Endangered Species


There are thousands of endangered species, which are populations
of both plants and animals whose numbers have been diminished so
they're very close to extinction.   Over the past two hundred years, more
than 10 thousand species have become extinct worldwide (Stalcup 19).   In
2002, nineteen animals and six plants were on the list of endangered
species in New York State (Kurpis "In Your State").   Only four years later,
however, those numbers grew to twenty four animals and ten plants.
These species include the bald eagle, lynx, and gray wolf (U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service). The states that have the highest number of endangered
species are Hawaii with about 317 endangered species, followed by
California 308 species (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service "Map"). The primary
cause of endangerment is the destruction of a species' habitat, but other
factors such as pollution, hunting, and natural changes add to the
growing number of endangered animals.   Today, there are many simple
ways and organizations to reduce the number of endangered species.
Natural changes in the habitats usually occur gradually over long
periods of time, but humans speed up the process by interfering by
things such as deforestation and hunting.   If the environment and climate
changes too quickly, animals will not have enough time to adapt and
there for die out.   Because of human interference, only about 5 percent of
the original forests from colonial times in the United States are still
standing today (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia "Causes of").   Humans
exploit land (the homes of thousands of animals and plants) to use for
their own personal use, causing these indigenous species to be almost
homeless (Ricciuti).   Many farmers hunt or trap animals in order to protect
their livestock, and others even use poison.   The chemicals they use to
poison are hard to monitor which animals are affected by them, therefore
it is possible that other animals that were not intended... [continues]

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