“We must protect the unprotected, care for the uncared for, and speak for the voiceless. We must give all animals a chance to live a life.”
-Anthony Douglas Williams
Sixth Mass Extinction Process
One of the biggest threats to animals is what many ecologists consider to be the beginning stages of the earth’s sixth mass extinction process. A mass extinction is defined as 75% of the earth’s current species will become extinct in a short period of time. What sets this next extinction phase (known as the Holocene Extinction or the Anthropocene Extinction) apart from the other extinction processes’ is the rate of extinction of the current species on earth will be mostly due to human-induced activity, whether that is attributed to climate change, urbanization, or animal exploitation, just to name a few examples. In this current extinction process, it is estimated that 30% of the earth’s species will become extinct in the next 40 years.
Here is an interesting research article about anthropogenically (human influence) driven biodiversity loss.
Keystone Species
Not only is this extinction process posing a threat to many animals globally, but there are so many animal species that are already endangered, like the elephant and wolf species, which are considered keystone species. Keystone species are exactly that, keystones. Keystone species are species that define an ecosystem. Other species rely on these keystone species to help maintain biodiversity, resulting in a healthy ecosystem, which ultimately results in a healthy planet.
For example, marine life like whales go to the ocean surface to poop, their poop releases nutrients that help to feed the phytoplankton (plant-like organisms) that live on the ocean surface. These phytoplankton help absorb carbon dioxide and provide us with oxygen. Because whales help to feed phytoplankton, phytoplankton can absorb a third of human-generated carbon. Unfortunately, six of thirteen great whale species are endangered or vulnerable.
Other examples are rhinos and elephants, who disperse seeds they eat from shrubs and other plants that will grow elsewhere, providing us with oxygen and also absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Currently, three of the five rhino species are critically endangered, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has recently placed the African elephant on the critically endangered red list.
Animal Testing
It is estimated more than 50 million rice, rabbits, dogs, monkeys, cats, and other animals are subjected to testing for human pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Testing on animals does not correlate to how a human will respond to a drug or mascara. Our bodies simply do not mimic one another’s. Did you know that 90% of drugs tested on animals fail human trials? 0% of rats, mice, and birds are not protected under the Animal Welfare Act for testing and all these animals undergo painful experiments that are toxic, painful, and even induce disease. This is no way for any being to live. To help reduce animals being subjected to testing, you can always buy cruelty-free beauty products. Please check out Ethical Elephant’s Cruelty-Free Brand Directory to find cosmetics not tested on animals.
Birds as an Indicator Species
In this context of threats to animals, I would like to mention why birds are important and considered indicator species. Since birds are widespread globally, they help provide information on the conditions and changes of an ecosystem.
A 2019 National Audubon Society report estimated that if global temperatures continue to rise, two-thirds of North American bird species will become vulnerable to extinction.
Audubon experts also found an overlap between places that are important for birds’ survival and where natural carbon stores exist. Therefore, protecting bird habitats is equally important for fighting climate change and improving our shared quality of life.
Climate Change
Climate change is intertwined with habitat loss. As climate change disrupts food and water availability, resulting in wildlife needing to migrate out of their existing habitat for survival, rising temperatures caused by climate change are also causing wildlife to find different habitats that are cooler and more suitable for them.
Dan Majka, a web developer for The Nature Conservancy, used data from two studies to create virtual feasible paths for wildlife to migrate in search of cooler habitats due to temperature surges. The maps show wildlife may tend to migrate north or to higher elevations to find cooler regions to live.
Animals in the Entertainment Industry
There are many wildlife that are taken from the wild and their family, only to be exploited in the entertainment industry, such as elephants and lions in circuses or roadside zoos. These animals endure abuse and neglect and live in unnatural conditions, only to be used for profit. Wildlife who are in circuses or zoos have a lower life expectancy. For example, a wild elephant can live up to 60-70 years, while an elephant in the circus may not reach 40 years of age. These captive animals suffer physical ailments such as arthritis, tuberculosis, and foot abscesses, which can lead to a very short life span.
Farm Animals
Farm animals are raised for food in unconscionable living conditions, and the females are forced to be pregnant over and over again while their babies are taken away from them each time. These sentient beings undergo tremendous torture. According to Sentient Media, roughly 1.2 trillion animals are killed yearly for food. This means that every 24 hours, between 3.4 and 6.5 billion animals are killed. If we were to calculate on the low. end how long it would take to wipe out the human race at the same rate we kill farmed animals, humanity would be extinct in 3 days. Food for thought. Bear in mind that these animals are slaughtered at a young age and do not get a chance to live into adulthood.
As I mentioned on the Planet Earth page, Our World In Data states that more than 40% of the world’s deforestation is driven by expanding pastures for raising cattle. Losing land to raise farm animals also damages the biodiversity needed to prevent us from feeling the effects of climate-related changes.
According to tastingtable it takes approximately 2000 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. As climate change is already affecting us, cattle are a top source of methane gas being released into the atmosphere, which is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the earth. Kirk R. Smith, who was a Nobel Prize recipient and Professor of Global Environmental Health at Berkeley, maintained that if we reduced methane emissions, the levels would diminish within a decade compared to if we were solely to focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions, carbon dioxide would take over one hundred years.
I want to add in this section the topic of leather goods.
The first thing that may come to mind when people hear the word "leather" is its association with shoes, clothes, handbags, and furniture. For some, leather represents a luxury upgrade, particularly in cars. However, what often goes unconsidered is the life lost to create those shoes, bags, or car seats.
Each year, over a billion animals are killed for the global leather trade. Most leather purchased in the U.S. and U.K. comes from China, India, and other countries with insufficient animal welfare laws. These animals suffer immensely throughout their lives, and their lives often end brutally, sometimes with parts of their bodies hacked away while they are still conscious.
Leather is not a sustainable product made solely for profit. Its production contributes to climate change and significantly impacts our planet’s biodiversity. According to calculations from CIRUMFAUNA, verified by Faunalytics, a cowhide leather tote bag produces 100.5 kg (221 pounds) of CO2e, while a synthetic alternative emits only 14.4 kg (31.7 pounds) of CO2e. These leather calculations do not account for the entire life cycle of the animal; if they did, the CO2e figures would be higher.
Concerning biodiversity, raising cattle for leather significantly impacts our planet’s resources. According to Collective Fashion Justice, 80% of Amazonian deforestation in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia is driven by cattle ranching. The loss of this much wild space to raise cattle diminishes oxygen produced by plant life, CO2 sequestration, habitat for wildlife, and the capacity of our natural areas to filter our water.
Raising cattle for leather and the global food supply chain also takes a toll on our freshwater sources. According to calculations from CIRCUMFAUNA, producing a standard cowhide leather tote bag requires 17,127.8 liters (or 4,524 gallons) of water, which is equivalent to the amount a human is recommended to drink each day for over 23 years.
The good news is that more leather alternatives are being offered to us. These alternatives, such as apple skin leather or mycelium, possess the same qualities as leather while being more sustainable and not harming living beings. Many shoe and bag brands are emerging with vegan products, and car companies provide synthetic leather for seats. Watch for these products because their quality will likely surprise you. If you're looking for shoes, bags, or clothing that are cruelty-free, click here.
Habitat Fragmentation and Loss
Habitat fragmentation is the process in which large habitat areas are broken down into smaller patches of land.
Imagine, if you will, what your life would be like if you restricted every day how far you could go beyond your home to find food, resources, and a mate. And please remove the ability to have items or groceries delivered to your home.
This is what wildlife is experiencing globally.
When habitat fragmentation and loss occur due to human expansion, such as a road being built through a forest or human development into wild areas, the wildlife struggle to move between the habitats they once knew and risk their lives. This is life as we know it, as the human population keeps encroaching into wildlife habitats, and the wildlife has fewer and fewer places to go.
Habitat fragmentation and loss also reduce a species’ long-term health, increase inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity, and cause population decline of a species.
Threats like climate change result in biodiversity and habitat loss, which impairs key ecosystem functions like available vegetation and water sources. Wildlife then migrate out of their known habitat for better living conditions.
Healthy ecosystems are essential not only to the species living within these ecosystems but to the planet at large because, as I stated above, healthy ecosystems clean our water, purify our air, and regulate climate. Having this awareness of supporting habitats and ecosystems will benefit us.
Over-fishing, Plastic Pollution and Marine Life
The ocean is home to 80% of all life on earth. Take that in. It is so important to place more awareness on the health of the ocean for so many reasons, one being that so much life on earth lives underwater.
The biodiversity of marine life is heavily affected by over-fishing and plastic pollution.
Overfishing occurs when too many fish are caught in a body of water, be it the ocean, lake, river, pond…and suddenly there is an under-population of fish. When this happens, there is an imbalance in the ecosystem, and a cascade effect occurs. For example, many times over, other marine life, such as dolphins, turtles, and sharks, are caught in fishing nets intended for fish. This is termed a bycatch. According to sentientmedia.org, 50 million sharks are killed each year due to bycatch.
A form of over-fishing is blast fishing, in which explosives are used to kill or stun large schools of fish destroying coral reefs. The practice of blast fishing can destroy up to 64 square feet of coral reef. Over 55% of coral reefs have been affected by overfishing. Coral reefs are paramount as a marine ecosystem because they provide food and shelter to an estimated one million plant and animal species that account for 25% of all marine life.
As consumers, we can help reduce overfishing. To learn more, click here.
Plastic pollution has infiltrated our oceans. So much so that approximately 80% of the plastic found in the ocean comes from land. According to Ocean Conservancy, 60% of sea birds and 100% of sea turtles studied mistake plastics for food. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 marine animals are killed each year due to plastic pollution, either due to entanglement and injury, or ingestion.
Want to learn how to reduce your plastic consumption and help marine life? Click here.
Wildlife Hunting, Poaching, and Trafficking
According to Our World In Data, hunting and poaching are some of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss. Many of the wildlife hunted and poached for their body parts are already endangered, which makes the market value high for their body parts such as elephant ivory being used for making trinkets, rhino horn which is believed to be a medicinal cure for hangovers, fever, and gout, and pangolin scales believed and unproven to help women who have trouble lactating. Pangolins, by the way, are the most illegally trafficked animal in the world.
For example, elephant ivory is coveted for making statues and trinkets. No one in this world needs ivory as a mere decorative piece. The elephant’s economic value for carbon capture services as they help to disperse seeds for plant growth would be estimated at $150 billion as a whole or 1.75 million per elephant. Whereas the ivory of a dead elephant taken by poachers is worth approximately $40,000. That is a 4,275% difference in the value of a single elephant being alive rather than dead!
Hunting of wildlife, especially critically endangered and threatened wildlife, debilitates species. This has been seen by the hunting of big tusker elephants in African countries because the older male elephants generally feed most calves, which disrupts reproduction rates and leads to interbreeding.
Hunting of wildlife affects biodiversity. Many wild places where overhunting has taken place are seen as half-empty ecosystems where many diverse wildlife are no longer present. Biodiversity loss affects ecosystems. We need ecosystems because they help maintain the health of the planet and us. Healthy ecosystems clean our water, purify our air, and regulate climate, just to name a few.
"Human health is strongly linked to the health of ecosystems, which meet many of our most critical needs."
Maria Neira, Director of WHO's Department for the Protection of the Human Environment
I know this section is about the threats to animals, but I place this quote here to show how critical healthy ecosystems are for all of us. If we continue to degrade ecosystems and kill off wildlife, it does and will affect us as well.
