According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) database, about 1 in 5 mammals are threatened with extinction. Rates of the threat vary depending upon the group, but it does show a problem. As human population increases, the demand placed upon local area increases, especially in developing countries in Africa and Asia. Government attempts at stopping poachers has not been very effective, and laws that aim to “protect” threatened species often come at the cost of property rights and human care. Therefore a new focus should be made to use the free-market to save endangered species.
Scarcity is an economic problem that will never stop, so it is normal that humans will use resources with little regard to the effects upon the environment when one is facing basic survival. The basis for saving endangered species should thus begin at the local level with basic property rights. The International Property Rights index shows that many poor countries lack adequate protection for landowners.
The situation is complicated by poor government enforcement power and by corruption. Economic development is tied to property right protection, as if people do not have the confidence in the government to stop criminals, they will more motivated towards violence to keep what little they have.
Efforts to increase government accountability could be extremely varied. Democracies would be easiest as elections, lobbying, and educating the public could all be used to make laws that removal of corrupt officials easier, and for increased access to government financial information. Police corruption would be best combated at the local and state/province level, where the people directly influenced by the effects can speak out and change their situation for the better.
When a person has the ability to use his land as he sees fit, and knows that the government will protect his rights, he is more inclined to use his land efficiently as he seeks to derive his subsistence from it. It is here that environmentalists should then focus their efforts. First the area of the threatened species should be mapped in conjunction to which landowners own the area. What follows next can vary depending upon the circumstances.
Any species could be easily protected if a contract was made with the landowners to provide a set sum of money each year for allowing parts of their property to remain as habitat. If the species is a charismatic mega fauna, such as a tiger, panda, seal, or some predatory bird, can be used as a tourist draw that would enable the landowners to derive a source of revenue through the leasing of his land and tourist attraction revenues.
Now if the animal or plant is commonly used as a source of food and delicacy, or in medicine, a few solutions are still present. Depending upon the demand for the product, the owners of land could be paid to withhold their product from the market indefinitely or temporarily. If it is only temporary, focus must be given to establishing a steady population that can be kept on the land and used as needed. This approach would be best with a great multitude of owners, each forwarding a sum towards the business, and allowing a large part of their land to serve as habitat, and a minority part being for residence and business activity.
Plants would be easier to protect than animals, as plants do not require many specifics in their environment. Any plant that is used for local medicine or consumption can be converted into a crop, whether it lives in the wild (but managed) or in a greenhouse (a better choice if electricity is available), with will bring in income for the landowners and will encourage improvements upon their land.
The solutions to endangered species via the free-market are endless, this short post just covered a few. The key though is creativity. There is nothing wrong with improving society as a whole by lowering government corruption and allowing people to use their land without fear of criminals. Production is a necessary for us all, and laws against property use because of some owl can spell death for those in the developing world.
These people are not stupid, working with them on a business venture that will allow them to have a source of income, improves their livelihood, and protects biodiversity will be better for society overall, and empower the landowner. Visit Objectivist Blogger to read more about Objectivism and the free markets, or visit http://www.ObjectivistBlogger.com.
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Orangutans are the only remaining Asian genus of the present day living great ape. Orangutans are the largest living arboreal animals. They have longer arms as compared to other great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates who use a vast variety of tools and also make sophisticated nests every night from leaves and foliage while sleeping. Most part of their lives in spent in food searching and they are not aggressive animals. The body hairs are typically reddish-brown very different from the black hairs as found in apes.
Orangutans are native to Indonesia and Malaysia but at present they are found only in the rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Their fossils have been discovered from Java, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Vietnam and Mainland China. Only two species are alive today and both share the category of endangered. These two extant species are Bornean Orangutan and the critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan. These animals have derived their name from Malay word which means man of the forest.
Adults attain a height of about 4-7 ft while standing. The body weight may vary from 33-82 kg. Males may attain body weight up to 110 kg or more. Their hands resemble with that of humans consisting of four long fingers and one opposable thumb. They also have four long toes and one opposable big toe. They are able to grasp things both with the help of their hands as well as feet.
Orangutans have bulky body, a thick neck, very long, strong arms, short, bowed legs, and no tail. Sumatran have light coloured coat. They have large head with prominent mouth area. Adult males have large cheek flaps that demarcate their dominance among other members of the group. The females attain maturity at the age of 12 years. They have an average lifespan of 35 years but in captivity they can live up to 60 years. Both the sexes have throat pouches near the vocal chords which are used to generate calls in the forests. They are arboreal and spend most of their time on the trees. They make sleeping nest in the night. Generally they are solitary and male and female come together only for the purpose of mating. The young ones remain with the mother for about 7-8 years. There is a well developed sexual dimorphism. The females are 4 ft in length and weigh about 45 kg while males are 5 ft and weigh 118 kg.
Fruits make their 65-90% diet. Fruits carrying sugary and fatty pulp are most favoured. Ficus fruits are mostly prefer as they are 
easy to harvest and digest. They are opportunistic foragers and their food composition varies from month to month. They are known to rape human females. Actress Julia Roberts had an orangutan try to have sex with her, and was saved by a film crew. The Sumatran species are considered to be critically endangered while Bornean species is endangered according to the list of IUCN. They have 48 diploid chromosomes and the whole genome sequence was identified in January 2011.
Navodita Maurice
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Some wonderful species of animals are in threat of being hunted to extinction because people see them not as the beautiful and graceful animals that they are but as an easy way to make money. For example elephants are murdered every day for their tusks which can be made into ivory products which brings quite a lot of money on the black market. It is possible however, that if they sedated the elephant they could gently saw the tusks off thus leaving the animal alive instead of slaughtering it for this meaningless purpose.
Many animals are hunted as their bones are thought to contain medicinal properties that can be ground into tonics and sold for a high price even though there is no evidence to suggest this. Tigers are one of these animals that are sought after not only for its bones but also for its skin. Tiger skin rugs can fetch a hefty price for those who do not care that an innocent animal has lost its life so that the person is able to furnish their house with what they perhaps see as lavish animal skins whereas in fact they are merely the rotting remains that have been preserved for display.
It has been said and many people still do believe that animals do not feel pain. However, taken into consideration that humans ourselves are animals, mammals to be exact and that we feel pain when we cut ourselves for example leaves no doubt that other classes of animals are exactly the same. As we feel anxiety and fear so must these poor animals as they are being chased and shot at by heartless humans brandishing rifles.
A t-shirt supporting the non-hunting and trading of animal skins and such could make a bold statement by perhaps the beautiful animal such as a tiger shown in all its majestic beauty and perhaps a design on the back showing its lifeless skin and head as a rug, soulless and empty.
If the ivory trade is something that upsets you more than the above then how about a t-shirt that expresses the de-tusked carcass of an elephant and the lonely infant pushing at its mother to get up and not understanding why she does not move.
Many people do not think of these situations and think only of their own benefit such as those who hunt them or those that use the products of these animals after they have been slaughtered. If we look through the eyes of a tiger cub as it is left alone while its mother’s lifeless body is dragged into a jeep or an infant elephant left with only its mother’s carcass for company then surely people would see how wrong and even evil this is. Unfortunately though as long as people buy the skins and bones of these endangered animals then they will continue to be slaughtered so therefore must wait for people to see sense and cease buying these products hopefully before it is too late to save them all.
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This article is about the study of endangered species and their protection. There are several reasons for endangerment of species, some reasons are natural and some are unnatural. Unnatural reasons are those for which is responsible. There are several reasons for particular kinds of animals being endangered. There are many reasons that have been found to appear continually. Following are several issues leading toward endangerment: Habitat loss is the primary reason of specie’s endangerment. Natural changes usually tend to occur at a steady and slow speed, which cause only a slight impact on individual species.
However, when changes occur at a fast speed, there is very little or practically speaking no time for individual species to respond and then adjust themselves to new situation. This can produce terrible results. Beside this hunting is another main cause by which many animals of different kinds have become endangered species. In the past man used to do hunting of animals for food and to 
protect themselves from these animals. But at the present animals are being killed without any reason or for financial gains, which is very unkind and unnatural. Deforestation is another factor involves in endanger of species. Unnecessary woodcutting results into destroying the availability of food. This is the major cause of animal’s endanger. Introduction of non inhabitant animals like rats, pigs, dogs, insects etc is also one of the reasons. These non-native animals many times are the reason of disease to the animals living in that environmental area. As those animals are not adapted to condition like this, they start disappearing. These infections result in endangered animals situation.
It is our responsibility to protect Endangered Species?
Animals hold agricultural, medicinal, natural and aesthetic values. Once we lost these species we cannot be gained back. If that does not occur, then it will be definitely and directly dangerous to human specie. Because of which one day human specie may be endangered. Endangered animals must be protected for the future generations to come so that they also can understand their existence and value.
Some animals and plants in our world are very common, like houseflies, cats or daisies. They are not in danger of dying out. Other species are very rare. Sometimes only a few of them are left. Such species may disappear forever.
Ever since life on earth began, animals and plants have died out and new ones have appeared. Dinosaurs, for example, roamed the planet during the earth’s middle ages. 65 million years ago they disappeared forever.
Animals and plants need each other to survive. They keep the world of nature in balance. If a certain plant dies out some animals may become extinct too, because they depend on the plant for food.
Why species become extinct
Long ago, most animals and plants became extinct because of natural events, like earthquakes or volcano eruptions. Climatic changes, like the beginning of the Ice Age, also led to the disappearance of certain species. Today, plants and animals are in danger mostly because of human beings.
Some plants and animals can survive in many areas. When they move to other places they adapt to their new environment very quickly. Others can only live in certain areas. We call such a living place a habitat. If a habitat is destroyed the species cannot find any more food or a place to live, sleep or have babies. So it dies out.
Habitats can be destroyed in many ways. More and more people live in our world. They need more space to live in. Rainforests, grasslands and other parts of nature are cleared and people start to settle there. They take away the natural home of plants and animals.
Pollution can also kill off certain species. Acid rain from factories goes down in rivers and lakes and can poison fish there.
The most endangered areas are the tropical rainforests. More than 50 % of all animals and plants live there. Every day, thousands of acres of rainforest are destroyed and many species become extinct every day.
Ever since man appeared on earth he has killed animals and gathered plants. They have been used for food, medicine, clothes and to make homes. Cheetahs, tigers and other wild cats have been killed for their skins. Whales have been hunted for centuries because of their oil and blubber.
Most animals today are protected by international law, but many, like the black rhinoceros and the African elephant are hunted illegally. Some species, like wolves, have been killed by humans because they were seen as a danger to farm animals.
Sometimes native animals become endangered when a new species comes to live in a place. Foxes were brought to Australia to kill off rabbits, which were seen as a pest. But instead of killing rabbits, the foxes killed kangaroos and other marsupials of Australia.
Parasites belong to the greatest threats to plants and animals. Tiny organisms, bacteria and fungi can destroy trees, kill birds and fish.
Protection
People have hurt plants and animals but they are also willing to help them survive. All over the world organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, the Rainforest Action Network or Friends of the Earth are helping to protect habitats. They raise money for their projects and make governments and the public listen to them. New laws have also been made to protect endangered plants and animals all over the world.
Endangered animals
- African and Indian elephants are killed for their tusks which are used for ivory earrings and other a art objects
- The giant panda lives in zoos and in some parts of China. There are only about 1,500 left in the world today.
- Reptiles (lizards, crocodiles and alligators) are killed for their skins. People make leather handbags and shoes.
- Sea turtles are in danger because people often collect their eggs. They often die in the sea because of water pollution.
- There are only about five thousand tigers left in the world today. They live in southern Asia, mostly in national reserves.
- The bald eagle is the national symbol of the USA. The bird almost died out at the beginning of the century, but today the population is stable.
Endangered plants
- For centuries the Bermuda cedar was cut down because people needed material for houses and furniture. Conservationists have helped protect the trees that are left.
- Some cactus types are in danger of becoming extinct because they grow slowly and are hurt by animals.
The World Wildlife FundIn 1960, biologist Sir Julian Huxley returned from a research trip to Africa. He was very much shocked by what he had seen there: the hunting of rare animals and the destruction of their habitat. Other scientists shared his opinion that something had to be done about this. The following year Huxley, some fellow scientists and a few politicians founded the World Wildlife Fund. It became the largest conservation group in the world.
Today the WWF has 5 million supporters around the world. It has national organisations in more than 50 countries and raises more than 100 million dollars a year.
The most important task of the WWF is to protect endangered species around the world. Among them are the tiger, whale, elephant and many others. The giant panda, one of the most endangered animals, has become the WWF logo.
The WWF also tries to protect habitats like the tropical rainforest. In the past decade alone, it has been able to conserve over 1 billion acres of forest in Asia, South America and Africa.
The organisation fights against the pollution of natural resources and it is worried about the destruction of fish in the world’s oceans.
Over the past years the WWF has been working on projects in over one hundred countries. It also gives money to research work and spends a lot to teach children and parents about our world in danger.
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It’s sad but true that the number of endangered bats is increasing around the globe. Found on every continent, apart from Antarctica, bats have successfully adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. Sadly, current threats, often due to human activities of one kind or the other, are proving to be overwhelming for some species.
The term endangered is meant in a very specific sense and is one of the levels of conservation status used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This organisation publishes a red list with details of 1000s of plant and animal species from all over the world.
In this context, endangered can mean a number of things including a 50% (or more) decrease in a species’ population. This is what has happened to the Golden Capped Fruit bat (Acerodon jubatus) over the last 30 years, which is found only in the Philippines. Loss of roosting and foraging areas through deforestation and as well as hunting are the main culprits.
Turning our attention to Africa, a bat with a cute name is also under threat. Called the Tanzanian woolly bat (Kerivoula africana), this species’ status was last assessed in 2008. It’s present in fewer than 5 places and the population lives in an area less than 500 km2 in size.
The main threats are habitat loss caused by deforestation of Tanzania’s tropical coastal forest.
The long-nosed Mexican bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) takes us to North and Central America, where it is found in Mexico, Guatemala and the United States. Like the Golden Capped Fruit bat, this species has also suffered a 50% (or more) drop in its population size. Scarily enough, this has happened over a very short period of 10 years.
This species eats pollen and nectar but loss of food sources, for example, when land is converted to agricultural use has been part of the reason for their rapid decline.
Agriculture is also implicated in the shrinking Madeira pipistrelle (Pipistrellus maderensis) population found in the European islands of the Canaries and Madeira. Pesticide use kills the prey of these insect-eating bats and can also be directly toxic.
And so we come to South America, and sure enough, there are endangered bat species here too. One of them is the Ecuadorian sac-winged bat (Balantiopteryx infusca). Why sac-winged? It’s not because their wings are shaped like sacks (in case you were wondering) but because of the shape of the glands they have in their wings.
These bats reside in Colombia and Ecuador and one of the main threats to their survival is the loss of their rainforest habitat through activities like logging.
And now to Australia, the “land down under”, to a bit of mystery.
A critically endangered bat with an aristocratic name is reported to live on an island off the coast of New South Wales…or does it?
The only evidence of its existence is a skull that was found all the way back in 1972! Lord Howe’s Long Eared bat (Nyctophilus howensis) is also classified as possibly extinct (it takes 50 years of no sightings for a species to be officially declared extinct). The reason for its disappearance isn’t known for sure but it could be that the island’s owls and rats might have found them too tasty to resist.
Lord Howe islanders keep saying they see 2 bats of different sizes at sun down. At the moment, only one other bat species is known to inhabit this area. So could it be that Lord Howe’s Long-eared bat is still around, albeit critically endangered?
Perhaps one day, the mystery will be solved….
Ofa Ejaife is a massive fan of bats who shares her enthusiasm for these amazing but very misunderstood animals on her website The Surprising World Of Bats. As you read through the pages, you’ll find information on a wide range of interesting topics, from myth-busting (are bats really blind?) to advice on humane bat removal.
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A population of organisms which is in danger of becoming extinct because there are only a few left, or because they are jeopardized by the changing environmental conditions or predation parameters. Of course this animal are also threatened by human activities, like deforestation, which decreases the amount of food, water or living space. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated that 40 percent of all organisms are endangered, an evaluation helped with the list of species from 2006. That is why many nations have laws for protecting and conserving endangered species such as prohibition of hunting, creating preservations where the animals and plants can thrive, or the restriction of land development so that it cannot be affected by any human activity. But still, the problem remains because many of the species threatened of extinction are not included into those laws. The criteria for putting these species under protection and placing them on the list of endangered, or removing them from that list, are not the same everywhere and that is where the problems can begin. People decide which of them are worth saving and which are undesired or unimportant. Although they are only a few of some species left, no one takes any notice or responsibility and many of them vanish without the people even noticing or knowing.
Each of these endangered species are given a conservation status, an indicator that tells us the probability that species has of extinction. Also, there are different categories for threatened species, a general term used by IUCN. They are: extinct(there are no more remaining species), extinct in the wild (individuals only survive in captivity), critically endangered (extremely high risk of becoming extinct), endangered, vulnerable, conservation dependent (these species are not severely threatened, but they rely on conservation programs to survive), near threatened (not threatened at the moment, but may be considered in the future) and least concern (no immediate threat to the survival of these species).
Ecologist can also have a negative impact on the environment and its inhabitants, during their search to find more about these threatened species. They have a tendency to look at the whole ecological sphere, which decreases the value of individual creatures that are overlooked this way. They do this mostly because there is a small percentage of areas that are protected, and they have to be used into consideration when planning the preservation of some species. These actions often raise serious ethical questions.
The main question here is, of course, why so many species are becoming endangered, or worst, extinct. The most widespread cause is loss of habitat, mostly because of human activity, but this also includes natural disasters. These species must then adapt to a new environment, which is never easy, or they will die. Other causes include pollution, too much exploitation, disease and climate change. Once again we can see here that humans are most responsible for the disappearance of many animals and plants. By using resources, energy and space, people make a huge influence on the wild life. There is a very logical, but disturbing statement about this: as human impact on the environment increases, the diversity of life decreases.
Because it is so time consuming and costly, many people don’t bother with preservation of different animals and plants, and even question every person that does. But the fact stays, the salvation of these species is necessary for humans because they provide many good things to us, such as a source for products for human welfare, entertainment and arts, they are a sign of the health of the environment etc.
