From another angle just last week, the Obama administration agreed verbally to expand the protection for endangered species provided the agreement is approved by the federal courts. If the federal courts approve the agreement, the government will have up to year 2018 to decide if the Pacific Walrus, Northern Wolverine, and the Miami Blue Butterfly should be given protection under the endangered species law.

The twist comes with members of the Safari Club declaring their rights to hunt animals are under threat. Under the former agreements, they are given the rights to hunt down animals like the New England Cottontail Rabbit, among others. They would want these rights recognized.

It’s a messy situation which gets more complicated because there is a growing list of animals being proposed for inclusion into the Endangered Species Act. Many of these proposals date back to more than 10 years ago without any movement for or against the proposals. In other words, these proposals have been in limbo for years, mainly because of budget constraints. Unfortunately, 24 animals have become extinct while waiting for any kind of action on the proposals.

According to Kieren Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity, “We’re dealing with the ultimate stakes of life and death.”

Add to this compelling drama are the multiple lawsuits filed against Fish and Wildlife Service for various reasons. These cases have taken priority over the lives of endangered animals thereby making the efforts of this agency burdened and fund-consuming.

It’s ridiculous to compare the lives of animals to the pursuit of hunting for pleasure or killing animals for money. Hopefully, this madness will stop, and it is something that isn’t just happening in the U.S. It is a situation repeated all across the globe. At one point, something has to give. As pointed out by Nicole Rosmarino of the WildEarth Guardians, “The Endangered Species Act is out nation’s key environmental law but it does not help species until they are actually listed.”

This site was originally designed to educate viewers about current environmental issues, especially regarding endangered animals. But why is it so important to be informed about endangered animals? Well, animal species as well as plants have a critical role in maintaining the integrity of our ecosystem, and are therefore indirectly important to us human beings. Here are some reasons why extinction of endangered animals is a concern to us.

First, extinction of animal species leads to an imbalance in the food chain which may in return cause population imbalance (i.e. decrease in certain species or extinction of others). Second, extinction of animal species and plant life increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, worsening the greenhouse effect. Thirdly, when a species goes extinct, its genome, in other words the entire genetic information carried by that species, is forever lost to the world.

Fourthly, organisms other than humans have intrinsic moral and ethical value, and a natural right to exist. Finally, many animals as well as plants have economically valuable like salmon and trees. There are undiscovered medicinal plants and potential agricultural species that potentially can have economic value.

We hope these reasons give you a good idea of why we are to care about the well being of endangered animals and the ecosystem as a whole. What can we do as individuals to protect the endangered animals and plant species?

We must consider just why so many species are becoming endangered. It is precisely because of environment change. Habitat loss is the most widespread cause of species. When an animal’s ecosystem is not maintained properly they lose their homes and are forced to adapt to new surroundings or they eventually extinct. Pollution is another factor that causes many species to become endangered. Other factors such as over-exploitation and climate change, both cause endangerment and extinction of several animal and plant species.

So bearing in mind these causes of endangerment of species, it is logical to suggest that we adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle. Taking action in your everyday life in small steps is a fantastic way to start doing your share. For example to begin from our home, replace our inefficient power consuming appliances with energy-saving ones. Replace cleaning products that contain too much chemical components with eco friendly products. Building sustainable homes, or homes that do not cause long-lasting harm to the environment is a brilliant way to help fight the imbalance of the ecosystem.

There are many organizations that fight to preserve endangered animals and plant species. Many of them are run by volunteers who help educate others, and take direct action to protect the environment by planting trees, rescue and rehabilitate injured or orphaned animals. You can join an organization today or even better you can event start your own.

Donating money to organizations that help protect endangered animals or plant species, or writing letters to the government, or concerned companies with your concerns regarding the environment are great ways of making a difference. Voice your concerns, start a petition, volunteer to such organizations, or have a peaceful demonstration. Every little helps!

If each person adopted just one of these plans starting today, we can make a big difference in the long run. Let’s take action today and do our very best to preserve our ecosystem and subsequently help protect endangered animals.

Reference: Illustrated Encyclopedia of endangered animals.

Endangered species are organisms at risk of becoming extinct due to threats by the surrounding environment or predation parameters. Climate change is an important factor causing the extinction. Many countries have laws to protect endangered species. As of 2009, 191 countries have agreed to create Biodiversity Action Plans to protect endangered and threatened species.

Just how many endangered species are there? The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation and it has calculated that there are 55,926 species and 33% of these were known to be threatened (as of April 2010 research report). That’s 18,351 endangered species in total and it is said that this is a minimum estimate.

Many species are not even evaluated due to inefficient data. If we assume that such species are endangered, the number of known and assumed threatened species will be 21,610 species (39% of all species assessed). Therefore and estimated total of 18,351 – 21,610 endangered species exist.

So how many of these are endangered animals? Data shows us that out of all existing 42,253 animals, there are 9,618 endangered animals. So, about 22% of all animals are endangered animals. In addition, we have very little information on 7,532 animals. If we assume that such animals are endangered, the number of known and assumed endangered animals will be 17,150 (41% of all species assessed). We can therefore estimate that in total there are 9,618 to 17,150 endangered animals.

IUCN maintains the Red List of Threatened Species, which is a system designed to determine the relative risk of extinction, and highlight animals as well as plants that are facing a risk of worldwide extinction. The Red list catalogues each species into following categories:

Extinct;

Extinct in the wild;

Critically endangered;

Endangered;

Vulnerable;

Near threatened;

Least concern;

Data deficient; and

Not evaluated

According to IUCN, endangered species are critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable species.

Now let’s explore categories mentioned above into more detail.

Unfortunately some animals have already “extinct”. These include Thylacine, Dodo, Passenger Pigeon, Caribbean Monk Seal, Steller’s Sea Cow, Javan Tiger, Aurochs, Elephant Bird, Woolly Mammoth, Tyrannosaurus and so on.

There are endangered animals that have already “extinct in the wild”, meaning they do exist but only in cultivation and so there is no natural population. Examples inlcude Red-tailed Black Shark, Hawaiian Crow, Wyoming Toad, Socorro Dove, Scimitar Oryx and so on.

Next, “critically endangered” animals face an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate futuer. These include Mountain Gorilla, Bactrian Camel, Ethiopian Wolf, Saiga, Arakan Forest Turtle, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Javan Rhino, Brazilian Merganser, Axolotl, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Northern White Rhinoceros, Gharial, Vaquita, Philippine Eagle, Brown Spider Monkey, California Condor, Black Rhinoceros, Chinese Alligator and so on.

“Endangered animals” face a very high risk of extinction in the near future. Examples include Dhole, Blue Whale, Asian Elephant, Giant Panda, Snow Leopard, African Wild Dog, Green Sea Turtle, Malayan Tapir, Tiger, Steller’s Sea Lion, Philippine Eagle, Bornean Orangutan, and Grevy’s Zebra.

Finally, “vulnerable” animals face a high risk of extinction in the mid-term future. These include African Elephant, Cheetah, Gaur, Lion, Sloth Bear, Dugong, Polar Bear, Indian Rhinoceros, Great White Shark, Hippopotamus and so on.

There are ways to help protect the endangered animals. We shall take a closer look at what we can do in the next articles to come.