Speculation on mass extinction of animal species

This is like simply saying, hundreds of different animal species are going extinct on a daily basis. Towards 2050, about 50% of the planet’s animal species shall probably have gone extinct. In the past, events such as strikes by asteroids, volcanic eruptions and climate shift among others were the major causes of mass extinction; which is not the case now. Humans now take the lead in causing this crisis. Almost all endangered animal species face risk caused by human activities. Poaching is a human activity whereby wild animals are killed for material gain. By most world governments, poaching is considered illegal and leads to capital punishment in some countries. Poaching is a vice that has been going on for hundreds of years. Poaching is the most known and obvious way of wiping out species; even to a child.

This is because the animals being poached are well known to the public. For rhinos, their horns were being auctioned at least $30,000 per pound, making them more valuable than gold and even diamond and cocaine combined; in 2012. Most Vietnamese people actually believe that rhino horns are medicine to all ailments and body stresses; From HIV to cancer, bilharzia to malaria, elephantiasis to cholera and Hepatitis B to hangovers. A survey conducted in South Africa indicated that in just a year, about four hundred rhinos were eliminated. The Western Black variety is currently extinct. The other rhinos could follow the same lead in just about twenty years’ time according to GlobalPost. Lemurs are a tourist attraction in Madagascar. The problem is, they are hunted for food yet they are very few. According to Jessica Phelan, “Lemurs’ number is fast declining and in no time, they shall be extinct.

” The IUCN conservation authority predicts that, by 2050, humans shall have sent not less than eighty per cent of the currently available western gorillas to extinction within a span of two generations (Phelan, and GlobalPost). These endangered animal species among others face a high abnormal level of risk of mass extinction due to poaching. By poaching them, the dispersal rate reduces significantly. According to a research conducted by Campos Arceiz and Blake in 2011, it is reported that African elephants consume much more seeds from more tree species than all other large mammals that act as seed dispersers (Ash et al. Some skeptics claim that the main cause of animal species extinction is invasive species. They base their argument on the fact that about forty per cent of endangered species faces the risk posed by invasive species; though still unconfirmed.

Invasive species are any macro and micro-organisms that do not originate from the ecosystem they're in and are also harmful to native organisms and the ecosystem at large. Padilla), particularly; not common knowledge to the general public. It is therefore clear that poaching is weightier than invasive species in being the main cause of mass extinction of animals. Isn’t it clear how poaching has cleared multiple generations of animal species of household names? Think about the gorilla and tiger. How often do people get to see them? Almost never. That is because their number is running out. EarthAction. Desertification 2006-2007".  Earthaction, 2006, http://www. earthaction. org/desertification-20062007. files/fileID/13667. Accessed 5 June 2018. Kazmeyer, Milton. How Do The Extinctions Of Other Creatures Affect Humans Directly?".  Sciencing, 2018, https://sciencing. Phelan, Jessica, and GlobalPost. Endangered Animals Poachers Are Hunting Into Extinction".

 Usatoday. Com, 2015, https://www. usatoday.