By the year 2100, we may not be seeing any more of the large animal species who majestically roam the earth today.
According to new reports published in BioScience and statistics from field experts, animals included in this unfortunate prediction are leopards, great white sharks, elephants, tigers and rhinos, just to name a few. These animals will soon face a dangerous fate of extinction if immediate action does not take place to conserve and protect these animals.
Researchers from Bioscience made a statement following the threatening numbers of endangered species cataloged across six countries: “There is a risk that many of the world’s most iconic species may not survive to the 22nd century.”
Animal species most severely threatened by extinction are coincidentally the most diverse range of large animals remaining and inhabiting the Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Large wildlife species, including carnivores, are at the highest risk of extinction due to their need to flourish on large land masses with a lower population density.
Statistics prove that 59 percent of the world largest carnivores and 60 percent of the world’s largest herbivores are facing severe extinction within less than 100 years.
Reports from Panthera, a U.S.-based wild cat conservation organization warns readers that unless they change their business as usual mentality, the planet will face a massive extinction of wildlife species very soon. Numbers are decreasing at an extremely rapid pace and in order to prevent another extinction from taking place, serious global efforts must be taken against poaching and to ensure a necessary co-existence between humans and wildlife.
According to scientists, action can be taken by adhering to the following: Conservation intervention should be expanded to scales that address the needs of animals’ extensive habitats, Policy shifts and increased financial commitment are also needed in order to alter the ways in which people interact with wildlife.
Large wild animals could also be reintroduced into the areas from which they have been eliminated. This can be done using time-tested approaches that have been scientifically researched and validated. This approach has been tested and proven to be an efficient way to conserve and protect animals from extinction.
William Ripple, the lead author and professor of ecology at Oregon State University states: “The more I look at the trends facing the world’s largest terrestrial mammals, the more concerned I am we could lose these animals just as science is discovering how important they are to ecosystems and to the services they provide to people.”
“To underline how serious this is, the rapid loss of biodiversity and megafauna in particular is an issue that is right up there with, and perhaps even more pressing than, climate change. Human communities stand to lose key elements of their natural heritage if these large wildlife species are allowed to go extinct,” said senior co-author Dr. Peter Lindsey.
Conservationists want to come to a consensus between international countries who share this threat and bring forth the urgency of the crisis.
This is an extremely alarming and urgent issue in need of a dire solution in order to prevent a mass extinction from occurring.
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Source: Daily Mail
