Terrarium

Extinction is forever. Simple words, and yet so true. Its a fairly common phrase. People have probably heard it numerous times now growing up. Its an important thing to discuss in science class. Its an important thing to discuss as a scientist and animal lover. Its an important thing to discuss as a human being. And yet so many dont seem to care. Extinction may be far away for most species of animals or is it?

Extinction, by scientific definition, is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. In simple terms, it is the disappearance of an animal type from the Earth. The most famous example of extinction, and on a mass scale to note, is the tale of the dinosaurs. About 65 million years ago, some cataclysmic event happened that wiped the existence of every dinosaur right off of the world. While there are many theories about the reason, many with large amounts of evidence, it is still quite uncertain. Dinosaurs do live on in their ancestors and relatives the birds and reptiles, but still a large percentage of the animal population was lost when the dinosaurs were wiped off of Earth.

Mass extinctions have happened numerous times during the course of the worlds history. To be more accurate, there were five notable and quite large extinction events that have happened on Earth, the largest wiping out 70-90% of all life on the planet. The dinosaurs extinction, and the other major extinction event, were of natural causes, though. These days though, there are both natural and human causes for extinction, the latter continuing to grow with each passing year.

If trends continue as they are, and mankind doesnt do something serious to try to counteract its destructive ways, there will be a new extinction event. It will be a new event created by man. This event has the potential to wipe out half of the species of life on earth. Earth is dying because of the negligence of mankind, the over use of resources, the pollution, the overpopulation. The animals and creatures that inhabit Earth are dying, too, and the rate at which they die increases every day.

It is impossible to really know every species that is in danger. There arent enough people, resources or ways to monitor every living creature to make sure its species is thriving or just getting by. As of today, February 21, 2007, there are over 1,000 animal species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Over 1,000 plant types are also listed as endangered, something people dont always consider when thinking about extinction. This may not seem like a lot given that there are over a million identified animals species in the world and an estimation of at least 10 times that waiting to be discovered, but the fact is that the species that are generally being documented and monitored are the larger ones including mammals, birds, reptiles and fish. These only make up a small percent of the total population of creatures in the Animal Kingdom.

How really serious is extinction for animals these days? Just take for example the rarest species in the world. It is the Pinta Tortoise, a species of Galpagos Tortoise. The species only has one known survivor to it, a tortoise named Lonesome George. There are dozens of other species of animals that are known to have less than twenty of their kind left. They are raised in scientific research centers for further study and care, making them known as being extinct in the wild. There are also numerous species of animals in the wild with estimated populations of under 100 total.

Small populations are not the only animals to be worried about. There are far too many factors and ecological problems in the world currently to ever fully believe that larger populations of animals are safe. Though dinosaurs are a good example of this, a more recent example is the Passenger Pigeon. It is thought to believe at one time the Passenger Pigeon was one of the most abundant bird species in the world, and the most abundant in North America. Their numbers plummeted drastically because of over-hunting, and as of 1914 they were officially considered extinct.

Is there hope for some animals that are near extinction or already considered extinct? Yes there is. Is may be small, but there still can be hope though. There is no truly accurate way to determine if an animal is fully extinct or not. There is plenty of room for human error or just inability to study the whole area the species might currently be residing in. This is the case for many animals that were considered extinct but later on, after a few years and even half a century, were rediscovered and therefore not truly extinct as previously believed.

Along with rediscovering an extinct animal, there are plenty of programs and conservational committees focused on keeping animals from going extinct. A lot of these provide funding and aid for scientific research centers that house small species populations in hopes that one day they may be safely released back into secure wild locations. Other programs promote ecological awareness, recycling plans to keep pollution at lower levels, the re-growth of wild habitats and ecosystems, and further studies of species to help scientists better understand how to keep them alive.

People may think that one species lost to extinction wont mean much in the long run. The truth is that one extinction has a drastic effect on the ecosystem of its region and the well-being of numerous other species of creatures that are in contact with the extinct species. When one species goes extinct, others may follow in a chain effect as the food web of the area is drastically change and new adaptation has to take place.

Not only will it have a negative scientific and ecological effect on the world, people should also care about extinction for exactly what it says: the species is gone forever. Humans can not stop natural extinction. There are far too many factors and powers greater than human power to fully overcome. They can alleviate it and alter it at best. But natural extinction isnt the major concern. Humans have damaged the world balance of living organisms greatly as of recent times with the continuing development of civilization, and the wounds need to be repaired.

Everyone should be concerned about extinction on some level. We cant all be scientists and animal care takers that are physically there to help the endangered animals, but we can all be supporters of keeping our world safe and healthy. It will only be a matter of time before things get too bad and humans start to feel a much harsher consequence of the problems. We shouldnt and cant wait until then to start caring about the planet. If people would do some research, open their minds, cut back on pollution and support ecological programs, the world can be a better place. Extinction is a serious concern and a growing threat to much of the life of the Earth, and humans need to do their part in fixing the problems.

Jake Rose is an artist and an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Creative Writing.