We all know that, Earth is the only planet with variety of diversities. To sustain this healthy diverse ecosystem there must be a balance among the nature and humans. Primarily because of human activities the condition of earth is corrupted. Humans have left no stone unturned to deteriorate the condition and due to which the complete wildlife is suffering today. There are more than 145,000 species in the IUCN Red List and more than half of which are threatened.
The major threats to wildlife are poaching, habitat destruction, deforestation, overexploitation, pollution, agriculture. To handle these threats conservation efforts are been taken place by both national and international governmental whose continuous efforts are on action. There are even several NGOs working on these issues for e.g. World Wildlife fund, Wildlife Protection Society, Wildlife SOS.
Area expansion by the humans for urbanization, agricultural purposes are leading to habitat destruction due to which natural habitat are becoming inconvenient for species to survive. When humans escalate their geographic area wildlife is affected, some either face extinction or some are adapted to a newer environment. Not only man made issues but naturally occurring floods, earthquakes are also the reason behind habitat destruction. Let’s, discuss few basic concepts:
Overexploitation
This is when harvesting of plants and animals exceed more than it’s ability to recover. It ultimately results in resource depletion. A prime example of this is the overharvesting of Red Sandalwood timber in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Similar overharvesting of resources for charcoal across Africa has led to the silent extinction of giraffes.
Illegal Wildlife Trade
The illegal wildlife is one of the supreme issues humans are practicing for their own use. This leads to death of animals. The most historic species like rhino and elephants are specially targeted for such purpose. In fact, the signs for the two African elephant species are worrisome. As per record more than 23 metric ivories were seized in 2011 alone. As seen with the covid-19 pandemic, the illegal wildlife threat is a major threat to humanity.
Deforestation
Deforestation is the biggest threat to wildlife performed since many years. Farmers clear the forested land for their animals, for their agriculture and left the land barren. Slash and burn agriculture is often performed by the farmers to clear the land. Deforestation was the main reason for the fire in Amazon forest in 2019. Amazon is itself extremely hot and clearing trees allows the sunlight to penetrate deeper and makes the land completely dry. As per the report approximately 9060 square km of the Amazon rain forest was burned in 2019. Every minute forests are being destroyed or degraded leading to biodiversity loss as rare plant and animal species gets extinct.
Waste Generation
Half of our planet is already devastated by the man made pollution. We generate waste which is being released in the environment, polluting it and risking the wildlife. And this cycle remains the same from ages. Everyday sewage, toxic chemicals from the industries, agricultural chemicals makes their path to pollute the environment which eventually affects the wildlife. Usage of plastic is the supreme cause of pollution. At least 10-14 million tons of plastic are dumped in the ocean every year which either increases the mortality rate of aquatic animals or causes respiratory or other health related issues among them. Pollutants like DDT, heavy metals, toxic chemicals getting mixed and polluting the natural resources.
Climate Change
Change is the part of earth from the time it has been formed. The climatic change brought many changes from the past till present. During these time period many species have gone extinct and many new species were formed. But now the climatic change has accelerated, as time passes as it’s declining the environmental conditions. Climatic change is the overall increase in average temperature of earth that can effect biodiversity in several ways – flooding, extreme temperature, global warming, drought, habitat destruction, increasing sea level, melting glaciers and ice sheets. The global warming is the output of greenhouse gases.
Therefore all the above mentioned reasons are the threats to wildlife. We need a Balanced biosphere which will help in enhancing the environmental conditions and in developing a healthy ecosystem as it has been quoted by Rachel Carson that ‘the actual wealth of the nation lies in the sources of earth- soil, water, forests, minerals and wildlife’.
While these issues cover some of the broad issues facing wildlife, there are numerous other threats which have not been discussed. This includes the impact of linear infrastructure, particularly roads. In fact, powerlines are the main threat to the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard. Human wildlife conflict is also a major conservational issue. While majority of people associate HWC with the charismatic megafauna, not many know that human conflict with snakes are the most agonistic. Unethical wildlife tourism is also a major threat. A lack of public awareness has allowed the practices of Dancing Bears, Temple Elephants and Snake Charming to persist.
So, how can we protect wildlife?
Awareness among the citizens is the first step on the way of wildlife conservation. Proper education and knowledge about the importance of wildlife must be shared. Instead of spoiling nature a person must enhance his ideas in finding alternatives to the problem because wildlife is something which can’t be constructed it can only be preserved and protected. Capacity building is another aspect which needs to be taken to strengthen the mass and society to take actions to preserve the natural resources and limit the anthropogenic pressure globally. Effective communication is required to raise awareness amongst citizens.
There are numerous steps an individual can take to preserve the environment. This includes avoiding single use plastic, planting trees and using sustainable palm oil. Furthermore, one participate in citizen science projects, many of which use publicly available software, such as iNaturalist!
Help us Help Them! Think Wildlife Foundation is a non profit organization with various conservation initiatives. Our most prominent campaign is our Caring for Pari intiative. Pari is a rehabilitated elephant at the Wildlife SoS Hospital. 25% of the profits from our store are donated to the elephant hospital for Pari. Other than buying our wonderful merchandise, you could donate directly to our Caring For Pari fundraiser.
Authors
Akriti Kashyap, Jamshedpur women’s college, Jharkhand- 831001(anandiakriti@gmail.com)
Shreya Pandey, Amity Institute of forestry and Wildlife, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh–201301, India (shreyapandey.2244@gmail.com) (Correspondent author)