Essay On Animal Extinction

Words: 974
Pages: 4

The most recent impact of total extinction was over 65 million years ago when a comet or asteroid wiped out the Cretaceous Period, “The Cretaceous is defined as the period between 145.5 and 65.5 million years ago,* the last period of the Mesozoic Era, following the Jurassic and ending with the extinction of the dinosaurs (except birds)” (Dinosaur Extinction Information and Facts, 2017). Dinosaurs became extinct due to the natural phenomenon; however, sometimes extinction is due to human destruction, in which some species now days are very limited like giant pandas, tigers, orangutan, elephants, whales, etc. “A species is defined as endangered or threatened when it suffers from these factors: damage to its habitat for recreational, or entertainment purposes; disease or predation of the species; and hazards to the continued life of the species. A species is declared extinct after many years of not being spotted. Because it takes so long to define an entire species as extinct, it is probable that there are many species already gone that we are unaware of.” (Davison, S. G., & Engber, D.). The
Elephants are on the endangered species list and will soon be extinct if people keep hunting them for their ivory tusks; Around 100 African elephants are killed every day by poachers – one elephant every 15 minutes. Ivory is carved into jewelry, trinkets, utensils, and figurines. Heavily armed militias and crime networks use ivory profits for terrorism and war funding.” (Hunting Wildlife to Extinction). “The leading cause of these shocking declines is irresponsible and unethical human activities. In addition to the devastating consequences of deforestation, animal agriculture, development, and environmental pollution, the wildlife trade is playing a key role in species extinction.” (Hunting Wildlife to Extinction). Poaching causes the animals to become extinct and effects the environment by an imbalance in the