Abstract
The study focused on the impact of the change in human behaviors on the extinction of animal species. It was found that change in human behavior to activities such as domestication of wild animal species, hunting, and encroachment of their natural habitats were some of the ways humans are impacting on animal species. The study was concluded that restrictions need to be enacted to ensure that domestication and hunting of wild animal species do not disturb the structure on the natural ecosystem and the root causes of natural habitat encroachment such as growth in human population need to be checked to prevent further encroachment.
Introduction
Human beings engage in a wide range of behaviors that pose a threat to wildlife. Some of these behaviors include the destruction of their natural habitat, the rise of the fashion and food industry where some species are consumed as food while others’ skin and bones are used in the fashion industry. According to Sodhi, Brook, and Bradshaw, (2009), change in human behavior is a direct threat to the survival of plant and animal species thus significantly contributing to the extinction of some of the species. It is imperative to note that all human activities ranging from urbanization, population growth have a direct impact on animal species. Extinction as a threat to many animal species where some cease to exist due to failure to ensure sustainability in reproduction. The trend seems to be coinciding with Charles Darwin theory of
The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years . Creatures across the land, rivers, and the seas are destroyed as humans killed them for food in unsuitable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats.
By regulation of predator population and management of non-breeders through hunting our ecosystems will thrive. Allowing limited hunting with regulations on the sex and maturity of animals, and organized group hunts to rectify unnatural numbers of animals, is good for the overall population. Ruling hunting an unnecessary activity would be detrimental to the environment. Species dying off because elder alphas inhibit younger mature animals from mating and wild predators reaching uncontrollable numbers are tragedies that we as humans can prevent. Will we be responsible for extinction because we are afraid to
Throughout recent decades, mankind has attempted to prevent the extinction of these creatures, secure the territory of these species, and by one means or another, minimize the negative consequences of the presence of humans.
In contrast to the upheaval of animals in a development area, humans also make efforts to preserve biodiversity and forests by creating wild life
Many species that exists today are becoming endangered to extinction. In the past era where humans did not exist, extinction occurred due to natural causes. On this present time however, extinction of species are threatened by humans’ existence. Humans are the only moral agent; in which, it has the intellectual capacity that animals and plants do not have. Thus, humans are powerful and dominate over any species. Many practices that humans do such as: tree logging, environment pollution, exploitation of animals and others has led to many species being endangered to extinction. Thus, humans have a moral obligation to preserve endangered species for such reasons focus on
The scale and pace of change is dramatic; for example, the extinction of species is occurring at around 100-fold pre-human rates4. The population sizes of vertebrate species have, on average, declined by half over the last 45 years5. More than 2.3 million km2 of primary forest has been felled since 20006. About
Forests have been cut, crops planted, pastures seeded, and urban areas paved. One of the most troubling consequences of human modification of ecosystems is an ongoing loss of species and therefore a loss of biodiversity around the world. The current extinctions have a human cause: habitat loss (such as clearing of tropical rainforests); the introduction of invasive species; unregulated hunting and fishing; and pollution of water, air, and
In today’s world, hardly any species of wildlife become extinct from natural causes. Europeans hunt animals to such an extent that we classify it as overhunting. We destroy their habitat, and introduce other animals that are a threat to endangered animals or are competition for resources and food. Habitat destruction is the greatest threat to both animals and plants.
Summarize: The result of one species extinction could potentially be fatal to the environment. In the animal kingdom, there is a food chain. Keystone animals, are the key ingredient to the food chain. When that keystone animals goes extinct, it sets off a chain reaction on the other animal’s food source. This causes one species to flourish and another to dwindle. The environment needs a healthy checks and balance system to keep each animal population under control (Stuart, 1990 ). Humans can cause the keystone animal to become extinct and therefore, responsible for rise and decline of other species, ultimately, throwing the food chain off balance.
When visiting museums such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York City we can get a first-hand look at some of the massive creatures like the wooly mammoth that used to roam our planet some 11,000 years ago. And after viewing the skeletons of such extraordinary creatures known as the megafauna we may ponder as to what event transpired to eliminate so many species. What we do know is the late Pleistocene era marked a time of fluctuating climate that coincided with the migration of people into the New World. During this period mammals such as the woolly mammoth and mastodons were becoming extinct. However, questions still remain to determine if it was because of severe climatic change, or possibly the extinctions occurred from over-hunting by humans, or possibly a combination of both? These are many of the concerns that have created the foundation for a serious debate among many scholars in the anthropology and archaeology community.
E. O. Wilson, a famous American biologist, describes the main causes of extinction with a simple acronym: HIPPO or habitat, invasive species, pollution, population, and over-harvesting. Each of these causes traces back to humans. Habitat loss is when organisms lose their “homes” mostly due to human urbanization. Human cities have grown exponentially and it does seem to be slowing down. Due to this organisms have lost their natural habitats and are forced to leave and find new ones. Invasive species are organism that are placed in locations where they do not naturally occur. Humans have helped the growth of this problem due to the desire of extotic pets. Invasive species become an enormous problem because the location they are introduced to do not have the proper needs to help control the
The main cause of the loss of biodiversity can be attributed to the influence of human beings on the world's ecosystem
As housing developments grow, species lose their habitat and are forced to wander into cities and places with a greater human presence in search for food. When deforestation occurs animals’ homes are destroyed, and there is not enough land for the food chain to properly function. Prey animals, such as deer and rabbits, diminish in numbers. Then predators die off because of lack of food. Finally, prey animals repopulate and over populate because of the lack of predators (Deforestation). Some people believe that even as we build more buildings and cut down forests, animal populations will continue to thrive and balance themselves out. They also believe animals do not need to be hunted. This is not true. The presence of humans in the environment creates a situation in which animal populations become irregular due to habitat shrinkage. The problem increases with the human
Terrestrial wildlife is a key segment of tropical woods groups as pointers of environment wellbeing and suppliers of critical biological system administrations (Ahumada et al., 2011). Wildlife customarily alludes to undomesticated creature species, yet has come to incorporate all plants, parasites, and different living beings that develop or live wild in a territory without being presented by people. Wildlife could be found in all biological communities. Deserts, woodlands, rain backwoods, fields, meadows, and different zones including the most created urban territories, all have particular types of natural life. While the term in mainstream culture as a rule alludes to creatures that are untouched by human components, most researchers concur that much natural life is influenced by human activities. This will cause the possibility of wildlife being extinct before their numbers are known. People had verifiably tended to separate human advancement from untamed life in various ways including the lawful, social, and good sense. A few creatures, in any case, have adapted to rural conditions. This incorporates such creatures as tamed felines, pooches, mice, and gerbils. A few religions pronounced certain creatures to be holy, and in present day times sympathy toward the regular habitat has incited activists to challenge the abuse of wildlife for human advantage or use. When productivity of wildlife decreases, people tend looking for them in new area. This step would allow for
Bill Freedmen, author of “Endangered Species—Human Causes Of Extinction and Endangerment” notes, “scientists approximate that present extinction rates are 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than the average natural extinction rate.” These distressing numbers should be acted upon to save the endangered species and avoid the catastrophic change to this planet if these species were to become extinct. In order to produce change, people need to recognize that habitat loss, climate change, and poaching are all factors in why our animal species are going extinct.