When people think of animal extinctions, they likely think of the over-hunting and disappearing habitats that caused the loss of such animals as the California condor, the dodo bird, and other species. Animal extinctions rarely get the press coverage that other environmental issues do, but the loss of species like the koala could trigger major problems for human civilization. Without quick action to reverse human habits that endanger animals, people may soon find themselves facing a very bleak future.
Statistics on the extinctions of animals and plants show a dire situation for many species. Scientists, monitoring the state of endangered species over the last decades, tell the story of endangered or extinct animals and the threat of many more losses if current trends continue. Animals continue to disappear almost every day, while many others are barely hanging on to life. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, an estimated 7200 animal species are currently threatened, besides the many plants that could disappear in the next years. Although many factors contribute to the decline of species, human activity is frequently a contributing reason, as it is with one of Australia’s best-known animals, the koala.
The koala, symbol of Australia, might be among the next animals to disappear from the earth. When records were first kept in 1788, there were about seven to ten million koalas living throughout the country. Statistics from the Canadian Museum of Nature show the decline, partially because hunters, especially in the first part of the twentieth century, greatly reduced the numbers of the bear-like creatures; by now, there may be only 100,000 of these nocturnal marsupials left.
Many dangers face the small animals, including drought, the loss of their habitat, being killed by other animals or run over by cars, and now also being poisoned by their own food. Pollution, especially from carbon dioxide, is poisoning eucalyptus trees and killing the koalas of Australia in large numbers.
Unless people work to reduce the threat quickly, koalas could be extinct before long. Although the IUCN has not yet officially listed the marsupial as endangered, the creature is following a downward trend which could lead to disaster. Each animal and plant plays a role in the world’s ecosystem, from maintaining the balance between predator and prey to providing people with food and medicine.
The loss of habitat brought through growing development, over-hunting, pollution, and many other factors are endangering the existence of animal and plant species around the world. Koalas are only one species among many in danger of disappearing, but the loss of any plant or animal reduces the diversity of the earth and puts the planet in danger.
Keeping animals from becoming extinct helps not only them but also the human race.
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