ExtinctionExtinction is a natural process. Many species had ceased to exist before humans evolved. However, in the last 400 years, the number of animals and plants becoming extinct has reached crisis point. Human population levels have risen dramatically in the same time period and man"s predatory instincts combined with his ruthless consumption of natural resources are directly responsible for the situation. DodoThe Dodo is a classic example of how human behavior can cause irreparable damage to the earth"s biological diversity. The flightless Dodo was native to the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It lived off fruit fallen from the island"s trees and lived unthreatened until humans arrived in 1505. The docile bird became a source of food for sailors and lacked the ability to protect itself from animals introduced to the island by humans such as pigs, monkeys and rats. The population of Dodos rapidly decreased and the last one was killed in 1681.Endangered AnimalsIn 2002 many animals remain threatened with extinction as a result of human activity. The World Wildlife Fund works tirelessly to raise awareness of the predicament facing these animals and find ways to protect them. By focusing on a number of high profile, "charismatic icons" such as the rhino, panda, whale and tiger, the WWF aims to communicate, "critically important environmental issues". The organization"s ultimate goal is to, "stop the degradation of the planet"s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature".RhinosThe Rhino horn is a highly prized item for practitioners of Asian medicine. This has led to the animal being relentlessly hunted in its natural habitat. Once widespread in Africa and Eurasia, most rhinos now live in protected natural parks and reserves. Their numbers have rapidly decreased in the last 50 years, over half the remaining rhinos disappeared in the 1970s, and the animals remain under constant threat from poachers.The Giant PandaThe future of the WWF"s symbol is far from certain. As few as 1000 remain in the wild, living in small isolated groups. These groups have been cut off from each other as a result of deforestation and human expansion in to their natural habitat. The Chinese government has set up 33 panda reserves to protect these beautiful animals and made poaching them punishable with 20 years in prison. However, the panda"s distinct black and white patched coat fetches a high price on the black market and determined poachers still pose one of the most serious threats to the animals continued existence.WhalesThe International Whaling Commission meets every year. The agenda covers ways to ensure the survival of the species and the complex problems arising from countries such as Japan, wishing to hunt certain whales for "scientific" purposes. Despite the fact that one third the world"s oceans have been proclaimed whale sanctuaries, 7 out of 13 whale species remain endangered. The plight of the North Atlantic Right Whale is particularly serious. Hunted for their rich supply of oil, their numbers have dwindled to just 300. Collisions with ships, toxic pollution and becoming entangled in fishing nets are other major causes of whale deaths.TigersThe last 100 years has seen a 95% reduction in the numbers of remaining tigers to between 5000 and 7000 and The Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers are already extinct. The South China tiger is precariously close to disappearing, with only 20 to 30 still alive. Like the Rhino horn, tiger bones and organs are sought after for traditional Chinese medicines. These items are traded illegally along with tiger skins.Take ActionThe WWF is actively involved in many areas of the world fighting to protect the natural habitats of endangered animals from further damage and curb the activities of poachers. They also work to influence governments and policy makers to introduce laws aimed at reducing the threat of pollution and deforestation. Our own individual efforts at home and in the workplace can also make a difference. By reducing waste and pollution, saving water, wood and energy, and reusing and recycling whenever possible, we can reduce the possibility of even more animals being lost, never to return.Your turnDo you think enough is being done to protect animals? If not, what else could be done? Send us your opinions.Far out into the ocean to the north and west of Britain are the cold wild islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. They make a line of beautiful beaches 150 miles long. Further west is the small group of islands called Saint Kilda. They are cold and wild too, but without beaches. The islands are tall volcanic rocks hundreds of metres high. For thousands of years, people lived on these islands. In 1930 the last people, there were only 36 of them, had a meeting and decided to leave. The biggest island in the group is called Hirta. Sheep still live there without any people. When you arrive by boat, you see very tall black rocks all around. Some big rocks make their own small islands. This true story happened on the tallest of the rocks – “Stac An Armin” in 1840.In those days, people still lived on the islands of Saint Kilda. Their stone houses were all in one village by the ocean at the bottom of a tall dark hill. The houses only had one room – for people and sheep, which used to live with them in the winter and spring. Two men from the village, McDonald and McKinnon, were on the rock. It was their work to collect birds – some for food, some to make shoes or hats with. Some dead birds they put in the earth to help their vegetables grow. They found one strange big bird. It was sleeping. They decided to bring it home to the village.I think people in the village were interested in the bird. We now know that this was a Great Auk, a kind of swimming bird that lived in many parts of the North Atlantic. It was big and strong and had a loud cry. They began to talk with the other people in the village about what they should do with it. After two days, the weather got worse and then there was a terrible storm. The people in the village decided that this was because of the bird and they killed it. This was the last example of the Great Auk in Britain. Four years later, the last Great Auk in the world died in Iceland.We know the Great Auk died out because of people. But where did the people of Saint Kilda go? This is more difficult to explain. Some say that they were bored living on the island so far from modern cities. Other people think that the problem was tourists, who began to visit Saint Kilda at the end of the 19th century. A new theory says that using too many dead birds as fertilizer made their food unhealthy. I think it was a mistake to kill the auk.mistake that resulted in killing this bird. The day after the people brought the bird home, the weather got worse and worse. At that time, they had less knowledge about nature, they could only believe in God to help them decide what was wrong and what was right. So it was so easy to make mistake about what they didn"t know and it happened by mistake. The article is very clear about that. But at the first they thought they should bring it home and kill it for food. That is not good. Unfortunately, it was the last bird.”Oswaldo Herrera writes “This article is very interesting, and we need to think about it. Nowadays we are destroying our world and furthermore, the animals and plants that exist in it. There are a lot of warnings but most of the time we do not care about them - I think that this articles helps us to reflect and to be conscious about all the animals and plants that we are destroying with all the pollution that we generate nowadays.”
