The Effect Of Urbanization On Wildlife

The effects of deforestation around my home and throughout my state are becoming more evident every day. When a deer or other wild game loses its home, they move into cities, urban areas, and parks; thus causing issues with the human population. Most people living in Illinois have hit or nearly killed a deer driving on Southern Illinois roadways. This common occurrence could be kept at bay or maybe even avoided if the deer and wild game had more space to reside. There are many points that coincide with this reality but the main issues are the small subtle ones that affect everyday life and are often overlooked. Picture the Illinois we will leave for our children. Do you see a lush green forest or miles and miles of concrete and steel?

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.

There are numerous ways that humans affect wildlife, both in positive and negative ways. Humans act as a predator to populations where natural predators have a small population or have been extirpated from an area. They can remove aggressive or sick animals from a population. Some of the more negative impacts of humans can be over-harvesting a population to the point of an endangered status or driving them to extinction. When settlers began to expand westward, many saw economic opportunity. Whether it was trapping beavers for their fur, killing bison for hides, or trapping songbirds for their feathers, people were tearing populations apart just to make money. It seemed as if America was plentiful and had an infinite amount of resources. However, that was not the case. Due to people’s carelessness, many species that once roamed the land and skies are now extinct. Back then, there were no hunting regulations for humans and no legal protection for the animals. One such animals that has suffered from this was the Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis). This species was a beautiful yellow and orange headed, green-bodied parakeet that inhabited the Eastern United States. It was hunted for a number of things, including destroying farmers crops and having a high demand in the feather trade due to their vibrant colors. Both of these factors in combination with the destruction of the bird’s habitat led to their population decline and extinction in the 1920’s. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

[Thesis and preview]: Today I am going to share with you a quick history lesson, talk about where these animals currently roam, and explain several threats that this growing population currently faces.

However, they disagree on whether or not it is harming the wildlife populations in those areas. Terris says “roads and sprawling neighborhoods are replacing pristine wildlife habitats at an alarming pace, putting the survival and reproduction of plants and animals at risk.” Terris also believes it may be “the problem for U.S. wildlife in the 21st century”. (Terris) According to Terris, one victim of sprawl is the Florida panther, which has been reduced to a population of 30 to 50 adults. Furthermore, in the Sonoran Desert many plant species are affected, which also affects the animals that rely on those plants. She goes on to give numerous examples of animals and plants that are being harmed that spreads across the U.S., supporting the fact it is widespread.

One of the most effective ways to avoid human-wildlife conflicts is by reducing attractants from these unwanted animals. There are many ways in which residents can reduce conflict with urban wildlife. For example: locking out all outdoor garbage cans, dispose fallen fruit from trees, keeping pets indoors overnight, keep cats indoor as much as possible, be aware of wildlife-borne diseases in their region that could potentially infect them and their pets,

The main problem is that with urbanization people can really stop building our community. One solution is that we can preserve lands to keep them safe. There is also another solution of a bigger issue that may affect all animals, pollution. The problem of pollution is also another factor that affects all animal. There are somethings that people doing to stop this problem. In Pennsylvania the Eastern Spadefoot toads are considered to be a threatened

Many of its marshes, cypresses, and mangroves cover the majority of the wetland and an estimated number of 50 reptile species and 40 mammal species currently residing are either endangered, or worse, threatened for extinction. The Florida Panther, according to the National Park Service, has a successful breeding population; nonetheless, the “primary threats to the remaining population are habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation” (para. 2). Due to the ongoing urban development, the panther became a well-known endangered human threat. An estimated 80-120 panthers are surviving

Therefore, limiting their territory resulting in a conflict that raises the rate of mortality of the specie which is called intraspecific aggression. Another factors affecting the density are the environmental changes on lands due to fragmentation and destruction of their natural habitats causes by humans in our ambition to expand our needs (development of new cities, roads, houses, etc.) so that way we contribute to the extinction and limited growth of the specie. In the other hand, density independent factors affecting panther’s population are diseases, viral infections, and feline leukemia, so in order to stop or reduce this mortality fatalities. Government agencies must take actions and intervene to ensure the panthers habitats without risking or damage natural reservations which protect endangered animals. Panthers in its vast territorial expansion throughout the southeast have occupied the top of the food chain, however, the decline of their species have caused other non-native predators animals have moved into the open niche. Carnivores like the Coyotes currently compete for the same prey and occupy the same hunting grounds and reproduction sites marginalizing and limiting them to thrive.

As the human population is increasing, Florida Panthers are decreasing. In the past, Native Americans would kill panthers for their coat, teeth, meat, and for medical uses (Alderson, pg. 23). There have also been several human-panther encounters where humans have tried to kill the panther. It is noted that panthers never try to come after individuals (Alderson, pg. 18). However; individuals still feel as if they are in danger when they are in contact with a panther. People also feel the need to harass and mess with Florida Panthers. With an increasing population, there are more people harming these animals. There have been several actions taken to prevent these occurrences from reoccurring. To avoid the amount of panthers being killed by humans there is laws in place that punishes people that bother, hurt, wound, agitate, or eradicate Florida Panthers (Alvarez, pg. 198). When an individual sees a panther they should not harm it; instead they should admire its

The news article I chose is titled Songbirds Divorce, Flee, and Fail to Reproduce Due to Suburban Sprawl written by Michelle Ma (2017). This news article is about one of the potential effects of suburban sprawl. Suburban sprawl is defined as the expansion of the human population away from the urban areas. Many people argue that sprawl has many negative effects on the environment such as taking agricultural lands and forests and turning them into an industrial warehouse that causes additional pollution. The negative effect on the environment in relation to this article is the displacement of wildlife that could lead to extinction.

While the problems facing Florida panthers are well known to many, especially those who live in their current range, the effects of proposed conservation actions on these residents are less widely known. What shapes local residents’ opinions on these animals? Do opinions differ across the state? Why are ranchers unhappy about conservation efforts, and what can can be done to mitigate conflicts? Two separate groups of researchers out of the University of Florida set out to answer these questions and to share the implications of their findings, as well as to explain how their findings can be applied to the current Florida panther conservation conflicts.

I boarded the Amtrak the early morning of November 5th, 2016 from Davis, California to the Peytonia Slough Ecological Reserve (Peytonia Reserve) in Suisun, California. The trip to this brackish and saltwater reserve was to help me analyze the relationship between humans and wildlife in urban settings. Urban environments depend on the rehabilitation and protection of small natural areas like the Peytonia Reserve. At the Peytonia Reserve, both humans and native/non-native species live in cohabitation, which paints an accurate representation of reconciliation ecology. Humans use these natural areas, the Peytonia Reserve in this case, for recreational activities like hunting and fishing. This, in turn, benefits the wildlife that lives in the area because hunters and fishers want the environment to be well maintained in order to support their activities. I came up with the conclusion that even though humans have more to benefit from wildlife, wildlife also depends on humans to help protect and conserve their habitats.

Many people believe they are part of the strong of the world. Although they could be considered stronger than others right now, they do not realize their position on the food chain can change. “The Most Dangerous Game” gives people the idea that world is divided between the hunters and the hunted, but it also gives us the situation of when there’s a hunter versus a hunter, one is surely to lose. As the world continues to change, the idea of hunters and huntees will remain, creating skilled predators, and leaving many animals falling to

Planet Earth is the one and only home for humans, and it’s their natural duty to protect it and all of its inhabitants. For many people, the fate of animals is of little importance, especially when there are so many of their own species suffering throughout the world. However, only when one has respect for nature can he or she come to appreciate for his or herself. In the past few decades, some animals have progressively come closer and closer to extinction. When compared to demographics 30 years ago, less than 5% of tiger and rhino populations remain in the wild (Congressional). The main culprits for this abominable crime against nature are avaricious poachers who seek personal gain and profit. Poaching is the illegal killing of