The parrots in the local pet store are almost always at risk. It is human encroachment the owner tells us. Forests are cut down, reducing habitat and food sources, and diminishing parrot populations. Farmers plant crops in the cleared areas. The parrots may or may not eat these but are perceived as a threat and often killed, further endangering them.
Once upon a time, millions
of rhinos roamed across Africa and Asia; now about 30,000 survive, and many
species are extinct or about to be. Sudan, the last male northern white
rhino, lived at Ol
Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya together with his daughter Najin and
granddaughter Fatu. He was 45, equivalent to 90 in human age, and quite
infirm. Earlier this year, when his condition deteriorated to the extent
he was unable to stand, the vets decided to euthanize. Hope lies
with in vitro fertilization, and in the genetic material the vets
collected from him. At some future date, it might be possibly to use this
to create an embryo with stem cell technology.
The engaging, lovable and cuddly koala
is in danger from environmental effects. its unusual diet of
eucalyptus leaves carry a toxin it can usually handle, but increased CO2 levels
reduce nutrition and eating more leads to ingesting more poison. Add to
this the Australian drought drying the leaves, leaving little moisture and
resulting in kidney damage.
The human footprint also threatens the snow leopard, most
closely related to the tiger not its namesake. Ranging across the high
mountain areas of central Asia, China and Mongolia, and revered in Kyrgyzstan,
it has become a victim of human-wildlife conflict. The herders whose
livelihood depends on their sheep, goats and yaks do not take kindly to raiding
snow leopards. But their natural prey, the wild ungulates are suffering
sharp declines due to competition with domestic herds. Yet this
animal is an example of what a concerted effort to save a species can
accomplish. Its status has been upgraded from
'endangered' to 'vulnerable'.
Altogether, these studies and cases convey a stark warning. They
show that environmental degradation is the promise of a dismal future in which
mammalian wildlife is scarce, wild pollinators and consequently wild flowers
and plants are sparse, and beautiful coral reefs succumb to plastic waste-borne
bacteria depleting reef-supported fisheries. This is our legacy unless we
take a step back to reassess human wants for their impact on the environment.
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