By: Josh Leach
Animal crackers have been a
favorite childhood snack since the Nabisco Company began production in
1902. However, the company may need to
retire several of their iconic animal figures within the next 12 years. Tigers, bears, hippos, elephants, giraffes, and
lions are all either classified as endangered or threatened. Environmentalists are witnessing a plummet in
the populations of these animals. Gone
are the warnings of rare South American butterflies dying out, because the
devastating effects of habitat destruction, over hunting, pollution, and
climate change are now more apparent than ever as the most well known species
face extinction.
Just how desperate are the world’s
animals? Well, the Giraffe Conservation
Foundation has surveyed nine subspecies of giraffe. Their populations span from the Masai giraffe at 37,000 to the West
African giraffe at a mere 300. According
to National Geographic, “Only about 3,200 tigers can be found in the wild
today—a far cry from the iconic cat's situation a century ago, when 100,000
tigers roamed vast stretches of the Asian continent.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes
only 500 grizzly bears are currently living in North America. Most shocking of all, only 250 lions are left
in West Africa . These animals are always the first to be
introduced to young children, but soon they will no longer exist.
The vast majority of people in the
world are ignorant of this oncoming disaster.
When asked how many tigers are living in the wild, Austin Hill said,
“Around four million.” He was close to
the general consensus of Seckman students, which estimated the world’s tiger
population at a million. They were
shocked to discover how close tigers actually are to extinction (only 3,200
left). In fact, some biologists claim the
genetic diversity in a population that small is simply too low for the species
to recover. Inbreeding has already
become a huge issue in environmental preserves.
Hopefully, the probable extinction of these big cats will finally bring
the severity of this situation to the attention of the public.
People are wondering how to prevent
the continuation of the sixth mass extinction in the earth’s history. Humans have accounted for the extinction of
thousands of species since the beginning of civilization. Josh Kurosz believes, “We should take
whatever measures are necessary to conserve our vital resources.” Ways to end this environmental catastrophe
have been tiresomely repeated for over two centuries. Plants and animals require space to live, and
suburbanization has progressively eliminated forests and grasslands. Furthermore, consumerism has destroyed rainforests
to create disposable milk cartons, and mines have ripped into mountains to make
soda cans. Pollution is the greatest of
all threats. School buses emit 270 grams
of carbon dioxide per kilometer. A
student’s trip to school can release pounds of pollution. Climate change has been responsible for four
out of the five greatest extinctions in the planet’s history. Carpooling, recycling, reusing materials, and
countless other environmentally friendly options exist.
The future is up to everyone alive
today. The human race must redefine its
place in the world. If mankind continues
to exert its will over the natural world, then there will soon be nothing left
to lord over. People must make up their
minds on whether they want to live in a world completely bare of natural
beauty. Will animal crackers be the only
thing left to remind future generations of what they have lost?
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