Only 1,000 Philippine Tarsier Left

Posted By on September 26, 2011

In a remote area in the south of the Philippine Islands is a place called Bohol. Here is where you can find the Philippine tarsier. It is endemic to this area and has been around for over 45 million years. Decades ago the tarsier was a familiar animal in ran forests around the world, but this has changed dramatically since then. The question of whether animals and humans can live in harmony rises again. Now this endangered species is the main attraction for tourists traveling to this province.
endangered species
Unfortunately, the tarsier is still under threat in spite of its status as an endangered species. Because of urbanization where forests and jungles are being plowed down to give to way to homes, towns, agricultural land, the tarsier are fast losing their homes. They are also being sought after by those involved in illegal trade since its endangered status has jacked up the price of a live tarsier.Sadly, these endangered species are unable to breed in captivity. They turn on each other instead because they do not appreciate the lack of freedom.From the thousands of tarsiers in Bohol during the 1960s, this number has now dwindled to 1,000 living in the wild. They are losing their hot and humid habitat with the loss of trees and misty hills. In the name of progress, these hills are being leveled to make roads or start farms.

In a country where poverty is all around, food for humans and a better way of life through access to jobs and a better income is of a higher priority than safeguarding the tarsier. It’s a difficult situation to have to wrestle with human life vis-à-vis the protection of the tarsier. Even the meager funds available to protect the environment is a fight between the numerous endangered species in the country. At present, the only thing saving the tarsier from extinction is the tourist angle where they are being used to attract more visitors to the area.

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Shocking Reasons Why Animals are Dying

Posted By on June 27, 2011

Animals which are on the extinction can be called as endangered animals. There are several causes for endangering of animals. Some of them are natural and some others are man-made. According to zoologists, two processes take place on earth. They are extinction and speciation. Extinction is the disappearing of animal species from earth while speciation is the generation of new species. Disappearance of last individual of species will cause an endangered animal. These are two processes ongoing in earth.

Until now, scientists have found five major extinctions. Some of these serious events resulted in loss of around 90% of lives. We all know the extinction of dinosaurs. It is the well-known extinction that has been discovered so far. Reason for this extinction is natural. This extinction has paved the path for mammals to rise up.

Reasons behind extinction are immense. As specified above, it lies within natural and man-made causes. However, endangering of one species is to be analyzed and studied carefully. Some of the man-made reasons for endangering of species are given below.

Destruction of natural habitats is another reason for reduction in the number of certain animals. Natural factors impacts in a slow manner. However, human activities impacts faster and seriously affect animal life. Animals didn’t get enough time to react for the cause, and they dies. This can cause serious results. Deforestation can destroy habitat of several species of animals.

Human intervention in the food chain can cause extinction of species. For example, decrease in the number of frogs can affect snakes who feed on them. This in turn cause imbalance in the food chain. This is one of a serious problem to concern with because large numbers of species are affected in this process.

Endangering can be prevented only by taking necessary means. Humans can stop hunting and cutting down trees to prevent extinction of animals.

 

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Can Animals and Humans Live in Harmony?

Posted By on June 16, 2011

Can man and animals really live in harmony? If yes, then why is there news reporting more about endangered animals or maltreated animals? The list of animals being abused beyond imagination and the list of endangered animals are now off the charts. It has reached the level that is disturbing.

“Change is nature. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide…”

The quote above is an excerpt from the animated film Ratatouille. The movie was about a spirited rat named Remy who wants to become a chef. Another animated film is The Bee Movie where the bee Barry makes an effort to save his kind from the abuse of man on honey that bees produce. Finding Nemo is also another animated animal movie with a good plot. It was about a father’s struggle to swim all across the Australian current to find his son Nemo who was seized by Australian divers. At the very end Remy got to live his dream, Barry succeeded in defending his kind, and Marlin was reunited with Nemo. However, it was not without difficulty. Remy’s quest to become a chef, Barry’s role as the lawyer to defend his kind, and Marlin’s adventure to find his son was constantly threatened and challenged by none other than the existence of the most dangerous preys and competitions in the food chain: human beings.

The animal situations mentioned above, however, is not so different in real life for any creature that does not belong to the human species. In America alone, over 300 land animals are slain for their meat in every second, making the overall casualty by 25.9 million a day. The fashion industry uses animal skin or animal furs for several fashionable items that human beings buy. In a year, there are over 40 million different kinds of animals that are trapped and killed for their furs. From the year 1990 to year 1997, over 12.8 million animals were killed due to laboratory experiments.

Have you asked yourself “What if the dolphins slain and sold for meat in Japan deserve to live at all?” or “What if the leopard fur trended in fashion shows that used to belong to a mother leopard have spawn more cubs for the next generation and could have prevented the species’ extinction?” or “What if the elephants that are used for transportation from different tourist destinations, killed for ivory, or killed for no valuable reasons, could have used some organization’s protection program?” Animals deserve to live as free as the humans too.

On the other hand, people die due to animal attacks as well. In a year, there are 10,000 people who die of snakebite; bears are mauling hundreds more all across the globe; elephants kill about 200 people in India every year; since 1924, about 14 people have been attacked and killed by bulls in Spain; over the past year, there has been 18 attack and death reports caused by alligators in America; there were also cases of fatal spider bite wounds, killer whale on a rampage, and several other animal attacks. This is why man fear animals. Unlike man, most of the animals don’t have the capacity to halt a brute attack that is already in motion. Although most of these wild animals attack only when they are provoked, some just attack without sensible reason.

Animals are primitive; but so was man. Over centuries and millenniums, man has evolved into high intellectual beings, fulfilling the destiny to become a steward over all other creatures. So it is for this precise reason that man should have the responsibility to look after the welfare of his dominion. It is for this precise reason why he shouldn’t come up with any valid reason to attack, abuse, and endanger the lives and existence of animals. Man should not instigate the cause for animal’s destruction.

There are groups of people or organizations that dedicate service for the care and the rights of animals. Their positive messages to raise awareness on thousands of animal abuse issues have finally reached all across the planet. More animals finally got the chance to live in this world according to their divine given rights. So it is because of some humane human beings’ choices that made the difference. Man after all can live harmoniously with animals. If you’re still doubtful about that, buy yourself a puppy and witness nature unfolding before your very eyes.

Reference: Illustrated Encyclopedia of endangered animals.

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What is Biodiversity?

Posted By on June 16, 2011

Oftentimes, you may hear government budgeted advertisements, more particularly from the Department of Tourism that they would like to save and maintain a live biodiversity among the environment to promote tourism and other benefits that could come with it. But what is biodiversity and what role does it play in tourism? It is then essential for you to know what biodiversity is since it may potentially bring benefits not only to the environment that you are living in but to you as well. Basically, people from the tourism department points out a rich biodiversity as an environment that has no species of animals that are included in the endangered animal list. But it does not necessarily mean that an environment with no animal included in the endangered animal list could be considered as having a rich biodiversity already. An environment with a rich biodiversity has a rich coexistence flora and fauna meaning that particular environment is an avenue for the plants and animal to coexist.

The term biodiversity is coined from two words. Scientists, decades ago, called this particular term as biological diversity. This refers to the different varieties of creatures on a particular environment. Although scientists long ago used this particular term as the basis for the different forms of life in an environment, it has been one of the major terms that have been used by environmentalists, tourism agents, and other proponents of environment conservation. As aforementioned, the people from the department of tourism and other environment-concerned organizations use this word to coin the idea of preservation.

They would refer to biodiversity as the harmony of different creatures in a particular environment. With that being said, proponents for environment conservation point out that it is very essential that in a particular environment, there should be no animals included in the endangered animal list so that there would still be a rich biodiversity. They base this idea from a scientific term called bio-process in which each individual in a particular environment has a role to maintain the biodiversity of that particular environment. Somehow, if there is a missing link in the environment, there would be a series of changes that that particular environment may experience and it may lead to the degradation of an environment’s biodiversity. Moreover, proponent for the environment have pointed out that the biodiversity of an environment is like a chain. If one link happens to be missing there would be breakage in that particular environment.

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