Are Humans the Cause of Extinction?

Over 150 million animals are killed just for food around the world every day which leads to  56 billion land animals being killed every year in the United States alone. Humans not only kill animals for food but if you have ever been to a zoo you are almost playing a role in the extinction  of animals. In zoos they keep animals in captivity and cages much smaller than the areas they would originally live in for entertainment purposes. Humans are the cause of the extinction of animals due to deforestation or ruining of animals habitats, keeping animals in captivity, and hunting/ poaching or killing them for food.

One cause of extinction is humans ruining the habitats that animals live in, or deforestation. Approximately 200,000 acres of forest are cleared every day for people needs such as housing and goods which is equal 139 acres each minute.  While rain forests contain about 50% of the worlds wildlife population, about 100 species from the rain forest are killed each day due to deforestation. It is proven that in about 100 years there will no longer be rain forests left on earth which means most of Earth's wildlife population will be gone due to deforestation. Every year over 90 million tons of paper is used, which would be about 700 pounds of paper products used by each person alive, with each pound of paper it requires about 8 trees to be cut down which lowers the space of animals habitats.

Deforestation, Photo taken by Live Science.

Along with trees getting cut down coral reefs are also slowly being destroyed by people. Coral reefs are slowly being bleached from air pollution and careless tourist. The coral reefs are a major part of fish and other marine creatures lives, and provide food for many of the animals. Some ways to lower or prevent the amount of deforestation is, one, lowering the amount of paper you use by paying bills online and using more online resources such as online newspapers. Recycling paper also reduces the amount of trees being cut down or deforestation throughout the world. 

Every year around 200,000 different animals are put into zoos and parks for the entertainment of people  Throughout the world there are over 10,000 zoo’s each having about 500 to 3,500 animals, out of those 200,000 animals 3,000 to 5,000 of the healthy animals are killed or slowly being killed from kept in small enclosures.In zoos animals have a sufficiently less amount of space than they would in the wild,  one example is at Sea world, in the sea world parks, the parking lot is bigger than the enclosure for the massive killer whales to live in.

Also, ”Tigers and lions have around 18,000 times less space in zoos than they would in the wild, Polar bears have one million times less space”(freedom for animals). The more and more animals put into zoos the less animals there will be in the wild to reproduce. Some zoos may help animals but after they heal them, most of the time they do not release them back into the wild and keep them for entertainment. One way to prevent this crisis from continuing is by not buying tickets to places such as Sea world.

Approximately 30,000 species per year are being driven to extinction and one of the leading causes of their extinction is hunting and poaching. Every year an estimated 100 million animals are killed by hunters. Today animals are illegally hunted for money, overall Illegal hunting  brings in approximately $20 billion dollars every year. One of the most common animals becoming extinct are elephants. Everyday there are approximately 96 African elephants killed for their ivory which means about sixty percent of elephants deaths are from poachers. Today there are less elephants born than the amount of elephants that are killed for ivory.

Another popular animal that is going extinct from poaching is the rhinoceros. Everyday day an average of three rhinos are killed by poachers. At one point there was dozens of different rhinoceros species but only 5 of those species remain today.  Some other animals going extinct from hunting as well are the wild dog, and lion. “A century ago wild dog packs in Africa typically consisted of approximately 100 members. Now the average pack size is 10”(American museum of natural history). “Africa’s lion population has decreased in size by approximately 42 percent during the past two decades.(african wildlife foundation). Three of the main ways to prevent animal hunting is by signing petitions, making donations and volunteering. 

The problem of extinction does not only affect animals but it also affects people and the way we live. People are causing extinction by ruining animals habitats and cutting down trees. People also place animals in zoos and place them in captivity. Animals are also put at risk with the high hunting and poaching rate. With these problems continuing the rate of extinction will continuously increase.

 "Coral reefs – Think Global Green." https://thinkglobalgreen.org/coral-reefs/ . Accessed 4 Nov. 

2018.

"Critics Question Zoos' Commitment to Conservation." 13 Nov. 2003, 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2003/11/news-zoo-commitment-conservati

on-critic/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2018.

"Delaware Action For Animals - ANIMALS KILLED FOR SPORT/FASHION." 

https://www.da4a.org/sport.htm . Accessed 4 Nov. 2018.

 "Facts – Wildlife | Animal Matters." http://www.animalmatters.org/facts/wildlife/ . Accessed 4 

Nov. 2018.