Animal Cute Site

Animals Facing Extinction

As our environment is currently under constant threat from human encroachment, a number of endangered animals are on the brink of extinction, and have been for quite sometime now, only now are governments starting to take notice, but is it too late for some of these species? A number of animals such as the dodo are already extinct. If no action is taken, other animals, such as the Bengal Tiger and the blue Whale which are among the top ten endangered animals in the world, will also become extinct, unless we change out attitude to the environment.

The Blue Whale is the largest baleen whale in the world. Their original number was once 200000 but the numbers of whales (blue) have dwindled over the years to less than 250. As such, the whales (blue) has been listed on the Endangered Species List since its inception with a recovery plan being set in motion by experts in the United States in 1998. An even today there numbers are increasing slowly, but will be lucky to reach the numbers we saw 20 some years ago.
There are numerous conservation strategies aimed at improving the dwindling number of the endangered blue whale species. Some of the strategies include focus on minimizing the effects of activities of shipping vessels, as well as protecting the habitats of marine animals which have been proven to be essential to the recovery and survival of the population.
Activities of shipping vessels as well as human-caused injury have been named as the primary cause for the dwindling numbers of the blue whale population. Due to their large size, it has been a target for poachers. Moreover, hunting practice disrupted the mating cycles for the blue whale population further re-population problems.
Other threats facing all whales aside from hunting include global warming which ultimately results in the thermo-haline circulation. This effect is brought about by rapid melting of glaciers causing a large inflow of fresh water into the oceans. As such, a change in the temperature of the ocean water also affects the blue whale’s food supply of krill. Various conservation strategies targeting the global warming problem have been formulated to prevent the endangered blue whale from joining other extinct animals, but are moving slowly. But unless we come up with a world solution soon, the problem will not go away, and the Whales will join the list along with many other species.

By Jason Stocks
Article Source: goarticles.com