What are the causes of animal extinction?
Many animals that we saw in childhood are now almost impossible to find, and recently the World Conservation Union announced that another 13,000 species have been added to the “red list” of endangered animals, so what are the causes of animal extinction?
1. What are the causes of animal extinction?
The causes of animal extinction are mostly human hunting and environmental destruction. For example, unplanned development and use of land leads to a large-scale reduction of tropical forests, causing animals to lose the conditions they rely on for survival, which in turn leads to their extinction. In addition, waste discharged from chemical plants also poses a serious environmental threat to the growth of animals and plants.
2. Which animals are about to go extinct?
1. The Pakistan sand cat is one of the subspecies of the sand cat, with a simple and charming appearance and a body about the size of a domestic cat. Since it began to be kept as a pet, large numbers of Pakistan sand cats have been captured, causing a sharp decline in the wild population. The originally few Pakistan sand cats, after extensive capture by humans, are now on the verge of extinction.
2. The South China tiger, also known as the South Chinese tiger, is a tiger subspecies unique to China. In the past, the South Chinese tiger was widely distributed across all regions of the country. Due to human activities and commercial hunting, the possibility of the South China tiger existing in the wild today is extremely small, and many experts believe that the South China tiger has already gone extinct in the wild.
3. The Yangtze giant softshell turtle is the most endangered turtle species in the world. At present, humans have found only 4 living individuals in the world, of which only two remain within China, both living in the Suzhou Zoo. Many scientists are devoted to artificial breeding programs for the Yangtze giant softshell turtle, striving to save this endangered species and hoping to rescue it from the brink of extinction.
4. The pygmy hog can be said to be one of the most endangered wild pigs in the world today. Pygmy hogs mostly live in the Indian subcontinent, and their body size is also among the smallest of the pig family. In the past, pygmy hogs were widely distributed in the India area. Due to various factors, pygmy hogs in many local regions have already gone extinct, and now they can only be seen in Assam.
5. The scimitar-horned oryx now mostly lives in desert areas, and is named for the horns on its head that resemble curved swords. This antelope has an extremely strong ability to endure hunger and thirst, and can usually survive for several weeks in a row without drinking water. In the last century, it went extinct in the wild because of human activities, and now only a very small number of scimitar-horned oryx live in protected parks.