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= Endangered   Species  = = = = Introduction : = Have you ever thought it would be impossible to travel the world, learn and have fun? Well EveryLastLife is here to show you that impossible just turned possible. Join in this voyage as we travel to Alaska, Africa, Asia, and Australia to see beautiful, magnificent creatures. This tour includes a personal insight like no other to all the animals on the endangered species lists. Here, we will learn many interesting facts and tips on how to save our wildlife; we will enjoy fantastic food, extraordinary surroundings, and great living conditions. We will focus on the tigers, rhino, polar bear, blue whale, green turtle, panda bears, great apes, and elephants. After this tour, there is no way you will return as the same person. C’mon don’t say no to such a great opportunity, come join us!!!

EveryLastLife Tour Guides:


 * -Sade Owney (Tuesday)**
 * -Naliny Thongmee (Thursday)**
 * -Allan Yaxon (Tuesday)**

-Polar Bear

﻿ Let’s make chilly trip the freezing Arctic Circle to visit the loveable polar bear. The polar bear is a mammal that calls the Arctic Circle its home. Polar bears can be found in Canada, Greenland, Norway and The United States (Alaska). Polar bears are large land carnivores that overtime, have adapted well to their icy, cold environment. Because they rely so much on their environment to survive, polar bears face becoming an endangered species due to an increase in global climate change. According to the World Wildlife Fund, even with 20,000-25,000 polar bears living in the wild, global climate change makes the future of these animals uncertain. Despite efforts made my countries to cons erve the population of these animals, global climate change is one big threat that could very well put these animals on the brink of extinction. The reason for this decline in population is due to the effects that global climate change has on the environment of the polar bear. Polar bears naturally spend most their time on the sea ice, where they hunt for their main sources of food: the ringed and bearded seals. Due to global climate change, the time period that polar bears can spend on the sea ice is drastically decreasing. Because they eat most of their food during this period, a depleting sea ice period means that polar bears feed less than they normally would. Global climate change, therefore, is literally creating starvation amongst polar bear populations. If current trends in global climate change continue, polar bears could very well face a mass starvation that would ultimately lead to their extinction.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the extinction of these animals is very alarming, not only because these marvelous animals are being possibly affected by human induced global climate change, but also because healthy populations of large carnivores are strong indicators of how well an eco-system is functioning. If a decline in large carnivores is being observed, it can be concluded that other drastic changes are occurring in the environment’s eco-system. Furthermore, these changes to the environment of the polar bear dispel any myths that global climate change is not occurring. This threat that polar bears are currently facing should serve as a catalyst that should raise the concerns of every individual about the severity of global climate change.



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-Tiger



Leaving the cold Arctic Circle, let’s take a wild trip to the continent of Asia. Let’s go even farther to South China. What do we see? Tigers!!! Tigers are the largest member in the “cat” family. They have long, thick reddish coats with white bellies and white or black tails. They are covered in sometimes black, brown and gray stripes. Originally the “kings of the jungle” they covered immense territory extending from eastern Turkey to the Russian Far East, reaching Northward Siberia and Southward Bali. Sadly, in the last seventy years the Bali, Javan, and Caspian Tigers are extinct. The temperature changes are forcing tigers to migrate north toward human populations, and the interactions are fatal. They are being illegally killed and poached because of their value in the black market. Their body parts are used in traditional Asian medications. Humans view tigers as threatening which gives them an invalid reason to continue killing these poor animals. Tigers are among the most vulnerable and threatened species on Earth, we must not continue killing such beauties of our world.

-Giant Panda



Continuing our journey through China, we stumble upon the giant panda. According to the World Wide Fund website, the giant panda is of the bear family located in Southwest China. This animal is the rarest member of the family and is one of the world’s most threatened animals with less than 2,500 mature animals in the wild. As urban areas of China continue to expand in size, this poses a threat to the Giant Panda because as a result the animals’ forest habitats continue to decrease.

 In addition, poaching is another issue that threatens this animal. Although Pandas may be in danger, great strides have been made to protect these creatures. Recently, efforts have been made to conserve the giant pandas by establishing panda reserves. Since 2005, there are around 50 reserves that protect over 45 percent of the remaining giant habitat, which protects more than 60 percent of the population.

-Asian Elephants



As we move through Asia, we find the Asian Elephant. In reference to the WWF website, the Asian Elephant is a species that has a population of 41,410-52,345. The sub categories of this species include the Indian elephant, the Sumatran elephant, the Sri Lankan elephant, and the Borneo Pygmy elephant. Moreover, the remaining populations are fragmented and divided because of the animal’s migratory routes and habitats have been endangered by human expansion. Confronting these animals only leads to deaths on both sides. Additionally, something similar among most endangered animals is the hazard of poaching. Asian elephants, although revered by many Asian cultures, are killed in order to extract their ivory, meat, and hides for selling. However, conservation efforts have been made to save this dying specie. Since this animal needs lots of space to survive, their conservation will be able to save many other species found in these extensive areas.

-Rhinoceros:



After leaving the continent of Asia, let's travel towards Africa. As we head down to North Africa, look what we see. Rhinoceros! There is absolutely no way to miss these gigantic creatures; they have these massive bodies, stumpy legs and huge horns. Watch out!! They can be aggressive, but due to their poor eyesight, they do not see very well. Rhinos once roamed throughout Eurasia and Africa, unfortunately today, very few survives outside of national parks and reserves. There are only five species of rhinos left. The Javan and Sumatran rhinos, which are found in Asia, are critically endangered and the black and white rhinos, found in Africa are endangered. Western species are thought to be extinct. Rhinos are poached for their horns, which are used for medicine. In order for this problem to cease, we need to be educated. Come out and learn while having fun.

- Mountain Gorilla



Continuing our journey through Africa, we find the mountain gorilla! Based on the WWF website, the mountain gorilla is categorized under the Great apes species located in Central Africa. With a total population of about 700, the mountain gorilla is split into two groups: one in the Virunga range of volcanoes on the Uganda Rwanda- DRC border, and the other in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. However, some primatologists believe the latter is of a separate subspecies. The efforts made to conserve this species have led to an increase in the Virunga population of about 14 % in the last decade. Furthermore, the Bwindi population has increased by slightly smaller value of about 12%. Even though there is an increase the mountain gorilla continues to remain endangered.

-Blue Whale

Now let’s make a trip the Earth’s vast oceans, where the Blue Whale is found. The Blue Whale is the largest animal that has ever lived. Because the blue whale migrates to the poles during the summer to feed and to the equator during the winter to breed, they do not inhabit one specific location. Despite its gargantuan size, the blue whale finds itself on the endangered species list amongst many other animals. Blue whales initially found themselves on the endangered species list due to hunting and poaching, but the current threat to their existence is recent trends in global climate change. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the decrease of Blue Whale populations has been on the rise despite their commercial hunting being banned since 1964. According to defenders.org, changes in global climate will be felt the most by marine animals. Rising sea temperature, coupled with rising sea levels and a decline in the main food source for blue whales makes global climate change a very serious threat for the survival of this species. A decline in the main food source for blue whale is especially a very large threat. In addition to global climate change, blue whales are also affected by water pollution and toxic substances that are routinely disposed off in the ocean.

Like with most other animals, the endangerment of the blue speaks of the volume that global climate change has affected many of the earth’s eco-systems. Naturally, a blue whale eats about 4 tons of krill each day to survive. According to the YouTube video, in order for the ocean to sustain that large amount of krill populations, it must remain balanced and fertile. Due to the changes that global climate change has produced on krill populations, the inability of the blue whales to sustain their diets is a larger indicator of the disruption in the eco-system that has occurred due to changes in the earth’s climate. The extent to which global climate change has already affected animal populations, like that of the blue whale, should serve as an indicator and forewarning to human beings to begin finding solutions to global climate change in order to prevent more species from going extinct.

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-Green Turtle

Now we make our way to the tropical and subtropical waters, where the green sea turtle lives. The size of these turtles can range from 3 to 5 feet and they can reach up to 440 pounds in weight. The decline in green turtle populations has been highly attributed to the harvesting of adults and eggs, over-fishing, and the development of deadly tumors caused by toxic waste dumped onto our oceans. The harvesting of green sea turtles, in especially, has highly contributed to the decline in their population. According to the World Wildlife Fund, many tropical countries harvest green sea turtles for human consumption. The documentary //Earthlings// also highlights the extent to which commercial fishers have caused the accidental deaths of many sea animals, like the green turtle, by using large fishing nets that span for miles. According to the documentary, because these large fishing nets catch everything on their paths, green turtles and various other animals are often accidently caught and consequently killed.

As with all animals, the endangerment and possible extinction of green sea turtle posses a threat to their ecosystems. According to the World Wildlife Fund, green turtles are vital to the productivity and maintenance of seagrass beds. Without the help of green turtles, seagrass beds would grow tall and promote disease. Furthermore, the excretions that green turtles expel after consuming seagrass helps supply nutrients to various plants and animals in the seagrass ecosystems. Because seagrass beds are vital to the development of many vertebrate and invertebrate species, a disrupted seagrass ecosystem would pose a further danger to various other animals. As the article posted by defenders.org titled //Species Spotlight: The Green Sea Turtle// suggests, it is without a doubt that human interaction with these species has caused their very rapid decline in population. Because we are responsible for their near extinction, it is our responsibility to prevent these very vital animals from disappearing from this earth.

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-Conclusion

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We hope you enjoyed the tour and learned about the various issues that animals across the world are currently facing.WE MUST HELP THEM NOW. If no efforts are made to help endangered species, in time their extinction will be an inevitable event and their existence will slowly fade away. Subsequently, the extinction of those species is not irreversible and cannot be further changed. However, as a society, we can mitigate this from occurring by contributing to conservation efforts. Moreover, organizations, such as the World Wide Fund, have already made efforts to protect these animals from further endangerment. For instance, sectioning off portions of the land for natural reserves or wilderness areas has been able to protect animals from poaching or human advancements. By supporting these types of organizations, we are able to aid in the survival of these animals.

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 * The endangered animals of the world need you to take action now!**

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