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Kensli Tindall
Mrs. DeBock
English 4 Honors
November 12, 2015
The Endangered Species Act
In 1973, government passed an act called the Endangered Species Act. This act was
created to help all animals that were dwindling in our world. It was created to help animals
survive and to help protect them. But nowadays, the government is attacking this incredible act.
The Endangered Species Act was created to help species survive, without the Endangered
Species Act most of the endangered species would die out and be lost to us forever.
The Endangered Species Act has been successful in saving and increasing the
populations of some endangered species and ecosystems. (Driscoll 1) Every living creature in
our world is unique and has a special purpose in our environment. Without every living creature
our food chain becomes out of whack. Animals start to overpopulate, they began to eat too much
of our own food supply, causing a series of chain reactions.
The U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 distinguishes two groups of imperiled
species: an endangered species, which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant
portion of its range, and a threatened species, which is likely to become an endangered species
within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. (Endangered
Species) It shouldnt matter if the creature is already endangered or could become endangered.

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What matters is, is that they need our help either way. Each creature has a purpose, they all have
a soul. To most people, when they look at an animal they see a mindless, dumb, and unintelligent
beast or critter. But theyre not. They are like us.
They are important to someone. They have a family that cares about them. They have a
purpose, unknown to us. They have a cub to look after, or a family, a pride, a pack. Each living
creature has their own unique purpose.
There is disagreement, however, as to how far the U.S. government should go in its
protection of species and their habitats. (Driscoll 1) These animals need our help. End of story.
They wont survive or help replenish their population without our help. Why let such beautiful
creatures go extinct? Why not let them survive so that our childrens children can grow up and
enjoy their beauty like we were able to.
These creatures are a special part in our universe. They, including us, make our world a
better place. They give our world a uniqueness that no other world has. They give us variety.
Without all the little critters in the world, our world would just bedull. They bring us amazing
and wonderful different types of colors, sizes, and shapes. Each one different than the next. Each
one more beautiful than the first.
To make our world a more beautiful place, we need to help keep these animals alive. Its
the least we could do for them, especially since they were here before us. As humans, we need to
keep these animals alive.
Nobody knows exactly how many species now exist on Earth. Scientist have estimated a
range upward from ten million, but close to two million have actually been described. More than

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16,000 species were considered threatened with extinction, among them a third of the
amphibians, a quarter of the coniferous trees and mammals, and one-eighth of the birds. The
2006 version of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species covered approximately 40,000
species for which sufficient data were available to attempt an assessment.
Species become extinct or endangered for a numerous amount of reasons, almost all of
which today are associated with human activities. The central cause of species population decline
is the destruction or degradation of their habitat. These destructions or degradation include;
drainage of wetlands, conversion of shrub lands to grazing lands, cutting and clearing of forest,
destruction of coral reefs, urbanization and suburbanization, and highway and dam construction
have seriously reduced available habitats.
Since the 1600s, commercial exploitation of animals for food and other products has
emerged as a major factor causing many species to become extinct or endangered. Africas black
Rhinoceroses, for example, killed for their horn, and are critically endangered. The slaughter of
great whales for oil and meat has brought several whale species to the brink of extinction. The
Bison that once populated the North American Great plains by the tens of millions were nearly
wiped out. The red wolves of North America, idolized by the Native people, but feared by the
settlers, were killed off because of false information and game.
More human activities that cause species to decline is pollution and toxic chemicals especially chlorinated hydrocarbons. Water Pollution and increased water temperatures. The
atmospheric phenomenon known as Acid Rain has killed living things both in bodies of water
and on land. Climate change, global warming associated with the Greenhouse Effect linked to
emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide.

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The Endangered Species Act was created to help species survive, without the Endangered
Species Act most of the endangered species would die out and be lost to us forever. If anything,
the animals need our voices, they cant speak for themselves. They need our help, they need to
be heard. Without us, they could end up being lost to us forever.