Endangered Species and Mammals
George Wang-McCown
4-26-13
ISC 211- Terry Shank

When discussing the topic of endangered species, more than animals come into play when it comes to endangerment. The destruction of the animal’s natural habitat becomes the biggest problem that comes into play. When the habitat of the animals and plants is taken away from them, they lose their main sources in food, water and shelter. They have adapted to that area and the environment and when we take it away from them quickly, they have no time to adapt to anything that is new. It is hard to recognize the actual effects humans have on a species and their habitats but overtime you can see the affects that human activities have caused on animal and plant species endangerment for example cutting down a trees and the whole forest to make space for a building or something of the sort drives out the animals and gets rid of the food source and water source, the plant life there is destroyed as well. Other problems that usually occur to cause endangerment are illegal hunting, poaching, diseases and pollution. Animals are hunted down for certain features that are worth money such as the meat, pelts, heads, horns, antlers and etc. This causes a lot of animals to become endangered because of the price of the feature. People who are doing this usually give the excuse of their safety and they were just protecting themselves while they were looking for other things. Animals being sick cause a minimum of the problem because it is natural unless the sickness is caused by human effects. Pollution affects the native and water species such as littering, oil spills or other toxic materials that naturally does not belong in the environment. According to International Union for Conservation of Nature, at least 1,141 mammals are known to be endangered due to several reasons such has Habitat loss, over exploitation and illegal hunting. I have chosen four different animals to tell where their natural location is, how people recognize them and how many are left in their species. The snow leopard is an expert at navigating the rocky and steep mountainous regions of Central Asia. You can recognize them by its long tail, all white coat with large black spots all over the body. There are about 6000 left but the numbers are continuing to decline with habitat loss and illegal hunting. The cheetah is the fastest animal in the world. Naturally found in the open grasslands of Africa. You recognize them by its long, lanky body with yellow fur spotted with dark dots. There are about 9000 left due to habitat loss, reduced prey, illegal hunting and direct persecution for safety. The blue whale is known to be the largest animal to have existed. It is found in all of the major oceans.