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What Are Some of the Biggest Challenges Facing Wildlife Conservationists?

BryanPeters
February26,2015

Diverse places all around the world have been explored and enjoyed for centuries, but
they are beginning to change. These changes are not good, but extreme. Beaches are becoming
overloaded with garbage from the cities surrounding, forests are disappearing in exponential
numbers, and the mountains leveled to fit estates. Animals which are essential for the
preservation of ecosystems are beginning to die off, and nothing is being done to stop this.
Organizations around the world are attempting to fund the preservation ofthespecies whichare
most affected, but still the decline is steadily increasing. As the increase in pollution on the
planetbuilds,animalsarelosingtheirhomes.
The
World Wildlife Fund puts the idea together in a great way, We protect wildlife for
many reasons. It is a source of inspiration. It nurtures a sense of wonder. It is integral to the
balance of nature. The balance of nature is the mixing of human life with all other life on the
planet. It is us humanswhoareseparatedfromallotherspeciesbecausewe aretheproblem.The
scale isbecomingsounbalancedonoursidethatthespeciesarebeginningtoslideoff, andarent
going to come back. To save the species that are falling off the people of the world need a fix.
The fix can start with cleaning up our waste, investing more into the things that matter, more
than military or government projects, and more into endangered species which have no placeto
go. What does it mean to be endangered? Danger is the word that pops out, and that is exactly
what it means. When an animal is in danger of becoming extinct, it is on its way to being
eliminated. However, now the word endangered comes as an effect of human power to the

species which are in danger. Bad environmentalchangesdontcomefromtheearthitself,allare


from the humans. This meaning of the word should be whatdrivestheworldtothecenterofthe
problem.
Many endangeredspeciesarecloselymonitored,andhavebeenfordecades.Speciessuch
as pandas, apes, tigers, and elephants are the ones who receive such high attention, and their
endangeredstatusisslowlybeginning toimprove.Butwhat aboutthetwothousandotherspecies
that are suffering? Creatures such as the
California Least Tern and the
Western Snowy Plover
.
Not only do people not have a single clue as to what they are, the ecosystems are beginning to
forget them too. What are these animals? These animals are both shore birds that feed and
migrate along the Southern California Coast. They are completely different from oneanotherin
terms of what they need to live and their appearance, although they live within a similar area.
The diversity of San Diego specifically is known as a hotspot for biodiversity. That is because
the mixbetweencoastalregions,mountains,anddesertsmakestheecosystemcomparewithvery
fewaroundtheglobe.
Conservationists havecloselyadmiredSanDiegofordecadesbecauseofthe diversity the
city provides. However, recently the problem with pollution has become a large issue for the
entire county. San Diego Bay as of 2010 has been recorded as the second most polluted bay in
the world after 20 years of politicians ignoring the polluters (source: Ob Rag). This fact seems
untrue, because so many people enjoy the bay every day in San Diego. That is just the reason
exactly, too many people are coming into the bays. The pollution from unclean ships and the
dumping of waste into the water has made it almost completely uninhabitable for any wildlife.
This obviously has huge impacts on the animals living in the region, andalsoashottothecosts

of fishing and conservation. The people who are attempting to save the animals donothave the
power to stopthepollution,andconcidentlythejoblieswiththegovernment,whowontputany
money into the projects anyway. This issue has been tried and tried again atcongressmeetings,
andwildlifeconservationmeetings,butstilltheproblemcontinuestogrow.
A story released by National Geographic reports the highlights of a dire situation with
birds in America. The current state of birds in the U.S. is a mixed bag, according to a new
report, with some species in serious decline and others on the upswing.(National Geographic)
The issue in more detail is thatbirdsinAmericaarebeginningtodecline,evenbirdswhichhave
seen rapid growth in numbers only years before. Birds such as the Passenger Pigeon, a highly
populated bird seen all over the continental United States, is beginning to see a steep decline.
The bird has never been kept in Captivity making incaptivity breeding impossible. The only
way to fix the problem for birds like the Passenger Pigeon is to clean up the bays,beaches,and
landaroundthecitiestogivethebirdacleanerhome.
TheBigMoneyProblem
How do Conservationists get the funds needed to maintainaprojecttosavewildlife?All
the funds come from donations to organizations allaroundtheworld,whoworktogethertosave
the animals.SomeexamplesaretheSanDiegoZoo,theWorldWildlifeFund,andtheSanDiego
Audubon Society. These organizations are not funded by the government. What that means is
that they do not have a steady amount of moneygiventothemtocontinueconservationprojects
around the world. They are left with the challenge of convincing people to care about an
endangered animal, and to invest in saving it. To put the cost into perspective, it could cost
almost $5 billion a year to reduce the threat of extinction for endangered species all over the

world plus an additional $76 billiontobothestablishandmaintainprotectedareasforthreatened


wildlife (
Care2 environment and wildlife cause).Nowthismoneycannotjustbegivenfromany
government, that is about the cost to build a new football stadium in San Diego, and you dont
see San Diego wanting to pay for that. If the world of politics can get a grasp on the situation,
thenmaybeconservationprojectswillhaveachance.

ConservationistsNeedHelpNow!
Many wildlife species are headed toward extinction, and many important habitats are
being destroyed. The situation may seem hopeless, but if everyone makes a small effort wecan
make a big difference. Each one of us plays an important role in protecting wildlife and their
homes. Some things that anyone can do to help save the planet is to save water, plant agarden,
reuse bags, and most importantly, if you have spare money lyingaround,andallyouwanttodo
is go to Starbucks and buy a coffee, hold off on thatandthinkaboutdonatingasmallamountto
one of the many wildlife organizations. Thismoneywillprovidenewhomesforendangeredand
nonendangered animals, and will make the environment cleaner and a whole lot safer. The
projects which the organizations are doingaretogivetheanimalsnewlivingspaces,rehabilitate
them to the better environments, and provide them with the food and water needed to survive.
This workismoreimportantthanacoffeeorasteakhousedinner,andthatiswhydonating tothe
causeisagreatidea.
A quote from Aldo Leopold, an expert on wildlife conservation says, The hope of the
future lies not in curbing the influence of human occupancy it isalreadytoolateforthatbut
in creating a better understanding of the extent of that influence and a new ethic for its

governance. The challenges that conservationistarefacingarecenteredaroundallpeopleofthe


earth. We are the biggest problem for the wildlife, and in order to change the planets declining
ecosystems we must first change ourselves. The birds in San Diego which are dying need this
change, because without it they will most certainly perish. Solving the money issue is one that
takes heart, and nothing but a small pocket of cash. What needs to be taken into consideration
most is what people can do on there own without money to clean up the environment, because
that is where the cleaning starts. If we can teach people about wildlife, they will be touched.
Sharemywildlifewithme.Becausehumanswanttosavethingsthattheylove.SteveIrwin.

WorksCited

SavingaPlanetofLife.

TheWorldWildlifeFund
.
http://www.worldwildlife.org/
.
CleanupofSanDiegoBay.
TheOBRag
.
http://obrag.org/?p=56442
.
DireSituationofUSBirds.
NationalGeographic
.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
2014/09/140909stateofbirdsconservationenvironmentanimalsscience/
SanDiegoAudubonSociety
.
http://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/ourwork/conservation/
.
HowYouCanHelpWildlife.
NationalParksConservationAssociation
.
http://www.npca.org/
protectingourparks/wildlifehabitat/howyoucanhelpwildlife.html

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