All animals exist in a complex web interconnected to support each other. Our global focus today should be to save animals facing extinction. By doing so, we are certainly maintaining an ecological balance.
Since the ice age, mass species extinction has accelerated at a depressing pace. The recent sixth extinction, caused by human activities, has cost the world many beloved species.
Human activities such as poaching, overhunting, pollution, farming, mining, urbanization, overfishing, wildlife trafficking, and deforestation are significant threats to animal species.
In addition, these human actions have led to severe global warming, carbon emissions, and climatic changes that have led to habitat loss, putting animals in danger of extinction. Thus, it is vital to take the necessary steps to save and restore the disappearing animals.
Governments and several prominent organizations, such as NRDC, World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and One Tree Planted, are taking action to protect endangered wildlife and their habitats.
They apply the best science and work with local communities to find solutions to this menace. But what actions can you and I take to save animals facing extinction?
This piece will explore what we can do to protect animals facing extinction. First, let’s look at the list of animals that are going extinct.
How can you help to save and restore these endangered species? Let’s explore ten different ways.
How to Save Animals Facing Extinction
There are small but significant actions that you can take to save animals facing extinction. They include:
Support Companies that Promote Sustainability
When shopping at your local or online stores, go for companies with eco-friendly items. Whether you’re looking for shoes, outfits, toys, bags, or utensils, you can opt for sustainable products to participate in environmental preservation. These items help reduce the clearing of forests or animal habitats, thus saving endangered animals.
Furthermore, you can support minimalism by accepting minimal packaging or using recyclable, reusable, and biodegradable materials to reduce waste and plastics that ruin the environment. Also, go for vegan items that don’t support animal cruelty.
Avoid Harmful Black Market Products
Don’t purchase items made of horns, ivory, wood, and other things that endanger animals. This saves the animals and their habitat. Also, shun buying items from companies that make items from such products.
Even when traveling, be conscious when buying souvenirs. Some could have been made from endangered animal products like ivory.
It’s vital to research the product before you can decide to buy.
Avoid Harmful Pesticides & Herbicides that Damage Native Plants & Wildlife
Harmful herbicides and pesticides have resulted in significant animal loss. While they might be good for killing weeds, unfortunately, they also leave a lasting destructive effect on native species.
The chemicals penetrate the soil and last a long time, thus endangering native wildlife species. Worse, they spread throughout the food chain, causing damage to small mammals and eventually impacting the big predators that prey on them.
Avoiding or limiting the use of these chemicals can help save the endangered animals in your area.
Drive Carefully
This is one of the easiest and most practical ways you and your family can participate in environmental and animal conservation efforts. When driving near forests or animal conservation areas, don’t overspeed. This will help reduce road hazards for endangered wildlife.
We cannot deny that some roads and highways pass through forests, and most were constructed with minimal attention to how they can negatively impact the local animal population. Also, there are minimal built-in measures to enable animals to traverse the road that cuts right through their habitat safely.
You can take the initiative to drive carefully when traversing these roads. Reducing car speed can ensure there are minimal accidents involving animals.
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Volunteer Your Time to Protect Wildlife in Your Area.
Animal parks, wildlife refuges, and other conservation areas often house endangered species. Find a national or local center in need of volunteers and offer to help. You can make an impact by volunteering to care for and protect these animals and help them thrive.
Learn about these endangered animals’ struggles and how you can help end them. Your little action will make a huge difference.
See related: Philippine Eagle: Species Overview, Conservation, and Threats
Help Replenish the Local Ecosystem by Planting Native Flora
Native wildlife in your region thrives on native plants. However, industries and other human activities often destroy these plants that provide food and shelter to local wildlife.
Planting native plants and replenishing those disappearing will help the endangered animals in your area that need them to survive.
In addition, since non-native species tend to invade and overrun the local population of plants and animals, leading to their extinction, you can help offset the damage left by these invasive and non-native species.
Planting native plants also attracts pollinators, such as bees and other insects, which are crucial for a healthy ecosystem. This will go a long way toward helping save animals facing extinction.
Reduce Pollution
Pollution is a significant threat to animal species. Littering plastics threaten wildlife and marine species. To reduce this pollution, dispose of your waste properly and avoid dumping chemicals down the drain.
Also, carbon emissions from industries and vehicles harm animals and even humans. Some of the minor actions you can take to reduce air pollution include;
- Opt for walking, biking, or public transport instead of driving a personal vehicle.
- Consider carpooling when it’s applicable.
- Invest in an electric car to reduce carbon footprints
- Buy locally-grown food
Keeping the environment and water free from industrial and plastic waste is valuable to all species. Minor actions like those indicated above can help protect and save the environment and the species.
Donate to a Wildlife Organization
Several organizations are supporting wildlife protection and the conservation of animal habitats. Find out more about their efforts and donate to what they have established to further the cause.
Some zoos are not well-established and accredited. So, before you donate, ensure that the zoos and aquariums are accredited and are instrumental in rescuing and rehabilitating endangered animal species. Also, you can offer them support through their websites or social media accounts.
Just find out the actions they are doing and donate your time and resources.
Ensure Your Home is not a Hazard to Wildlife.
You can make sure that there is no hazard posed to wildlife at your home. For example, secure all your trash cans so animals can’t access them. Also, lock their lids to keep trash from becoming a hazard.
Reduce your water consumption by ensuring there is no wastage of water. Some of the things you can do to reduce water wastage include:
- Install water-saving flow restrictors or showerheads
- Check and fix any water leakages
- Turn off the faucets when brushing or shaving, and then tighten them well.
These little actions can help ensure there is more local water for wildlife. Another essential practice is placing window decals. This helps protect the birds from colliding with your windows.
See Related: Animals That With the Letter X
Spread the Word
The last but not least step you can take to save and protect endangered animals is to become a messenger. Be a voice and advocate for the protection of these species.
Spread the word to friends, family, and even strangers and let them know the actions to take and how they help. You can use word of mouth, social media, or a website to reach as many people as possible. Also, share this article with your networks. You will be taking one step to help save animals facing extinction.
List of Animals Facing Extinction
According to the IUCN list of threatened species, 16,306 are facing extinction as of 2021. This number is an increase from last year’s figure of 16,118. If humans don’t act now, the future is a blink for these species.
Some of the animals facing extinction include:
- Polar bear—This animal lives in Arctic conditions. However, climate change in the Arctic is leading polar bears closer to disappearance. The polar bear is one of the animals facing extinction due to habitat destruction and human conflict.
- Gharial – This is a crocodile in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, barely surviving. The main threats pushing gharial to the brink of extinction are farming, aquaculture & agriculture, pollution, and mining, among other general disturbances based on IUCN reports.
- Saola – According to IUCN, hunting with dogs is the biggest threat to this critically endangered animal. To save this species, we need to intensify the removal of poachers’ snares and reduce hunting with dogs in the central locations of the Annamite forests to curb this threat.
- Kakapo – This is another critically endangered animal species. The kakapo parrot is a unique species threatened by invasive species, diseases, and genes.
- Amur Leopard—The Amur Leopard is also facing extinction due to human conflict and habitat loss. This habitat loss is being driven mainly by the conversion of land for agriculture.
- Vaquita – Vaquita porpoise is an endangered ocean mammal in Mexico. It’s sadly vanishing, and their number is declining quickly due to illegal fishing gear used to catch Totoaba, another critically endangered species.
- Black Rhino and northern white rhino—These rhinos are threatened mainly by poaching for their horns. Human settlement, farming, and logging activities are also ruining their habitats.
- Cross River Gorilla – Once believed to be extinct, according to IUCN, this great ape is called cross river gorilla. However, a few remain, but their greatest threat is habitat loss, hunting, agriculture, and exposure to diseases from humans and livestock.
- Hawksbill Sea Turtle—This sea turtle is endangered due to fishing, as it often falls victim to fishing gear like gill nets. These injuries, which eventually lead to debilitation or death due to the swallowing of hooks and flipper entanglements, cause injuries. Another threat is the fertilizer that washes into the ocean, threatening their survival.
- Vancouver Island Marmot—According to IUCN, the main threat to this species is logging. While it faces predation by species like golden eagles and wolves, the island marmot is severely threatened by human activities, habitat loss, and degradation.
- Sumatran Elephant – This elephant is on the brink of extinction due to the severe threat of agriculture. Humans have converted forest areas in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, into settlements and farmlands for palm oil plantations. This increases the risk of human conflict, poaching, and even poisoning of the Sumatran elephant.
- Sunda Tiger—The sunda tiger, a resident of the Sumatran rainforest, is also under threat from farming and poaching.
- Giant Panda – The giant panda is another vulnerable species. Hunting and trapping of other species are its main threats, according to IUCN.
What happens when these animals go into extinction? Let’s look at the effects of extinction and how we can save animals facing extinction.
Effects of Extinction
The extinction and reduction of some animal species disrupt the earth’s ecosystem. The effects are being felt both on land and in the ocean. Here are typical examples:
- When the Arctic heated up due to global warming, polar bears’ human conflict increased since their habitat had been compromised. Bears ended up invading residential areas, putting humans in danger.
- Another classic example is when foxes go extinct or are reduced in number; mouse overpopulation is inevitable due to decreased predation. This consequentially increases the number of diseases like bubonic plague or E. coli to other species, which is certainly not good for the environment.
- When cougars were reduced in the western US state of Utah, the deer population exploded. This group consumed a large portion of vegetation, altering the local stream’s path and lowering the overall diversity.
- When lions and leopards decreased in Africa, it led to a surge of olive baboons, which sadly transferred intestinal parasites to humans.
- Industrial whaling led to a change in the killer whale’s diet. As a result, they are now eating additional seals, sea lions, and otters, dramatically reducing their population.
- According to recent studies, the reduction and loss of predators, especially the large ones, have led to population collapse, pandemics, and ecosystem shifts in the recent past.