I want you to try and imagine what life would be like for us to be the only species left on Earth. Imagine all life suddenly disappeared except us. Would we still survive? The answer, unfortunately is no. We rely heavily on the Earth and the creatures that live here to stay alive, without them we would not be here. We all know this, yet animals are still being brutally killed only for their fur to be used as a fashion accessory; tigers are hunted down because of the myth that their bones have special healing powers; and rainforest animals are being bulldozed to extinction by the needless destruction of their habitats. We need to stop. We have the chance to change our lifestyles now before it’s too late. Already, due to funding, many animals have been saved from extinction. But we need to do more. I believe that more money is needed to be spent saving animals from the threat of extinction.
I believe strongly that more money should be spent protecting and saving the forever growing number of endangered species. Thousands of animals are brutally killed by poachers for sport and their horrific, horrendous deaths are captured in photos and posted on the internet for the eyes of the world to see. Whole rainforests are viciously ripped apart like they mean nothing. We are the ones to blame for these catastrophic extinctions and we need to fix that now.
We have the ability to commandeer the planet but that doesn’t mean we should exercise that ability. Right now, over 17000 species are on the verge of extinction and a further 869 species are already extinct. In 2017 alone over 180 animals became endangered. As proven recently by the comeback of the critically endangered giant panda, human efforts and funding from the government can help save these beautiful, bright creatures, so it’s essential that we put in the effort needed to save them.
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Should money be the barrier stopping us from saving endangered animals who everyday improve the quality of our lives? To save the world’s animals threatened by extinction, it is estimated to cost an average £50bn a year. I know what you’re all thinking: why are we not spending that money curing cancer or other dangerous diseases? This money will be used to save animals like the wolf, surely, they can’t benefit us? Well, if that’s what you’re thinking then you are mistaken. Humans and our ecosystem benefit immensely from these animals just being here.
The amount of money needed is an adequate amount of money considering how much the government spends each year providing luxuries for prisoners. In the UK, the average cost per prisoner is around £40,000. Think what that money could be used for instead of being spent buying televisions and Xbox’s for criminals. Our ecosystem is like a car, without all the working parts it will break and fall apart, so without all the animals in the ecosystem we too will fall apart, and that, is worth the money.
As aforementioned, there are many benefits to the environment of spending more money on critically endangered animals. When the time, effort and money are used wisely it is possible for animals to come back from being drastically close to extinction and from extinction. In 1995, a group of wolves (who were previously extinct) were released into Yellow Stone National Park in America. Almost immediately, when the wolves re-entered the park all problems that were once occurring because of their absence vanished. Problems with deer overgrazing in the fields went away instantly and there was less erosion of the park area, previously caused by the deer. Even with victories like this, we need to do more if it’s to be possible to salvage other animals from the threat of extinction. If the work we put in obviously pays off then why isn’t more being done to protect the animals?
It would be heart breaking to see someone helplessly dying from a disease because the only cure was from an animal forced into extinction. It has been noticed that the populations of amphibians, fish, birds and mammals have all decreased by 58% since 1970. These animals are vital to our health and wellbeing. For example, a viper’s venom can be used to control blood pressure; products from honeybees can protect us by preventing microbes growing; the venom from a scorpion can be used to help scientists with brain tumour research. These are just some of the ways our lives are improved by animals just being here and there are many more. Extinction clearly has a drastic effect on us so I believe spending money recovering them from extinction is essential if our lives are to stay the same.
To summarise, in recent years funding for endangered species has improved greatly. However, society is in denial that we have an obligation to help these animals. Humans are one of the main reasons why animals are endangered in the first place and it’s our responsibility to spend the money needed to save them. Without them our lives would be completely different and if we refuse to spend the money needed to help them then we must be forced to accept the mass destruction that we, as a generation have caused. If we move forward today with the same behaviour and attitude that we have now then we shouldn’t be surprised to see species numbers continue to decrease, one by one, until there are none.
Bibliography
- Marshall, Michael. What is the point of saving endangered species?
- Bonello, Jenna. Protecting endangered species helps reduce poverty
- Regoneil, Patrick. Four reasons why we should save endangered species.
- Gray, Richard. The animals and plants we can’t live without.
- Sample, Ian. Cost of saving endangered species, 50bn a year say experts
