Endangered species
Multiple factors are considered when assessing the status of a species; e.g., such statistics as the number remaining, the overall increase or decrease in the population over time, breeding success rates, or known threats.
[10] Internationally, 195 countries have signed an accord to create Biodiversity Action Plans that will protect endangered and other threatened species.
Those species of "Near Threatened" (NT) and "Least Concern" (LC) status have been assessed and found to have relatively robust and healthy populations, though these may be in decline.
[13] Due to the high density of some of its well-preserved rainforests, wildlife trafficking, which along with deforestation is one of the biggest endangerment drivers in Brazil, has become a challenge.
Massive campaigns to raise awareness among people by NGO's and governments, which included printing depictions of the golden lion tamarin in the 20 reais Brazilian banknotes (still in circulation), are credited with getting the species out of the critically endangered animals list.
According to the US National Park Service:[22] If we can sufficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of them will still have a chance to survive and recover.
The Bush administration lifted a policy that required federal officials to consult a wildlife expert before taking actions that could damage endangered species.
Of all the species who became extinct due to interference from humankind, the dodo, passenger pigeon, great auk, Tasmanian tiger and Steller's sea cow are some of the more well known examples; with the bald eagle, grizzly bear, American bison, Eastern timber wolf and sea turtle having been poached to near-extinction.
However, due to major efforts to prevent extinction, the bald eagle, or Haliaeetus leucocephalus is now under the category of Least Concern on the red list.
But even though all of these movements have been put in place, countries such as Japan continue to hunt and harvest whales under the claim of "scientific purposes".
The World Wide Fund-India raises concern in the longevity of the following animal species: the Red Panda, the Bengal Tiger, the Ganges River Dolphin, the Asian Elephant.
[36] The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) emphasizes that our planet is warming at a rate faster than any time in the past 10,000 years, necessitating species to adapt to new climate patterns, such as variations in rainfall and longer, warmer summers.
Fish & Wildlife Service highlighted efforts to understand and mitigate the impact of climate change on species through scientific research, modeling, and conservation actions.
[38] The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that the approximately 1 °C rise in mean global temperature due to human activities is causing serious impacts on species, including changes in abundance, genetic composition, behavior, and survival.
The IUCN stresses the importance of environmental policies aimed at reducing CO 2 emissions to lessen the impact of climate change on species.
Tools like the IUCN Red List and guidelines for assessing species' vulnerability to climate change are vital for conservation efforts.
The phenomenon of species shifting their ranges in response to changing climates, finding new or shrinking habitats, illustrates the direct impact of global warming on biodiversity.
Similarly, the Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan, adapted to alpine mountaintops, faces habitat loss due to climate changes in snowfall patterns and rising temperatures.
Due to environmental shifts from climate change and the addition of agriculture in the surrounding plains, the system has become almost irreparably damaged.
This technique has worked for many species for some time, with probably the oldest known such instances of captive mating being attributed to menageries of European and Asian rulers, an example being the Père David's deer.
However, captive breeding techniques are usually difficult to implement for such highly mobile species as some migratory birds (e.g. cranes) and fishes (e.g. hilsa).
Additionally, if the captive breeding population is too small, then inbreeding may occur due to a reduced gene pool and reduce resistance.In 1981, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) created a Species Survival Plan (SSP) to help preserve specific endangered and threatened species through captive breeding.
The conservation expert Peter Paul van Dijk noted that turtle farmers often believe that animals caught wild are superior breeding stock.
[47] In 2015, researchers in Australia managed to coax southern bluefin tuna to breed in landlocked tanks, raising the possibility that fish farming may be able to save the species from overfishing.
