Extinct Species of 2012 – “Priceless or Worthless?”
On Tuesday, 11th September 2012, the book Priceless or Worthless was released at
the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) congress in Jeju,
South Korea where a group of scientists spoke about the 100 most threatened
organisms they have identified in their research. The book’s purpose is to
challenge our thoughts about nature and how we should behave towards it. The
recognized species are predicted to die out due to their low or none at all
value to the human kind. The scientists make a grand point stating that we,
humans, contain a strictly “business” relationship with nature, acknowledging
its value only in moments when it contributes and helps us. Is it possible that
more than 50% of organisms on Earth lack conservation attention? Are we really
that occupied with our own lifestyles that we are unable to prevent the
organisms living around us from extinction? Sometimes the solutions are much
simpler when we give it a bit more thought. All that these creatures need are
captive breeding programs, which are environments with restricted surroundings
like wild life reserves, zoos, etc, and no hunting zones.
For example, the Santa Catarina Guinea Pig, which has only around 40 to 60 rodents left living on the petit Moleques do Sul island in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Why is this specie extinct? Habitat disturbance and hunting is to blame.
For example, the Santa Catarina Guinea Pig, which has only around 40 to 60 rodents left living on the petit Moleques do Sul island in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Why is this specie extinct? Habitat disturbance and hunting is to blame.
Another organism that is losing its population is the Tunkin
Snub Nosed Monkey, which currently exists only in eastern Vietnam. Due to
habitat loss and hunting, there are only 200 species left, even though it is
known a new conservation area and rules against hunting are all it would take
to safe this animal.
We are not the only population on this Planet and we cannot afford to act like it anymore. Step by step, the human kind is destroying our biodiversity and future of the Earth. If stepping it up and trying to clean this mess is not motivated by ethical reasons, then it should be out of fear, as there is so much more for us to learn.
We are not the only population on this Planet and we cannot afford to act like it anymore. Step by step, the human kind is destroying our biodiversity and future of the Earth. If stepping it up and trying to clean this mess is not motivated by ethical reasons, then it should be out of fear, as there is so much more for us to learn.
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| Sumatran Rhinoceros |
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| Santa Catarina Guinea Pig |
I totally agree with you. We are not the only species living on this planet, so we can't act like that. I cant believe that some animals, as you said, only have 40 to 60 of their species left on this planet. Imagine that would happen to a very popular species, humans would have been doing something against it way earlier.
ReplyDeleteOften only the animals we can see are those that people work to conserve. What about the smaller creatures like insects...or the bees? Good points Antonia and Nela!
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