ANIMAL SUCCESS STORIES
In 1973 the United States government passed into la the Endangered SPECies
Act (ESA).
its three major goals were:
1. to protect plants and animals from
extinction by listing them as endangered
2. to preserve the habitat of these
species
3. to help populations of listed species recover.
Because of these conservation efforts, many animals have been brought back from near extinction.
Here are three such success stories.
Bald eagle
It is fitting that we begin with the story of the bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States.
There was an abundance of bald eagles in North America before the arrival of Europeans, numbering an estimated half a million birds.
By 1963, however the population had dropped to fewer than 1000 Hunting was certainly a major factor in this decline as was the destruction of habitat.
But the biggest factor was DDT—a chemical widely used in insect
sprays it had a damaging effect on the eagles eggs,
making their shells so thin so that they broke easily and exposed the frail baby birds inside which die soon after.
The 1972 ban on DDT was the single most important factor in the revival of the bald eagle.
Being listed as an endangered species
gave the birds additional protection.
Bald eagle populations are now carefully
monitored and baby eagles are raised under human protection later to be
released into the wild.
Thanks to these efforts the number of eagles in the United States has grown markedly and the birds can be seen in many national parks.
In August 2007, bald eagles were removed from the ESA list.
Grizzly bear
Another classic symbol of North American wildlife is the grizzly bear.
Before the Europeans arrived more than 50,000 grizzlies wandered the American West.
Today, due to hunting and habitat destruction that number is closer to 1,000.
Furthermore, because grizzly bears have
A babies at a very slow rate it takes many
years for the population to grow.
Most of the grizzly bears in the United States, excluding Alaska, live in
Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks,
As grizzlies are still protected by the ESA hunting them is illegal.
As bear populations grow it becomes very important to prevent encounters between humans and bears :
20 to 40 bears are killed each year to protect the safety of humans.
People living in grizzly bear
habitats are encouraged not to leave garbage lying around in case bears are attracted to the smell, and parks put up signs warning people not to stray off the path.
Visitors are also warned not to alarm any bears they encounter
Gray wolf
Finally, the gray or timber wolf’s story is one of the most compelling tales of
American wildlife.
Traditionally shunned because people fear them and consider them pests for killing livestock,gray wolves have been shot, trapped and poisoned even in nature reserves.
By the time the gray wolf was declared
a protected species in 1973, only a
few hundred remained in small pockets of the country.
Today the gray wolf population has been revived in some of its former habitats, like Yellowstone, National Park, due to strong conservation efforts.
They have also started returning to places like Washington and Idaho.
The gray wolf is now listed as a
species of Least Concern by IUCN.
In 2006 the United States government declared May 11 to be Endangered
Species Day—a day devoted to raising awareness of endangered species.
With such positive steps toward educating people on the importance of
conservation, there‘s reason to be optimistic about the future of endangered
animals in the US.