Wildlife Conservation is described as being the practice of protecting wild plant and animal species and their habitats. Many nations have government agencies and NGO's dedicated to wildlife conservation, which help to implement policies designed to protect wildlife. Numerous independent non-profit organizations also promote various wildlife conservation causes. Wildlife conservation has become an increasingly important practice due to the negative effects of human activity on wildlife.
Fewer natural wildlife habitat areas remain each year. Moreover, the habitat that remains has often been degraded to bear little resemblance to the wild areas which existed in the past. Habitat destruction is the primary threat to the survival of wildlife in the many parts around the world. Global warming is making hot days hotter, rainfall and flooding heavier, hurricanes stronger and droughts more severe. This intensification of weather and climate extremes will be the most visible impact of global warming in our everyday lives. It is also causing dangerous changes to the landscape of our world, adding stress to wildlife species and their habitat. Since many types of plants and animals have specific habitat requirements, climate change could cause disastrous loss of wildlife species. A slight drop or rise in average rainfall will translate into large seasonal changes. Plants and wildlife are sensitive to moisture change so, they will be harmed by any change in moisture level.
Unregulated hunting and poaching causes a major threat to wildlife, as do pollutants released into the environment; these are ingested by a wide variety of organisms. Pesticides and toxic chemicals that are being widely used make the environment toxic to certain plants, insects, and small animals. Perhaps the largest threat is the extreme growing indifference of the public to wildlife, conservation and environmental issues in general. Over-exploitation of resources, i.e., exploitation of wild populations for food has resulted in population crashes (over-fishing and over-grazing for example).
Humans are continually expanding and developing, leading to an invasion of wildlife habitats. As humans continue to grow, they clear forested land to create more space. This stresses wildlife populations as there are fewer homes and food sources to survive off of. Humans are thought to be behind the current rate of species extinction, which is at least 100–1,000 times higher than expected. WWF’s 2014 Living Planet Report revealed that wildlife populations of vertebrate species, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish have declined by over 52 percent over the last 40 years alone. We all have a responsibility to protect the rich and varied ecosystems found on Earth, whilst at the same time ensuring that people continue to benefit from nature.
Source references:
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"Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement". CARE 2012.
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"Wildlife Conservation". Conservation and Wildlife.2012.
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"Conservation Funding - National Wildlife Federation". www.nwf.org. 2016
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"Wildlife and the Farm Bill - National Wildlife Federation". www.nwf.org.2016.
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Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife. "Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov.2016.
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McCallum, M.L. 2010. Future climate change spells catastrophe for Blanchard's Cricket Frog, Acta Herpetologica 5:119 - 130
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McCallum, M.L., and S.E. Trauth. 2009. Predicted climate change may spark box turtle declines. Amphibia-Reptilia 30:259 - 26