Endangered Animals1

Endangered Animals

Amy Moung

Ms. Harris

May 13, 18

Table of Contents
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Position…. 3

History…. 3

Causes…. 3-4

Consequences…. 4

Solutions…. 4-5

Opposition and Rebuttal …. 5

Charts, pictures, maps etc…. 6-9

Works Cited….

The number of endangered species in this world is growing at a very alarming rate. Our

favorite animals as you know it are gradually being wiped out. From Giant Pandas to Siberian
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Tigers, species are disappearing left and right. These animals need to be protected.

Animal endangerment isn’t new to this world. This has been an ongoing problem for

centuries. The most known event of mass extinction was when the dinosaurs lived, which was 65

million years ago. According to awionline.org, this current mass extinction is mainly caused by

the works of humans. Whether it be directly or indirectly.

There is a plethora of reasons as to why animals face endangerment. These include:

habitat loss, pollution, low genetic diversity, and overhunting/ overharvesting. As stated in the

article, 10 Reasons Why Species Become Endangered, habitat loss is due to human civilizations

expanding and diminishing the habitats of many species. Without quality habitats, animals have

nowhere to live, hunt, breed, or protect themselves from natural disasters and predation.

Pollution contributes to endangerment because it can lead to disease and can severely harm these

animals. Air pollution causes acid rain, which in turn, kills trees, harm animals, soaks into the

ground (making it unfit for animals to live on), and can also pollute bodies of water, endangering

marine life. Noise pollution is also a big problem. Areas with high levels of noise pollution is

proven to have less grasshoppers, velvet ants, crickets, etc. This means that animals, such as

birds, that prey on these animals have no source of food. Also, many birds like to nest in quiet,

which is obviously negatively affected if there is noise pollution. Another cause of animal

endangerment is low genetic diversity. A loss of genetic variation prevents animals from adapting

to changes. For example, cheetahs went through a period of inbreeding during the last ice age.

These inbred cheetahs have little genetic variation, so many cannot adapt to the environment.

This can lead to extinction later on. Overhunting/ overfishing is a cause of loss of genetic

variation because the population is decreasing. Reduced population means there are fewer

breeding pairs. Lastly, overhunting is an obvious cause of animal endangerment. Trophy animals,
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such as elephants, lions, waterbucks, etc, are especially in danger because they are hunted for

sport, despite conservation laws. Males are typically hunted, and breeding cannot occur without

males.

Contrary to popular belief, animal extinction does indeed affect us. Many endangered

species are top predators who keep other animal numbers’ in check. For example, wolves in

America are endangered. If they become extinct animals, like deer, would become

overpopulated. These animals are vital to keeping other animals from growing exponentially and

keeping ecosystems balanced. As stated in, Why Does It Matter When Animals Go Extinct,

smaller species are important too. Mussels, for example, are highly endangered. This can affect

ecosystems because they are a source of food to many animals, like otters, raccoons, egrets, and

heron. Mussels also support fish. So without mussels, there would be less fish, which is a big

source of our food. Animal extinction has a domino effect, whether it’s a predator or prey. It

affects other animals and humans alike.

Despite all this, there are ways we can save these endangered species. Firstly, we must

educate everyone and spread awareness. Learning about endangered species in your area can

help. Also, recycling and buying sustainable products is a crucial step. For instance, don’t buy

wood furniture from rainforests or don’t buy palm oil because tiger habitats are being destroyed

for palm plantations. Don’t buy plastic products because these products are dumped in the ocean,

which harm a lot of sea life. Another way you can help is to volunteer at wildlife refuges or

parks. Simply visiting these parks can help bring money to the organization, if you don’t plan to

volunteer. You can even sign petitions on websites dedicated to helping endangered species.

There are many solutions to protecting endangered species.

However, some people believe that things such as trophy hunting is good for endangered
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species. They claim that allowing hunters to hunt these trophy animals can help raise funds for

conservation organizations because these hunters pay a hefty price to be allowed to hunt.

Although, trophy hunting brings in money to parks, it contradicts the whole point of

conservation. The only difference between poaching and trophy hunting is that in trophy hunting,

people pay to hunt. But these animals are being hunted either way and it decreases the population

that is already rapidly declining.

In conclusion, endangered species can affect humans and environments. Unfortunately,

animals are being hunted, losing their habitats, etc. This is why endangered species come about.

These animals need to be protected and there are many ways we can all help.
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Works Cited

1. Greentumble Editorial Team. 10 Reasons Why Species Become Endangered. September

11, 15.
2. Greentumble Editorial Team. The Biggest Dangers of Habitat Fragmentation. April 10,

16.
3. Randy Russell. Air Pollution Affects Plants, Animals, and Environments. January 19, 10.
4. Jason Bittel. Oil and Gas Drilling Is Causing Birds to Have Fewer Chicks. January 8, 18.
5. Kim Rutledge, Melissa McDaniel, Diane Boudreau, Tara Ramroop, Santani Teng, Erin

Sprout, Hilary Costa, Hilary Hall, Jeff Hunt. Endangered Species. March 17, 11.
6. Jennifer Bove. Why Does It Matter When Animals Go Extinct. March 25, 18.
7. 12 Things We Should All Do to Protect Endangered Species. March 14, 17.
8. Charlotte Allen. Why allowing trophy hunting is good for endangered species. August 8,

15.
9. Alexis Croswell. 5 Reasons Trophy Hunting is not Conservation. December 31, 13.
10. https://imnotatrophy.org/trophy-hunting/
11. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?page=2