Wildlife conservationis the practice of protectingendangered plant and animal speciesand theirhabitats. Among the goals of wildlife conservation are to ensure that nature will be around for future generations to enjoy and to recognize the importance ofwildlifeandwildernesslands to humans.[1]Many nations havegovernment agenciesdedicated to wildlife conservation, which help to implement policies designed to protect wildlife. Numerous independentnonprofit organizationsalso promote various wildlife conservation causes.[2]Wildlife conservation has become an increasingly important practice due to the negative effects ofhuman activityonwildlife. The science of extinction. An endangered species is defined as a population of a living being that is at the danger of becoming extinct because of several reasons. Either they are few in number or are threatened by the varying environmental or predation parameters.Major threats to wildlifeMajor threats to wildlife can be categorized as below:[3]*.*.Habitat loss: Fewer natural wildlife habitat areas remain each year. Moreover, the habitatthat remains has often been degraded to bear little resemblance to the wild areas which existed in the past.Habitatloss—due to destruction, fragmentation or degradation ofhabitat—is the primary threat tothe survival of wildlife in the United States.When an ecosystem has been dramatically changed by human activities—such as agriculture, oil and gas exploration, commercial development or water diversion—it may no longer be able to provide the food, water, cover, and places to raise young. Every day there are fewer places left that wildlife can call home. There are three major kinds of habitat loss:*.Habitat destruction: A bulldozer pushing down trees is the iconic image of habitat destruction. Other ways that people are directly destroying habitat, include filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees.*.Habitat fragmentation: Much of the remaining terrestrial wildlife habitat in the U.S. has been cut upinto fragments by roads and development. Aquatic species’ habitat has been fragmented by dams and water diversions. Thesefragments of habitat may not be large or connected enough to support species that need a large territory in which to find mates and food. The loss and fragmentation of habitat make it difficult for migratory species to find places to rest and feed along their migration routes.*.Habitat degradation:Pollution,invasive speciesand disruption ofecosystemprocesses (such as changing the intensity of fires in an ecosystem) are some of the ways habitats can become so degraded that they no longer support native wildlife.*.*.Climate change:Global warmingis making hot days hotter,rainfalland flooding heavier,hurricanesstronger anddroughtsmore severe. This intensification of weather andclimateextremes will be the most visible impact ofglobal warmingin our everyday lives. Itis also causing dangerous changes to the landscape of our world, adding stress to wildlife species and their habitat. Since many types ofplantsandanimalshave specific habitat requirements, climate change could cause disastrous loss of wildlife species. A slight drop or rise in average rainfall will translate into large seasonal changes.Hibernatingmammals,reptiles,amphibiansandinsectsare harmed and disturbed. Plants and wildlife are sensitive to moisture changeso, they will be harmed by any change in moisture level. Natural phenomena likefloods,earthquakes,volcanoes,lightning,forest fires.[4][5]*.*.Unregulated Hunting and poaching: Unregulated hunting andpoachingcauses a major threat to wildlife. Along with this, mismanagement of forest department and forest guards triggers this problem.*.*.Pollution: Pollutants released into the environment are ingested by a wide variety of organisms.Pesticides and toxic chemical being widely used, making the environment toxic tocertain plants, insects, and rodents.*.*.Perhaps the largest threat is the extreme growing indifference ofthe public to wildlife, conservation and environmentalissues in general.[6]Over-exploitation of resources, ie, exploitation of wild populations for food has resulted in population crashes (over-fishing and over-grazing for example).*.*.Over exploitation is the over useof wildlife and plant species by people for food, clothing, pets, medicine, sport and many otherpurposes. People have always depended on wildlife and plants for food, clothing, medicine, shelter and many other needs. But today we are taking more than the natural world can supply. The danger is that if we take too many individuals of a species from their natural environment, the species may no longer be able to survive. The loss of one species can affect many other species in an ecosystem. The hunting, trapping, collecting and fishing of wildlife at unsustainable levels is not something new. Thepassenger pigeon was hunted toextinction early in the last century, and over-hunting nearly caused the extinction of the American bison and several species of whales.. .pls protect our WILDLIFE ....N STOP KILLIN OUR BUSH MEAT.......
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 07:48:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015