Buy essay on Endangered Species

Endangered species are biological species that are at risk of extinction because of their small population or due to some environmental factors. An endangered species is usually a taxonomic species, but it also may be another evolutionary significant unit, such as subspecies. IUCN determines the number of endangered species as 40% of all organisms based on a diversity of species known till 2006 (McGrath).
Many countries have laws protecting these species: for example, the ban on hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves. In fact, only a few endangered species receive legal protection. Most species have become extinct or potentially will become extinct without receiving a response of the society.
A large number of species that have become extinct during the past 150 years is a clear cause for concern. The current extinction rate is 10-100 times higher than in any previous periods of mass extinction in Earth’s history (“Species Profiles”). If these extinction rates maintain, or accelerate, the number of endangered species in the next decade will be counted in the millions. While most people are willing to respond to the threat of extinction of certain mammals or birds, the most significant environmental problem is a threat to the stability of entire ecosystems, provided that the key species vanish at some level of the food chain (McGrath).
However, some people do not admit man’s guilt in the process of extinction of numerous species. They, for example, argue that hunting brings many benefits, including preservation of balance in ecosystems. Since man is a part of a survival pattern of predator and prey created by Nature for every species on the planet, hunting persistently, economically, and effectively helps to implement world’s natural order. It reduces the damage caused by excessive abundance of animal populations at the same time satisfying mans need for nourishment (Mauro).
Nevertheless, regarding the causes of the extinction of wild animals, according to experts, much depends on culture of hunting. For example, a tribe, which lives from fishing, needs a well-defined number of fish from the lake, but for the strangers like the workers or tourists the fish is only the key to profits. Eventually they get as much as they can carry and sell in the city, not even thinking about natural balance.
There are also controversies in some laws on endangered species, especially concerning the criteria used when evaluating for placing the species in the list of ones at threat of extinction; it often happens that being in the Red Data Book species becomes even more desirable target for collectors and poachers.
Although extinction may be the result of natural selection, the modern period of extinction is unique. Previous periods were due to physical causes, such as collision with celestial bodies, the movement of tectonic plates, volcanic activity or climate change. The current period of extinction is caused by humans and began approximately 100 000 years ago with the resettlement of people on the planet. People have been destroying the ecological balance by hunting, devastating habitat and spreading diseases. With the advent of agriculture people started the process of domestication of animals. People were free from the constraints of maximum population size and overpopulated areas, creating more stress on the environment and producing destructive actions necessary for further population growth. Today, these actions include the reduction of tropical forests, destruction of coral reefs and other habitat destruction, overexploitation of species, importation of non-characteristic species into ecosystems, soil pollution, and the greenhouse effect.