Congress recently designated May 18th as “Endangered Species Day” which is a wonderful thing. However, to make a change we need to understand what endangered means, what threats a species faces and finally what each of us can do to make a difference in our community and the world around us.
There are three categories used to indicate species whose populations are declining; extinct, threatened and least concern. The sub-categories under each are as follows; extinct – extinct & extinct in the wild, threatened – critical, endangered, vulnerable & near threatened, least concern – least concern. The definition of each sub-category is as follows: extinct – there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died, extinct in the wild – known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population well outside the past range, critically endangered – facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, endangered – considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, vulnerable – considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild, near threatened – close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future, and least concern – lowest risk, widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category. As you can see it isn’t as simple as saying something is endangered.
The current rate of extinction is 10 to 100 times greater than any of the prior extinction events in history. We generally associate endangerment with animals and plants and forget the threats to the stability of ecosystems. When one species goes extinct other populations can then increase or decline which can often result in a secondary species becoming endangered or extinct. Resulting in an unstable spiral until other species are lost and the ecosystem irreversibly changed.
The sad reality is a number of species will become extinct this year without notice. We need to make changes now. Each day we need to think about the size of the eco footprint you will leave on planet earth. Reduce, reuse, recycle and restore whenever possible. When you brush your teeth do you leave the water running? What do you do with your newspapers, aluminum & plastic? Do you car pool? There are so many ways you can make a difference but it’s up to you to do it and encourage a friend, neighbor, school, business or community to get involved. Everything starts out small, but given the right environment it will grow and flourish.
By Jackie Worstell, Director ZooMontana
