Endangered animals

The human being is a machine that is destroying more and more natural ecosystems and degrading the areas where the vast majority of species of fauna on the planet live. Industrialization and growing urbanization have separated natural spaces into mere recreational and conservation spaces. Whereas before they spoke of expansion, now they speak of conservation. All the polluting and degrading activities of the human being have made people appear endangered animals. An endangered animal is one whose populations are declining dramatically over the years or whose habitat is fragmented.

In this article we are going to learn more about endangered animals and the problems that they entail.

What animals are in danger of extinction?

The planet has come to recognize 8.300 breeds of animals. Of all 8% of them are extinct and the other 22% are in danger of extinction currently. It is not the first time that planet Earth has faced this type of situation, so it can be concluded that we are approaching the sixth great extinction. The impact of human beings on ecosystems is causing many species around the world to disappear. All this is generating irreversible damage to biodiversity and the ecological balance of ecosystems.

Animals that are in danger of extinction are, among others:

• Polar Bear
• Panda
• Sumatran tiger
• Mountain gorilla
• Iberian lynx
• Hammerhead shark
• North Atlantic right whale
• Orcas
• Giraffes
• Snow Leopard
• Asian cheetah
• caracal
• Amur leopard
• Sumatra tiger

And the list goes on and on. Poaching, deforestation, overfishing and climate change are wreaking havoc on animals.

What is the animal that is most in danger of extinction?

Although it cannot be known exactly, the animal that is most in danger of extinction is the polar bear. And it is that the human being is causing very serious impacts on the planet's climate and is generating global warming. All this triggers a melting of the polar caps due to the reduction in the amount of ice at the north pole. This is necessary so that the bears can source from the nuns since they are terrestrial and not marine animals.

It is the most threatened mammal on Earth. They do not predict more than a century of life. Currently, there are just over 20.000 living specimens.

What wild animal is in danger of extinction?

Among the wild animals that are in danger of extinction, we find the Java rhinoceros in the top 1. Your situation it is quite delicate since there are only very few specimens left and it is in a critical state of danger of extinction. Illegal hunting to be able to turn it into an ornament or the belief in oriental cultures that its horn has healing properties, makes them the target of its destruction.

Environmental Issues

Endangered animals are the immediate consequence of human activities. Some of the main causes we will see later, but they are related to the destruction of habitats. Destroying the place where animals live and develop means that they cannot survive, not only because of their activities, but also because the food chain is altered.

It's hard to think of endangered animals without thinking about adapting them. There are countless animals capable of adapting to new scenarios and evolving to guarantee the success of the species. However, these adaptive processes are on a large time scale. Namely, require thousands of years for genetic mutations to kick in and get a new characteristic or behavior that helps them adapt to the environments

And it is that our planet is not fixed or calm, but, naturally it also undergoes transformations. The essential difference with which it differentiates natural changes from those caused by humans is time. The speed at which the world is changing due to our human activities is too fast for animals to adapt and survive. For this reason, more and more animals are in danger of extinction.

Causes why animals are in danger of extinction

We are going to list the causes and describe them to know what are the causes why thousands of animals are in danger. Starting with natural causes, are those that happen without human action. These causes have led to the extinction of animals on a large scale. These causes have to do with the appearance of diseases and pandemics, competition from other species and even aging itself.

There are many natural disasters that can destroy many species. For example, we have forest fires, droughts, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc. Although it is nature that initiates it, it ends up killing thousands of living beings.

Now we turn to the causes that have to do with the actions of the human being. The human being is causing an overexploitation of natural resources, polluting ecosystems and displacing communities. Every human activity has repercussions on the environment. The immediate consequences are the affection to the way of life of the animals.

The integrity of the ecosystems is altered and, with this, the vulnerability of these animals to any environmental change increases. These change and alterations cause the loss of many species because it is not possible to adapt to new environments in such a short time.

Consequences of endangered animals

Many of you will wonder that what does it matter that a species of insect becomes extinct for the human being. It is not going to benefit or harm us in anything, after all, it is just a "bug". Among the consequences that endangered animals have, we find a change in the ecosystems as a whole. This means they are looming imbalances between species and thus decreasing the quality of the food chain. All this repercussion ends up affecting the animals that live in different habitats.

The entire ecosystem as a whole is affected when a species becomes extinct. Not only because of food but because of the changes that occur at the level of resources. There are serious consequences among which we list:

• Loss of genetic diversity. This is an important aspect when accounting for the vulnerability of the species. All components of habitats reduce their chances of hunting, genetic exchange, reproduction, etc.
• Complete extinction of species. Over time, the disappearance of species causes serious damage to the environment. Species that become extinct causes other species to take over the areas where that extinct species was involved. Among the impacts caused by the complete extinction of species we find hunting, cutting down trees and forest fires.
• Human evolution. Many of the human processes have consequences for endangered animals. We have always used knowledge to be able to use animals to our advantage. As species disappear, our food vulnerability increases.
• Destruction of ecosystems. We will detail this in more detail in the next section.

Destruction of ecosystems and natural resources

When we cause the extinction of flora and fauna we are breaking the ecological balance. Every living being has a function in ecosystems. Or it helps to pollinate, to create humid spaces, to serve as food, to control populations, etc. If we eliminate species that serve as food for others, We will not only be making the species in question disappear but also the other one that it fed on.

At the same time, we can find that the species that fed on the one that we have extinct, pollinated another plant and this now cannot increase its populations. In general, the alteration of the state of an ecosystem leads to the species not having the same resources to survive and in turn, can reduce the natural resources that we are used to using. For example, bees are very important to humans and their populations are being severely affected.

I hope this article raises awareness about endangered animals and their impact on a global level.