Recognized throughout the world for its ferocity. The tiger
faces an uncertain future. Due to increases in both natural and
human threats, the wild tiger population suffered major losses
during the 20th century and has become one of our most endangered
species. By the 1950s, tigers living around the Caspian Sea were
extinct; between 1937 and 1972 the population of tigers that once
inhabited the islands of Bali disappeared; the South China tiger,
with at best 20 to 30 individuals, is nearly extinct in the wild.
So we need to work to gether and save some these tigers.
India today has the largest number of tigers, numbering somewhere
between 3,030 and 4,735 and it is estimated that only 5,100 to
7,500 individual tigers now remain in the entire world. Tigers
need our help because they are being desturbed by human life,
and hunters.
Prehistoric in appearance and intriguing in behavior, rhinos in the late 20th century joined the ranks of the most critically endangered animals in the world. Rhinos are one of the largest free-roaming mammals left on the planet and they play an important role in ecosystems by serving as "landscape architects" of their habitat. Rhinos are seed dispersers, consuming various plants and then, as inadvertent gardeners, distributing their seeds throughout their range. Since it can take a rhino more than three days to digest a meal, seeds can be transported a significant distance before they are deposited in droppings. Rhino dung also enhances soil fertility and nourishes the landscape. They kill black rhinoceros for their horns and bones and they use the horns for handles and medicines. Now people are sawing off their horns so people won't hurt them.
Dolphins belong to the family of marine mammals known as cetaceans.
Unlike fish, cetaceans are air-breathing, warm-blooded mammals
that bear live young and nurse them on milk. Cetaceans play an
important role in the life of the ocean, serving as flagships
for the health and well-being of the whole marine ecosystem. Along
with hunting, collisions with ships, and the degradation of their
habitat due to pollution, the greatest threat to dolphins is entanglement
in fishing gear, also known as bycatch. If current trends continue
unabated, several cetacean species and many populations will be
lost in the next few decades. With the support of its members
and international conservation partners we should help to ensure
dolphins will swim in our seas for generations to come.
The panda is one of the most popular animals in the world. Unfortunately,
it is also one of the most endangered. Found only in China, one
of the world's most populous countries, the giant panda clings
to survival, facing habitat fragmentation and poaching as its
greatest threats. It is estimated that as few as 1,600 pandas
remain in the wild today.The giant panda first appeared in the
evolutionary record during the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene,
some two to three million years ago. Panda fossils have been found
in Burma, Vietnam, and particularly in eastern China, as far north
as Beijing. Pandas were once widespread in southern and eastern
China and in neighbouring Myanmar and north Vietnam. Today, however,
there are only around 1,000 left.The giant panda only exists at
present in six small areas located in inland China.
Elephants are the largest living land animals, with adults sometimes
weighing six tons or more. Of the two species, the African elephant
is larger and more plentiful than the Asian elephant. But both
are threatened by shrinking living space and poaching for the
ivory trade. Modern elephants are the last survivors of the old
and varied "trunked" family of mammals that once ranged
the entire planet. These heirs of such mighty creatures as the
extinct mastodon and mammoth and occupy a unique place in their
habitat in Africa and Asia.The wells elephants dig in search of
water are used by virtually all other wildlife in a given region,
particularly during periods of drought. On the other hand, elephant
activity can also be as destructive, particularly under the pressures
of human landscape transformation that force the animals into
smaller areas. As habitat shrinks, their voracious appetite can
bring them more frequently into conflict with people.
Considered humans' closest relatives, great apes are among the
world's most fascinating species. Unfortunately, they are also
among its most threatened. Great apes of Africa and Asia could
face extinction in the next few decades if more is not done to
conserve them. Africa's great apes -- gorillas, chimpanzees and
bonobos -- live in war-torn regions and are threatened by hunting
for the commercial bushmeat trade. But they also have to contend
with extensive habitat loss and diseases such as Ebola. Asia's
only great ape, the orangutan, is also losing much of its habitat
to deforestation and deliberate burning to make way for agriculture
and oil palm plantations.
Having traveled the seas for over 100 million years, marine turtles have outlived almost all of the prehistoric animals with which they once shared the planet. Marine turtles survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and are still present in the world's oceans today. Until recently, their success was apparent, as marine turtles crawled ashore to nest in abundance on tropical and subtropical beaches around the globe. Unfortunately threats like hunting for meat, shell and eggs; habitat destruction; fisheries bycatch; pollution; boat strikes; and introduced predators have wiped out entire turtle populations, or reduced them to mere shadows of their former glory. Today three of the seven existing species are critically endangered with extinction, three are endangered and the status of the seventh species remains unknown.
www.worldwildlife.org
www.schoolworld.asn
Copyright Anthony Flores 2006 Last Updated January 27, 2006 SHS Web Page Construction & Design Class