Endangered Species By: Kristin Ehrhardt

What is an Endangered Species? To be endangered means that an animal is in danger of becoming extinct sometime in the near future. - over 5,000 endangered species in our world today. - At least one of them dies out each year. - There are probably many more which become extinct without anyone realizing. -The most common reason to why animals are rapidly becoming extinct is poaching.

What is poaching? Poaching is the illegal hunting, killing or capturing of animals - It is one of the top 4 reasons animals become extinct –Done in order to obtain and sell: hide, ivory, horn, teeth and bone, and sell them to dealers. They are then made into clothes, jewelry and other materials. Poaching can also be done simply just to hunt for food (bush meat) Poaching is absolutely the main problem associated with the rapid growth in endangered species. I feel if we could eliminate poaching, or at least cut the numbers in half, most species would still be alive and would be nowhere close to endangerment. Currently, there are many petitions being signed and many organizations, including P.E.A.C.E. fighting to change the laws of poaching or, to hopefully stop it altogether.

Methods of Poaching: Snare wire- using cable wires of different lengths and tying them on trees to trap animals. The snare is put in a position that wraps around the animal’s neck. The wire strangles the animal. Spears and dogs- This method involves chasing and spearing animals with the assistance of dogs. Pitfalls- holes dug to trap large animals such as elephants, buffaloes or zebras. The pits are dug across the path of the animals and are normally covered with grass and trees to disguise them. Arrows and bows- normally made out of local forest products, some tribes are said to put poison on their arrow tips. Other traps- a snare-like trap used to trap small animals. The other commonly used trap in the area is a horseshoe-like trap made from iron, trapping the animal when it steps into it. Snare Wire Bow & arrow

Top 10 Most Endangered Species: 1. Black Rhino 2. Giant Panda 3. Tiger 4. Beluga Sturgeon 5. Goldenseal 6. Alligator Snapping Turtle 7. Hawksbill Turtle 8. Big Leaf Mahogany 9. Green-Cheeked Parrot 10. Mako Shark

Giant Panda Most native to Southwest China -their population is rapidly decreasing. There are fewer than 2,500 mature giant pandas alive today. Their future remains uncertain, due to China's economy rapidly developing. - The bamboo-eating animals face a number of threats. Its forest habitats are increasingly being fragmented by roads and railroads. - Habitat loss continues to occur outside of the protected areas, and poaching remains as a big threat to them as well. - In order to preserve the giant pandas, over 30 reserves have been developed since Hopefully all this work will soon pay off.

Hawksbill Turtle These turtles are usually found inhabiting the tropical regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. - They are most commonly found in hard-bottomed reef habitats that are containing sponges. It’s very difficult to classify how endangered hawksbill turtles are because they are found throughout the world and are migratory. –In some places, they may be very scarce, and in others they may be very large in population. Since there is little knowledge of their early population levels, it is very hard to know how much the population has declined in the past couple of years. Currently, they have made it illegal to trade hawksbill turtle products. They are hoping this should create more of an expansion of the turtles because their major predator, being humans, will no longer be able to hunt them. - In order to succeed in keeping hawksbill turtles in existence, there must be cooperation from all nations that have hawksbill populations in their waters to agree not to poach these creatures.

Video: ayer/animals/mammals- animals/apes/gorilla_lowland_poaching.ht ml

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Works Cited d.asphttp:// d.asp andaFacts/default.cfmhttp://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/P andaFacts/default.cfm eptiles/hawksbill-turtle.htmlhttp://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/r eptiles/hawksbill-turtle.html