The article "Endangered or Not, but at Least No Longer Waiting", written by Michael Wines for the New York Times, published on March 6, 2013, can be found on http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/science/earth/long-delayed-rulings-on-endangered-species-are-coming.html
Not many people know just how many animals are capable of going extinct if we do not do anything to stop it, and fast. The
The Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife service has at least 1,400 species on the endangered species list. It is also going to give over 258 other species either a thumbs up or down to whether or not they can be under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Many people question whether or not the animals really are becoming extinct if they have been on this list for a long period of time, and many of the animals are not. That is why they have to go through each and every one of them individually to see if they truly are. The Wildlife service has to decide the fates of all the backlogged species by 2018, under a 2011 settlement of two lawsuits by the conversation activists.
When animals are classified as one of the endangered species, they have a certain amount of land that is protected as their habitat, but that is starting to become a problem because already existing developed land cannot be included even if it is in that animal's habitat. This ultimately means some animals might not have enough land for their habitat. So it poses as a problem.
Learning that so many species are being considered if they are endangered or not means that we really are not doing such a good job in protecting our environment for not only ourselves, but for all the other little critters we share this same world with. This relates to Biology class because we learned all about how the Lorax stood for something more than just an entertainment source for little kids. It was an analogy to how we treat the world we live in, and how after a while it will become so bad that we cannot go back to the way it used to be. The small creatures that are being considered whether or not to be protected under endangered species is just the beginning. Now it's all the small species we share our planet with. Who knows, later it might be us if we don't start to change the way we treat our environment.
Picture citation:
Rana Pretiosa - Oregon Spotted Frog. 2000. Photograph. Lane County, Oregon.California Herps. 2000. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
Great job! Your article is really interesting and I liked how you connected it to when we watched the lorax. I never knew that there are animals waiting to be on the endangered list. Also I found it interesting that animals had to be checked to see if they are really becoming extinct to be on endangered species list. Lastly, when reading that there is not enough land for habitats for some endangered species I was shocked. I agree with you that we have to start caring for endangered animals better to save their species.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need to take further action to protect endangered species. It's interesting to think though that some of them might not really be endangered, and that scientists have to go through the entire list and decide. Some species might have been on the list so long that they are no longer endangered! Good connection to the Lorax, also.
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn, I totally agree that we need to do something fast to save this species. I especially like the quote that you included it really sent a message that will stick! We need to realize that us humans affect more things than we think we do. If we don't do anything to protect all of the endangered species that help make this earth a beautiful place to be it might not be too beautiful anymore and it might be impossible to undo. I never took into consideration about how if we try to preserve land for one endangered species it may be taking away a habitat from another species. In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading your article and it has made me a lot more knowledgeable about this important problem in our world!
ReplyDeleteGreat Job Kaitlyn. I definitely agree with you that we need to protect our endangered species. This has become a major problem in many countries. It would be very bad for it to get out of hand because then many species would start to go extinct. I also like how you connected to the movie "The Lorax" which we watched in class. This is just like the Tweed trees that the Lorax is trying to save. It stinks that many animals are on the waiting list,and that each day they are on that list their population lowers. This was a great way to show how much change was needed to save a species life. Great Job!
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