The Extinction of the Wild
“I want to share their stories with young people around the world,” writes noted biologist Jane Goodall in her latest book: Hope For Animals and their World. “I want them to know that, even when our mindless activities have almost entirely destroyed some ecosystem or driven a species to the brink of extinction, we must not give up. Thanks to the resilience of nature and the indomitable human spirit, there is still hope.” From a biologist’s standpoint, the most important factor in the preservation of species is protecting these animals’ habitat, whether it has been destroyed by farming, urbanization, predators, poaching or global warming. Today, government action is the top benefactor of endangered species, but the breeding of zoo animals in facilities across America has also saved several key species that were once on the brink of extinction.
The San Diego Zoo has one of the most active species-preservation programs in the nation. Their Center for Conservation and Research raises endangered species, such as California condors, pandas, tigers and African black rhinos. Some of these species are bred in captivity and later released into the wild, while others proliferate in the zoo for their entire adult lives. To help preserve rare animals, the San Diego Wild Animal Park has a cryopreservation facility to freeze sperm and eggs of rare animals. In 2009, the San Diego Zoological Society was proud to announce the birth of a giant panda cub, a western lowland gorilla and two endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas.
The Phoenix Zoo is also committed to conserving endangered species zoo animals. For 15 years, the Phoenix facilities have been just 1 of 5 in the nation to breed the rare, black-footed ferret. Thanks to their efforts, 85 of these little critters have been released back into the wild. Phoenix is also famous for raising endangered baby animals like cheetahs and condors, which are typically very difficult animals to breed in captivity. In all, this 125-acre zoo holds 200 threatened species from around the globe (including the Arabian oryx, Mexican wolves and the Andean bear) and participates in 37 Species Survival Plans to breed and maintain rare and exotic animals in captivity.
Animal Rights activists are torn between whether endangered zoo animals should be bred and released into the wild again. Some activists argue that the animal training is by no means sufficient at providing captive-bred animals with the skills they need to survive in the wild. In 1999, a group of released Indian tigers attacked domestic species of cows in the area, but did an inefficient job at killing these animals, causing untold suffering and distress among the local population. In other instances, the animals are released into unsafe environments and were hunted down, killed and exploited by the local people in poverty-stricken regions that once thrived on the illicit trading of animal parts. The controversy will likely continue on until new solutions are proposed and new methods of preserving animals are discovered.
Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed panic attacks help as well as tips on the various medications for panic disorder available at www.anxietydisordercure.com.
loved your post
loved your post
really nice post thanks