Endangered and Extinct

Endangered and extinct are the two words that one cannot escape if one is interested in wildlife conservation. These are the two words that create a sense of despair in the mind of any sensible human. Extinction of any specie is a very painful process. It means that that specie vanishes from the face of earth, forever. Which also means that one will not be able to see an animal, plant, fish, bird or insect from that specie ever again.

That doesn’t feel nice, does it? No. But it happens all over the world. It has been happening ever since the beginning of life on earth. And so long it is a natural process, one can live with it. But when we know that it is us humans that are driving animals into extinction, that makes it all the more painful. Mainly because we know that that extinction could have been avoided.

This human induced extinction can happen due to various reasons. Humans sometimes make the habitat of some animals simply inhabitable. Humans cut trees, build cities and some of the habitats for animals are destroyed. Some species became because humans literally hunted the entire specie down for their body parts…

Yes, that’s right. Some body parts of some animals fetch a lot of money, for example tusks of elephants or skin of tiger. Some parts are used in black magic and can fetch handsome money.

It is also feared that some animals may become extinct because of climate change. Especially the species that depend on ice and winter for their survival are already in grave danger of becoming extinct.

Any specie that faces the danger of becoming extinct if proper measures for their survival are not taken are called endangered species. Endangered species are in grave danger, but there is still hope for them. If we humans behave ourselves and don’t give in to monetary gains, we might still be able to save most of them. And it is very important to save them, not only for their future but also for the future of human race.

One must understand that every specie is a link in the huge chain that is life on earth. Every time a link breaks, the adjoining links also have to pay consequences. It is a kind of ripple effect and it is bound to reach humans sooner or later. And that is the reason why many organizations and governments all over the world are working on this issue.

It is interesting to know which species are endangered and which ones are already extinct. If you follow the links given below, you will find a list of both categories.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?page=2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_extinct_species