Background on Endangered Species

What is ‘endangered’

A plant or animal species that is at risk of disappearing from the earth. If it does disappear, it is extinct and can never come back. Since 1600, more than 700 species of plants and animals have gone extinct.

Who’s on the list:

Hundreds of animals are on the endangered species list, a few examples include:

• African elephants
• Asian elephants
• Bald eagles
• American alligators
• Grizzly bears
• Jaguars
• Black rhinos
• Blue whales, finback whales, humpback whales, sperm whales, sei whales
• Green sea turtles, leatherback sea turtles, hawksbill sea turtles

Who decides which animals are on it:

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides after the review process, which is started when anyone sends a petition to the Service.
• A decision is made after scientific evidence is considered.

Why do animals become endangered?

• Habitat destruction (building of roads, parking lots, fields for cattle, etc.): The destruction of rain forests is occurring rapidly, and this is where most of the animal species in the world live.
• Introduction of foreign species into habitat.
• Overexploitation – many of the fish we take from the ocean cannot reproduce fast enough to recover, so they are disappearing.

How is an animal protected once it is endangered?

• Once a species is listed as endangered, it is illegal to kill, harm or take the species out of its habitat.
• For some species, recovery plans are created to save them from extinction – but many more recovery plans are needed!

Why should it matter to us?

• About 40% of human medicine is made from things found in nature.
• The Pacific yew tree was cut down and burned as trash for years, before we discovered a chemical in its bark that was promising medicine for ovarian and breast cancer.

What you can do?

• Protect national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, stop pollution that causes contamination and global warming, save water to preserve fresh water, help native species of plants to grow in your area.

Source: ASPCA