could witness the disappearance of 40 percent of amphibian species, one-third of marine mammals and one-third of reef-forming corals. More than 500,000 land species, the report said, do not have enough natural habitat left to ensure their long-term survival.

Over the past 50 years, global biodiversity loss has primarily been driven by activities like the clearing of forests for farmland, the expansion of roads and cities, logging, hunting, overfishing, water pollution and the transport of invasive species around the globe.

In Indonesia, the replacement of rain forest with palm oil plantations has ravaged the habitat of critically endangered orangutans and Sumatran tigers. In Mozambique, ivory poachers helped kill off nearly 7,000 elephants between 2009 and 2011 alone. In Argentina and Chile, the introduction of the North American beaver in the 1940s has devastated native trees (though it has also helped other species thrive, including the Magellanic woodpecker).

All told, three-quarters of the world’s land area has been significantly altered by people, the report found, and 85 percent of the world’s wetlands have vanished since the 18th century.

And with humans continuing to burn fossil fuels for energy, global warming is expected to compound the damage . Roughly 5 percent of species worldwide are threatened with climate-related extinction if global average temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the report concluded. (The world has already warmed 1 degree.)

“If climate change were the only problem we were facing, a lot of species could probably move and adapt,” Richard Pearson, an ecologist at the University College of London, said. “But when populations are already small and losing genetic diversity, when natural landscapes are already fragmented, when plants and animals can’t move to find newly suitable habitats, then we have a real threat on our hands.”

The dwindling number of species will not just make the world a less colorful or wondrous place, the report noted. It also poses risks to people.

Today, humans are relying on significantly fewer varieties of plants and animals to produce food. Of the 6,190 domesticated mammal breeds used in agriculture, more than 559 have gone extinct and 1,000 more are threatened. That means the food system is becoming less resilient against pests and diseases. And it could become harder in the future to breed new, hardier crops and livestock to cope with the extreme heat and drought that climate change will bring.

“Most of nature’s contributions are not fully replaceable,” the report said. Biodiversity loss “can permanently reduce future options, such as wild species that might be domesticated as new crops and be used for genetic improvement.”

The report does contain glimmers of hope. When governments have acted forcefully to protect threatened species, such as the Arabian oryx or the Seychelles magpie robin, they have managed to fend off extinction in many cases. And nations have protected more than 15 percent of the world’s land and 7 percent of its oceans by setting up nature reserves and wilderness areas.

Still, only a fraction of the most important areas for biodiversity have been protected, and many nature reserves poorly enforce prohibitions against poaching, logging or illegal fishing. Climate change could also undermine existing wildlife refuges by shifting the geographic ranges of species that currently live within them.

So, in addition to advocating the expansion of protected areas, the authors outline a vast array of changes aimed at limiting the drivers of biodiversity loss.

Farmers and ranchers would have to adopt new techniques to grow more food on less land . Consumers in wealthy countries would have to waste less food and become more efficient in their use of natural resources. Governments around the world would have to strengthen and enforce environmental laws, cracking down on illegal logging and fishing and reducing the flow of heavy metals and untreated wastewater into the environment.

The authors also note that efforts to limit global warming will be critical, although they caution that the development of biofuels to reduce emissions could end up harming biodiversity by further destroying forests.

None of this will be easy, especially since many developing countries face pressure to exploit their natural resources as they try to lift themselves out of poverty.

But, by detailing the benefits that nature can provide to people, and by trying to quantify what is lost when biodiversity plummets, the scientists behind the assessment are hoping to help governments strike a more careful balance between economic development and conservation.

“You can’t just tell leaders in Africa that there can’t be any development and that we should turn the whole continent into a national park,” said Emma Archer, who led the group’s earlier assessment of biodiversity in Africa . “But we can show that there are trade-offs, that if you don’t take into account the value that nature provides, then ultimately human well-being will be compromised.”

In the next two years, diplomats from around the world will gather for several meetings under the Convention on Biological Diversity, a global treaty, to discuss how they can step up their efforts at conservation . Yet even in the new report’s most optimistic scenario, through 2050 the world’s nations would only slow the decline of biodiversity — not stop it.

“At this point,” said Jake Rice, a fisheries scientist who led an earlier report on biodiversity in the Americas, “our options are all about damage control.”

For more news on climate and the environment, follow @NYTClimate on Twitter .

Brad Plumer is a climate reporter specializing in policy and technology efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. At The Times, he has also covered international climate talks and the changing energy landscape in the United States. More about Brad Plumer

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Biodiversity Is Nearing an ‘Extinction Crisis,’ Animal Researchers Say

M an has killed off much of the Earth’s existing wildlife , and some scientists argue that human activity has set off the world’s sixth mass extinction event . New research now shows global animal populations are declining more rapidly than earlier believed.

Authors of the study published in the journal Biological Reviews on May 15 analyzed more than 71,000 animal species—spanning mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects—to assess their population growth over time. They found 49% of these species are stable, but 48% have shrinking populations, and only 3% have populations on the rise.

Assessing the extent of mass extinction has traditionally relied on the conservation status the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assigns to a species. The IUCN’s Red List marks down these statuses from time to time to provide a snapshot of the changing composition of wildlife. Of the populations and extinction risks of more than 150,300 species evaluated by the committee, 28% are considered facing the threat of extinction.

Animal populations disappear all the time to make way for new species, but the new study highlights the extent of “real” biodiversity loss as the species with declining populations far outnumber those with increasing numbers, says research co-author Daniel Pincheira-Donoso. “The issue with this mass extinction in particular is that it is happening too quickly,” he tells TIME. “Species do not have enough time to evolve to take [over] those [other] species. So we lose and lose and lose, and we don’t see our turnover.”

The authors also concluded that depending solely on the IUCN’s Red List “runs a risk of downplaying the severity of biodiversity loss” as they found that some 33% of the species classified as “non-threatened” have populations on the decline, too. For instance, some 13% of bird species are considered “threatened,” but the study found that 53% of them have falling populations.

Species of amphibians like frogs and newts appear to be most at risk, with low stable population and high falling population. Geography is a factor, too, as animal population decline is more concentrated in the tropics compared to temperate regions.

“Collectively, our findings reinforce the warning that biodiversity is on the brink of an extinction crisis,” the authors write. This, they say, will have “extensive ecological and ecosystemic consequences, given that ecological functioning is severely impacted by population declines and the resulting changes in community compositions.”

Read More: The U.N. Reports That 1 Million Species Could Go Extinct. It Shows How Hard It Will Be to Heal the Planet

Lim Jun Ying, assistant professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore, says the study, while not particularly revelatory, is a more granular assessment of animal population compared to the IUCN threat categories.

But Lim notes a caveat. “How these numbers play out, you would have to really look at the local context,” he says. “It’s not just the overall numbers of how much is being lost. We have to take into account what those species are actually doing in those ecosystems. And whether or not the ecosystems have the ability to compensate for that loss.”

The IUCN categories remain “an excellent resource” for conservation scientists, Pincheira-Donoso explains, and their study should be used alongside it for more preventive approach toward addressing biodiversity loss. “It’s by no means obsolete; it’s just an alternative way of looking at the situation. And in fact, if you put them together, you can get a pretty precise picture about what is going on.”

Pincheira-Donoso adds that their study could help policymakers with more forward-looking conservation efforts instead of just focusing on the current data.

For Lemnuel Aragones, a professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, the study is a “great revelation” at a time when biodiversity loss has been relegated to the sidelines, and the extent of the damage humans cause to wildlife. “The common layman doesn’t have that intuition to put things together, that we have had so much impact on our environment, that we have cleared and converted many ecosystems that’s resulted in the demise of a few species,” Aragones said. “We don’t want to say that there’s no problem when there is actually a problem.”

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• ENVIRONMENT

One million species at risk of extinction, UN report warns

A landmark global assessment warns that the window is closing to safeguard biodiversity and a healthy planet. Yet solutions are in sight.

The bonds that hold nature together may be at risk of unraveling from deforestation, overfishing, development, and other human activities, a landmark United Nations report warns. Thanks to human pressures, one million species may be pushed to extinction in the next few years, with serious consequences for human beings as well as the rest of life on Earth.

“The evidence is crystal clear: Nature is in trouble. Therefore we are in trouble,” said Sandra Díaz, one of the co-chairs of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. A 40-page “Summary for Policy Makers” of the forthcoming full report (expected to exceed 1,500 pages) was released May 6 in Paris.

Related: Iconic Endangered Species

Based on a review of about 15,000 scientific and government sources and compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries, the global report is the first comprehensive look in 15 years at the state of the planet’s biodiversity. This report includes, for the first time, indigenous and local knowledge as well as scientific studies. The authors say they found overwhelming evidence that human activities are behind nature’s decline. They ranked the major drivers of species decline as land conversion, including deforestation ; overfishing ; bush meat hunting and poaching; climate change; pollution; and invasive alien species.

The tremendous variety of living species—at least 8.7 million , but possibly many more —that make up our “life-supporting safety net” provide our food, clean water, air, energy, and more, said Díaz, an ecologist at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina, in an interview. “Not only is our safety net shrinking, it’s becoming more threadbare and holes are appearing.”

A world of green slime?

In parts of the ocean, little life remains but green slime. Some remote tropical forests are nearly silent as insects have vanished , and grasslands are increasingly becoming deserts. Human activity has resulted in the severe alteration of more than 75 percent of Earth’s land areas, the Global Assessment found. And 66 percent of the oceans, which cover most of our blue planet, have suffered significant human impacts. This includes more than 400 dead zones —where scant life can survive—that collectively would cover the state of Oregon or Wyoming.

The new report paints “an ominous picture” of the health of ecosystems rapidly deteriorating, said Sir Robert Watson, Chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which conducted the global assessment. IPBES is often described as the equivalent of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change for biodiversity and does scientific assessments on the status of the non-human life that makes up the Earth’s life-support system.

For Hungry Minds

“We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health, and quality of life worldwide,” Watson said in a statement.

“My biggest personal concern is the state of the oceans,” Watson told National Geographic. “ Plastics , dead zones, overfishing, acidification... We’re really screwing up the oceans in a big way.”

Saving more species

Protecting nature and saving species is all about securing the land and water plants and animals need to survive, said Jonathan Baillie , executive vice president and chief scientist of the National Geographic Society. Protecting half of the planet by 2050, with an interim target of 30 percent by 2030 , is the only way to meet the Paris climate targets or achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for the world, Baillie said.

Forests, oceans, and other parts of nature soak up 60 percent of global fossil fuel emissions every year, the report found. “We need to secure the biosphere to protect the climate and help buffer us from extreme weather events,” Baillie said.

Coral reefs and mangroves protect coastal areas from storms such as hurricanes. Wetlands reduce flooding by absorbing heavy rainfall. Yet each of these ecosystems has declined dramatically, with wetlands down to less than 15 percent of what they were 300 years ago and coral reefs facing a global bleaching crisis .

Nearly 100 groups around the world (including the National Geographic Society and the Wyss Campaign for Nature) have endorsed the goal of protecting half of the planet by 2050. Recently, 19 of the world’s leading scientists published a study to make a science-backed plan for an interim step that would protect 30 percent by 2030 under what’s called a Global Deal for Nature . The proposed protection does not mean “no go” areas, but rather areas protected from resource extraction and land conversion. Sustainable uses would be permitted in all but the most sensitive areas, the groups wrote.

“The international community has both the time and the tools to safeguard nature and slow the ongoing wildlife extinction crisis,” Brian O’Donnell, director of the Wyss Campaign for Nature, said in a statement.

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National Geographic Society and the Wyss Campaign for Nature are working together to inspire the protection of 30 percent of the planet by 2030 .

Such tools were under discussion during the week-long negotiations by IPBES country members who debated the key messages and policy options to be published in the “Summary for Policymakers.” The full Global Assessment report will be published later this year.

“The main message of our report is that transformative change is urgently needed. There are no other options” said David Obura, a marine biologist at the Coastal Oceans Research and Development – Indian Ocean in Mombasa, Kenya. “There’s so little time left to save corals. If we can save corals we could save everything.”

Value nature not stuff

In order to safeguard a healthy planet, society needs to shift from a sole focus on chasing economic growth, the summary report concludes. That won’t be easy, the report acknowledges. But it could get easier if countries begin to base their economies on an understanding that nature is the foundation for development. Shifting to nature-based planning can help provide a better quality of life with far less impact.

Putting that concept into practical terms, the report says countries need to reform hundreds of billions in dollars in subsidies and incentives that are currently given to the energy, fishing, agricultural, and forestry sectors. Instead of driving additional exploitation of the world’s natural resources, those monies should be shifted to incentivize protection and restoration of nature—such as underwriting new reserves or reforestation programs, the report said.

“We need to change what we value: nature, ecosystems, social equity, not growing the GDP,” Obura said.

The other evidence gathered by IPBES shows that nature managed by indigenous peoples and local communities is in generally better health than nature managed by national or corporate institutions, despite increasing pressures, said Joji Cariño, a senior policy advisor at the Forest Peoples Programme , a human rights organization.

At least a quarter of the global land area is traditionally owned, managed, used, or occupied by indigenous peoples. However, their land tenure and other rights are not always protected or recognized by all countries. Nor is their deep knowledge of the land and their values often considered in policies and decisions by governments. That needs to change, the Global Assessment noted.

“Indigenous peoples are key partners in the global transformation that’s needed,” said Cariño.

Yet countries still are slow to recognize this, she adds. As an example, she points to the Philippines. Forty years ago, indigenous people there stopped construction of dams on the Chico River because they were concerned about impacts on their land. Yet those dams are now being built by China under their trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure initiative .

China has an important role to play in global discussions around biodiversity, because the country will host a major United Nations conference called the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in late 2020. Scientists hope a new, ambitious international agreement to protect the planet could happen there, akin to the Paris agreement around climate.

Assessment co-chair Díaz doesn’t yet know if a global agreement will arise as bold as protecting 30 percent by 2030. “If it were easy it would have already happened,” Diaz said.

“However, the evidence is clear: the future will be bad for us if we don’t act now. There is no future for us without nature.”

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Accelerating extinction rate triggers domino effect of biodiversity loss

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While nearly one million species are currently at risk of extinction, the United Nations University (UNU) in Bonn is drawing attention to “co-extinctions”: the chain reaction occurring when the complete disappearance of one species affects another.  

The issue is in the spotlight ahead of the  International Day for Biological Diversity , observed annually on 22 May, and covered in the most recent edition of UNU’s Interconnected Disaster Risks report.

Among the animals at risk is the gopher tortoise, one of the oldest living species on the planet. This tragic story of biodiversity loss is unfolding at the heart of the coastal plains of the southern United States. 

Ecosystem ‘architect’ 

Their reduced number is not just problematic for the survival of the tortoise as a species, however, as these charismatic creatures also play a vital role in preserving the delicate balance of their coastal realm.  

Gopher tortoises are not merely occupants of their habitat; they are architects, sculpting ecosystems and providing sanctuaries for over 350 other species. With their front legs functioning like shovels, they dig burrows that range in size from 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 metres) long and from 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.5 metres) deep.  

From small insects to larger amphibians, each organism plays a vital role in the ecosystem's intricate web of life these burrows provide. For some, the burrows of the gopher tortoise are a safe haven for breeding and nurturing offspring, while for others, they offer respite from predators and the elements.

Should the gopher tortoise vanish, it is likely a domino effect would be felt throughout the ecosystem.  

Among the most vulnerable is the critically endangered dusky gopher frog, a species already teetering on the brink of extinction. Reliant on the tortoise's burrows for shelter and survival, the disappearance of the tortoise would most likely put the frog’s survival at risk too. 

The role of humans 

In shedding more light on co-extinctions, UNU said that intense human activities, such as land-use change, overexploitation, climate change, pollution and the introduction of invasive species, is causing an extinction acceleration that is at least tens to hundreds of times faster than the natural process of extinctions.  

In the last 100 years, over 400 vertebrate species were lost, for example. The report therefore includes accelerated extinctions among its six interconnected ‘risk tipping points’.  

Such points are reached when the systems that humanity relies on cannot buffer risks and stop functioning like expected – mainly as a result of human actions.  

Extinction breeds extinction 

Ecosystems are built on intricate networks of connections between different species, as the gopher tortoise-dusky gopher frog example indicates.  

The domino effect could lead to more species going extinct and eventually even to the collapse of entire ecosystems.  

With nearly one million plant and animal species currently under threat, the ripple effect of the extinction of a single species can affect countless others, disrupting vital ecological functions. 

The endangered sea otter provides another example of intricate dependencies within ecosystems. Calling the Pacific kelp forests their home, they were once plentiful, but are now locally endangered due to being relentlessly hunted for their fur in the past.  

In a finely tuned ecological dance, sea otters prey on sea urchins, halting the unrestrained growth of sea urchin populations. Without the presence of otters, these spiky grazers run rampant, transforming lush kelp forests into desolate ‘urchin barrens’.  

But the demise of sea otters would have impacts that extend far beyond the disappearance of kelp alone, UNU said. Over1,000 species– including sharks, turtles, seals, whales, birds, and a multitude of fish– rely on these underwater havens for their very existence.  

Creating the future we want  

Addressing the biodiversity crisis demands a multifaceted approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of risks and solutions.  

The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity  calls for everyone to support implementation of  the Biodiversity Plan , adopted in 2022, which sets goals and concrete measures to stop and reverse the loss of nature by 2050. 

One of the goals includes reducing the extinction rate of all species tenfold by mid-century and increasing the abundance of native wild species to healthy and resilient levels, said Zita Sebesvari, Deputy Director of UNU’s Institute for Environment and Human Security and lead author of the  Interconnected Disaster Risks report.  

“While adaptation strategies, such as restoring and protecting green corridors between animal habitats offer some respite, tackling underlying drivers of extinction remains crucial, because this goal cannot be reached as long as we risk accelerating extinctions,” she explained. 

In the long term, avoiding extinctions and co-extinctions will be the only realistic solution to halt biodiversity loss, which requires a shift of mindsets.  

“Conservation efforts must extend beyond individual species to encompass entire ecosystems”, Ms. Sebesvari said.  

“Urgent and decisive action is needed to preserve the resilience of ecosystems and ensure the survival of our planet’s diverse web of life. Embracing nature as an integral part of our culture is essential to secure a sustainable future, recognizing that our fate is inevitably intertwined with the fate of the natural world.” 

• biodiversity

Band 6+: The animal species are becoming extinct due to human activities on land and in sea. What are the reasons and solutions?

Human society develops with a heavy cost on the animal world. A vast number of different species are being pushed to the verge of extinction. Rapid industrialization and rampant hunting are the driving forces for why this has happened. Ordinary people and the government should take some reasonable steps to deal with this issue.

The sharp fall in living species is first attributed to industrial and agricultural activities such as releasing a large amount of pollutants that stem from some steel and mining factories. This inflicts tremendous damage on animals’ natural habitats. Forests, which are the home of wildlife animals, are being cut down to make ways for factories and fuel their operation. As a result, some species can not find another home to live in, while others face difficulties adapting to a new environment. In addition, tourism in coastal areas has an adverse impact on the marine environment. Since waste discharged along the coast contaminates water and poses a serious threat to marine creatures in these areas.

Another reason cited to explain why such a tragedy has happened recently is due to people’s continued and heavy reliance on them for their own interests. An age-old tradition is that animals are raised, bred and fed for human use. The meat of rare animals is regarded as a delicacy in some countries, for example, whale meat in Japan. Due to the valuable price of this animal, some poachers always find ways to hunt them illegally, thereby causing the number of fish species to decline dramatically in the short term. Although some measures have been taken by the government to protect particular endangered species, the case produces no result.

There are, in fact, several ways to help protect wild animals. First of all, stricter punishments should be implemented for illegal logging, deforestation, overfishing and overexploitation. For instance, people who repeat illegal acts many times, will be sent to prison. Furthermore, many policies and regulations about wildlife conservation will come into force in an attempt to produce legal deterrents to prevent rampant hunting. The second measure is that many wildlife sanctuaries should be constructed to shelter any species which is on the red list of threatened animals such as koalas or pandas. These places may be safe for them to be kept and assist their reproduction.

In conclusion, humans are threatening the survival of many animal species when they expand their factories and hunt out of greed. It is imperative to put appropriate protection measures as I have discussed, into place.

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Informative Speech on Animal Conservation

Ai generator.

Good evening, everyone,

Today, I want to discuss a crucial topic that affects the biodiversity and health of our planet: animal conservation. Specifically, I will talk about endangered species and the efforts being made to protect them. Understanding the importance of conservation can help us take action to preserve the incredible diversity of life on Earth.

Understanding Endangered Species

Endangered species are animals and plants that are at significant risk of extinction due to various factors such as habitat loss, poaching, climate change, and pollution. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the Red List of Threatened Species, which classifies species based on their risk of extinction.

Examples of Endangered Species

1. giant panda.

• Habitat : The giant panda is native to the mountainous regions of central China. It primarily lives in temperate forests with dense bamboo undergrowth.
• Threats : Habitat loss due to deforestation and agricultural expansion is the primary threat to giant pandas. Climate change also affects bamboo growth, their primary food source.
• Conservation Efforts : Conservation efforts include habitat restoration, the establishment of panda reserves, and captive breeding programs. These initiatives have helped increase the panda population, leading to its status being upgraded from “Endangered” to “Vulnerable.”

2. Sumatran Orangutan

• Habitat : The Sumatran orangutan is found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, living in tropical rainforests.
• Threats : Deforestation for palm oil plantations, illegal logging, and poaching are significant threats to their survival.
• Conservation Efforts : Efforts to protect Sumatran orangutans include anti-poaching patrols, habitat restoration, and promoting sustainable palm oil production. Rehabilitation centers also work to reintroduce rescued orangutans back into the wild.

3. Amur Leopard

• Habitat : The Amur leopard is native to the temperate forests of the Russian Far East and northern China.
• Threats : Poaching for their beautiful fur, habitat destruction, and prey depletion are major threats.
• Conservation Efforts : Conservation measures include anti-poaching initiatives, habitat protection, and the establishment of protected areas. Captive breeding programs aim to boost the population and maintain genetic diversity.

4. Hawksbill Turtle

• Habitat : Hawksbill turtles are found in tropical coral reefs around the world.
• Threats : Illegal trade of their shells, marine pollution, climate change, and habitat loss threaten their survival.
• Conservation Efforts : International laws protect hawksbill turtles from poaching and trade. Efforts also include protecting nesting sites, reducing plastic pollution, and promoting sustainable fishing practices.

Efforts to Protect Endangered Species

1. legal protection.

• International Agreements : Treaties like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulate and restrict trade in endangered species to prevent exploitation.
• National Laws : Many countries have enacted laws to protect endangered species and their habitats, such as the Endangered Species Act in the United States.

2. Habitat Conservation

• Protected Areas : Establishing national parks, wildlife reserves, and marine protected areas helps safeguard critical habitats from destruction and human encroachment.
• Habitat Restoration : Efforts to restore degraded ecosystems, such as reforestation and wetland restoration, help support endangered species populations.

3. Anti-Poaching Initiatives

• Law Enforcement : Strengthening law enforcement to combat poaching and illegal wildlife trade is crucial. This includes training rangers, enhancing surveillance, and imposing stricter penalties.
• Community Involvement : Engaging local communities in conservation efforts and providing alternative livelihoods can reduce dependence on poaching and promote sustainable practices.

4. Captive Breeding and Reintroduction

• Breeding Programs : Captive breeding programs in zoos and conservation centers help increase population numbers and genetic diversity. These programs can be essential for critically endangered species.
• Reintroduction : Successfully bred animals are often reintroduced into their natural habitats to boost wild populations. Careful planning ensures that reintroduction efforts support ecosystem balance and species survival.

5. Public Awareness and Education

• Education Campaigns : Raising awareness about endangered species and the importance of conservation through educational programs, documentaries, and media campaigns can mobilize public support.
• Citizen Science : Encouraging public participation in conservation activities, such as wildlife monitoring and habitat cleanups, fosters a sense of responsibility and involvement.

The conservation of endangered species is vital for maintaining biodiversity and the health of our ecosystems. Through legal protection, habitat conservation, anti-poaching initiatives, captive breeding, and public awareness, we can make significant strides in protecting these vulnerable species. Each of us can contribute to these efforts by supporting conservation organizations, making sustainable choices, and spreading awareness.

By working together, we can ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy the rich diversity of life on our planet.

Thank you for your attention.

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These animals are mostly likely to 'win' climate change

Some creatures may benefit from the new conditions

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While climate change is expected to cause wide-scale extinction , some animals might potentially fare better than others. Some creatures are even reaping benefits from the changing climate and could drastically alter the ecosystem as we know it. These animals are called the "winners" of climate change and will likely thrive in the new conditions. The species most likely to survive or even thrive are those that multiply quickly, are without sensitive habitat requirements and a non-picky diet. Most species that fit the criteria are insects and rodents, and many are considered invasive. Introducing the five species that might win the climate-change race.

The soft and transparent aquatic creatures could be stronger in a warmer climate. A study done by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany analyzed eight species of jellyfish and found that seven of them were capable of expanding their habitats further north towards the North Pole when exposed to rising water temperatures, retreating sea ice and other factors associated with climate change. The lion's mane jellyfish, in particular, has the potential to triple its population size. "These results clearly show how dramatically climate change could affect the ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean," Dmitrii Pantiukhin, a doctoral candidate who worked on the study, told Euronews . "The projected expansion of the jellyfish habitats could have tremendous, cascading impacts on the entire food web."

Bullfrogs are an invasive species known for being strong predators and capable of spreading a deadly fungus. They are also capable of traveling far distances since they can "leap up to six feet in a single hop and can travel more than a mile between isolated waterways over land," said Gizmodo . A warming climate will only make more suitable habitats for the bullfrog and threaten other amphibian species across the globe. "In South America, bullfrogs are projected to move into new areas as the climate warms. In South Korea, under the worst-case climate change scenarios, American bullfrogs are projected to increase their range. In western Canada, climate change is also thought to be facilitating the bullfrog takeover," Gizmodo said.

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Feral swine

Feral swine, also called wild hogs, are expected to increase in population in warmer temperatures. A study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that feral swine populations rise in warmer temperatures because their food sources increase. The invasive hogs have been found in 35 U.S. states and are extremely destructive, causing more than $1B in damage each year. "Nearly 300 native plant and animal species in the U.S. are in rapid decline because of feral swine, and many of the species are already at risk," said USA Today . "The swine also carry at least 40 parasites, 30 bacterial and viral illnesses, and can infect humans, livestock and other animals with diseases like brucellosis and tuberculosis."

Spotted lanternfly

The invasive spotted lanternfly is likely to leave its light on permanently. The insects have spread rapidly across the U.S., and warming temperatures will only expand their habitat. "It's a very distinctive and characteristic bug, and it is establishing in more places," Julie Urban, a research associate professor of entomology at Pennsylvania State University, said to CNN . "It's possible that if your plants are around longer, lanternflies in warmer areas could persist longer and maybe lay an additional clutch." In addition, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports said "human-mediated dispersal (e.g., cars, trucks and trains) is driving the observed spread dynamics and distribution of the spotted lanternfly throughout the eastern USA." 

Another notorious insect, the mosquito, is likely to grow in population due to climate change. The blood-sucking insects spread several diseases including malaria, Zika and dengue fever and have been known to thrive in warm climates. "Mosquito season is getting longer, mosquito populations are booming and mosquito ranges are growing," said Gizmodo . The insects can also spread diseases to other species like birds, reducing the infected species' populations. Longer mosquito seasons can also speed up evolution rates. "More generations means more chances for the world's deadliest animal to get even better at being the worst," Gizmodo said.

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 Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.  

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The Most Devastating Animal Extinctions in Recent History

Posted: May 28, 2024 | Last updated: May 28, 2024

Devastating Losses

The loss of species due to animal extinctions is a profound tragedy for our world. It strips away the incredible diversity and delicate balance that sustains ecosystems and enriches our planet. Every extinction also diminishes the intricate web of life by reducing biodiversity and destabilizing natural habitats that many species depend on to thrive. The sadness of these losses is compounded by the fact that many are directly attributed to human actions, from overhunting to habitat destruction.

Here are 10 of the most devastating animal extinctions in recent history, plus a closer look at the dire impact of human greed and why we need stronger wildlife protection measures.

1. Northern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni)

The Northern White Rhino was officially declared extinct in 2018 with the death of Sudan, the last male of the species that died at the age of 45. Intense hunting and poaching for their horns decimated their population and drove them to the brink of extinction. Despite conservation efforts, habitat loss and illegal hunting proved insurmountable obstacles, and their numbers were unable to ever bounce back. 

2. Baiji Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)

Known as the Yangtze river dolphin, or the Chinese lake dolphin, the Baiji was declared functionally extinct in 2007. This was announced after a dedicated six-week expedition in 2006 failed to find a single Baiji in its native waters. Industrialization along the Yangtze River, coupled with overfishing and pollution , led to its decline. The construction of dams and increased boat traffic also further impacted their habitat. 

3. Pinta Island Tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii)

Native to the island of Pinta in the northern Galapagos Archipelago, the last known individual of this species, Lonesome George , died in 2012. Over-harvesting by sailors and the introduction of non-native species is thought to have decimated their population . Invasive species like goats also destroyed their natural habitat by scavenging on vegetation and leaving little food behind for these giant tortoises. 

4. Western Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis longipes)

Declared extinct in 2011, the Western Black Rhino was a victim of rampant poaching and habitat loss. Its horns, which were highly valued in traditional medicine and for ornamental or decorative purposes, were highly sought after by hunters and collectors. Despite extensive conservation efforts in their native Africa, their population continued to decline. By 1990, 96% of all Black Rhinos had been wiped out. 

5. Pyrenean Ibex (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica)

This mountain goat was officially declared extinct in 2000 after Celia, the last wild member of the species, died after a tree branch fell on her. Overhunting, inbreeding, and competition with domestic livestock for food is believed to have led to its demise. Efforts to clone the species in 2009 (scientists managed to biopsy Celia's skin before she died) resulted in the birth of a clone that lived for only a few minutes. 

6. Caribbean Monk Seal (Neomonachus tropicalis)

The Caribbean Monk Seal was declared extinct in 2008 due to overhunting and habitat loss . They were hunted extensively for their skin and blubber, which could be used to make cooking and heating oil as well as clothing.  Human activities also destroyed their coastal habitats by leaving them with fewer places to rest and breed. The depletion of their food sources due to overfishing further contributed to their decline.

7. Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

Also known as the thylacine, the Tasmanian Tiger, was declared extinct in 1936 . Intensive hunting, which were sometimes encouraged by bounties , are thought to have decimated their population in their native Australia. Habitat destruction and competition with introduced species like dogs and wolves further contributed to their decline. The extinction of this majestic animal serves as an example of the devastating impact of human actions on native species.

8. Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)

The Great Auk, a flightless bird, was hunted to total extinction by 1844 . Over-hunted for their feathers, meat, and oil, their population plummeted for decades and were never given a chance to recover. The destruction of their breeding colonies and habitat also played a significant role in their demise. The extinction of the Great Auk is a tragic reminder of how overexploitation can wipe out entire species.

9. Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)

Once numbering in the billions , the Passenger Pigeon was driven to near extinction in the 20th century due to overhunting and habitat destruction. Their large-scale slaughter for meat and feathers, combined with deforestation, led to their rapid decline. After Martha, the last known member of the species died in captivity in 1914 , the species was declared officially extinct.

10. Golden Toad (Incilius periglenes)

The Golden Toad was last seen in 1989 and is now considered extinct . Climate change, habitat loss, and pollution contributed to their decline. The drying of their breeding pools due to changing weather patterns was a significant factor that led to their demise. The extinction of the Golden Toad highlights the severe impacts of climate change on amphibian populations and the urgent need for environmental protection.

This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.

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