Animals

The Number 30 September Animals “ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Mahatma Gandhi
It seems that a lot of people today do not fully realize the value of animals. Animals are killed and hunted for, they are disregarded when their habitats need to be ruined for the sake of profit, and they are often treated with cruelty and disrespect. Judging by a number of representatives of animals’ species and populations, animals can be classified as extinct, endangered/threatened, and over-populated.
Extinct animals are those that have already died out. It has been estimated that extinction takes a lot of species every year. It happens for various reasons: e. g. climate changes, habitat destructions, diseases, natural disasters or speciation (some animals develop into totally new species) (“ Extinct”). Our planet Earth, a home to wonderful diversity of living creatures, has hosted some incredibly unique species. Unfortunately, many of those weird animals that inhabited the world in the distant past are gone now. For example, Tyrannosaurus Rex became extinct around 65 million years ago (“ Ten Most Amazing Extinct Animals”). As fossils of this enormous carnivore had been found, it became clear that Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of the biggest animals of all time, “ measuring up to 43. 3 feet long, and 16. 6 ft tall, with an estimated mass that goes up to 7 tons” (“ Ten Most Amazing Extinct Animals”) (Image 1). The Irish Elk (also known as Giant Deer) died out nearly 7, 700 years ago. It is believed to have been the biggest deer that ever inhabited our planet. Specifically, the Irish Elk was measured to have
Image 1. Tyrannosaurus Rex.

been 2. 1 meters tall at shoulders. What is more, it weighted around 90 pounds (“ Ten Most Amazing Extinct Animals”) (Image 2).
Image 2. The Irish Elk
While animals became extinct due to various natural cataclysms in the past, they appear to be in danger or under threat of extinction today due to destructive human activity. These species are called endangered or threatened. According to the U. S. Endangered Species Act that was passed in 1973, two categories are distinguished as for the animals that risk becoming extinct: endangered and threatened. To specify, endangered species is defined as “… one that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range” (“ Facts about Endangered Species”). In its turn, a species is considered threatened if it is “… one that is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range” (“ Facts about Endangered Species”). A good example of an endangered species is the American Alligator. This large alligator lives in wetlands in the Southeast of the United States and is sometimes encountered by humans (Image 3). It was recognized an endangered species back in 1967 (“ American Alligator”).
Finally, it happens that animals may become overpopulated. It means that a population boom takes place that produces lots of animals of one species which may destroy the natural environment. Overpopulation is likely to happen when a new species is introduced into the environment. In this case, having advantages over native inhabitants quickly turns into plague. Overpopulation of one species is usually associated with driving away some native species. An example of an overpopulated species in the United States is white-tailed deer (“ Hunting Facts”). The latter inhabit the southern part of Canada and most of the territory of the United States.
Image 3. American Alligator Image 4 White-tailed Deer

In conclusion, the three major groups of animals discussed above are extinct, endangered/ threatened, and overpopulated species. It seems, endangered animals should get the most attention today because they are under the threat of dying out and becoming extinct. Since most animal and nature destruction is done by humans, it is the humanity that must save the natural world and give hope to endangered species.
Works Cited
“ American Alligator”. National Parks Conservation Association. Npca. Org. n. d. Web. 30
September 2011.
“ Extinct”. Collins English Dictionary. Thefreedictionary. Com., n. d. Web. 30 September
2011.
“ Facts about Endangered Species”. The Endangered Species Coalition.
EndangeredSpecie. Com. n. d. Web. 30 September 2011.
“ Hunting Facts”. Idausa. Org. Idausa. Org. n. d. Web. 30 September 2011.
“ Ten Most Amazing Extinct Animals”. Oddee. Com. Oddee. Com. n. d. Web. 30
September 2011.