Cross Breeds

Why save endangered animals from extinction?

There seems to be a significant need to protect endangered animals from extinction and my question is, why? I mean, whats the point? If the animals are near extinction, they have little effect on the ecosystem and are thus of very little use to us. Further more, we are wasting a lot of resources and money in the process of protecting these animals.

Public Comments

1. why not! We try to save them because one, they are a part of our food chain, and they could be eaten by animals and could switch the whole food chain. If there on this Earth, there probably is a reason for it. So we should try to save them from extinction.
2. Lots of reasons.. habitats with a greater biodiversity are more stable which means they are better able to adjust to and recover from disturbances. One of the biggest reasons why some animals are becoming extinct is because of loss habitat . On the other hand, there are several species listed under the Endangered Species Act that are considered pests or predators, because they pose a threat to human livelihoods or safety. The rapid rate of species loss should concern human beings because many are dying out due to pollution and environmental degradation, problems that affect human health and well-being as well.
3. I understand your inquiry and you have an excellent point. However, the fact is that we do not know what use they may hold. Scientists discovered that many extinct plants had extraordinary medicinal qualities, but it was too late to harvest them. From an animal rights view, every animal has a right to live. they would not be going extinct if it were not for humans. Besides, think of it this way, what use are humans, really? We waste alot of resources and have managed to damage the ecosystem beyond repair. We are of very little use to the world. Looking at the facts, Endangered species may hold food, medicine or industrial products (e.g., wild plant genes to fortify crops against disease, rosy periwinkle from Madagascar that yielded cancer drug for Hodgkins disease and some leukemias with 98 percent remission rate, African clawed frog that yielded new antibiotic class, rubber plants and newly discovered plants that may make good building materials or provide fuel). A species that goes extinct may play a role we don't even know about and cause a chain-reaction catastrophe. Examples: hunters wiped out fishers, a weasel-like animal, in the Northwest U.S. over a century ago. Then lumber industry almost collapsed because an exploding porcupine population girdled trees. They had to import fishers from Canada to regain control over the porcupines. Coyotes eat rats that would otherwise eat grass seed, depriving livestock of feed...so coyote is really rancher/farmer's friend! Bats eat bugs. Bracken Cave bats alone are estimated to save Texas farmers $100 million a year in crop losses and pesticide costs. Each toad is worth $20 a year to farmers (in 1956 dollars!). Vanilla beans now cost $8 apiece because insect that pollinated vanilla plants went extinct and people must now hand-pollinate. Many bat and bird species pollinate plants (including wild versions of key human fruit crops) or spread seeds. Finally, plants make oxygen and clean air/water.
4. What's Wrong With Extinction? Who cares if we lose some animal and plant species? First, extinction of animal species leads to an imbalance in the food chain which may cause population explosions of some species or the extinction of others. When this happens, animals may start competing for human resources or may wipe out species we rely on for survival. Second, when an animal becomes extinct, it can never again be admired and appreciated by humans. Nearly every city in the world has a zoo which attracts millions of people every year. Also, animals are often used in research to help find cures for human diseases. Animals are also used for work and for pleasure. If no one takes an interest in animals, then no animal is protected and all of them become at risk of extinction.
5. Off the top I am no expert, I do read a lot. Species of plants animals etc. have a definite place on earth or they wouldn't be here. It's true that some are brought into areas where they are not native and this is can be devastating to the species that are. Whether or not you are aware, there are many creatures that are beneficial to man who depend on other creatures or plants for their survival and which if they were to disappear could cause other creatures who are not beneficial to man to flourish causing a great deal of time and money to fix. My best description of this is as follows. A Bug Zapper, the kind people plug in in the summer for mosquito's etc., don't have any way of detecting which bugs are mosquito's and which are not. They will zap anything that ventures in there. These devices kill all kinds of mosquito eating insects and not many mosquitos. Hope this helps some. God Bless all Gods creatures, even spiders, which I hate. :-). Dawg
6. theres a lotttt of reasons!!! the point is to save lives they are living things too, and we are the ones who are making them go extinct we should definitely be trying to help them make a come back! just because they are near extinction doesn't mean they have little effect on the ecosystem, it means there is something causing them to become extinct; polluted food and water sources, loss of habitat due to humans building homes, roads, etc., or maybe their food went extinct, and they are a BIGG part of an ecosystem; ecosystems have a delicate balance to them and when one animal goes extinct everything is messed up because they were there for a reason! we are not wasting money or resources on protecting them, its a better use than wasting it on killing the planet on which we ALSO live!!!!! by the way, what if you were an endangered animal and humans said, "o he isn't important to the world who cares if they go extinct??" you would want someone to help save you!
7. what if tiktaalik would extinct? then we wouldnt exist. mudskipper started walking on land, lets give it a chance and see if they will evolve some legs.
8. I cannot believe that you asked this question. Ok, so say all the Polar bears, African salmon, Indonesian tiger, African buffalo and even the British stoat become extinct. What next? When will it end? What limit? So what people say. Oh it's only the North Welsh sheep population - who cares? The fact is that all these animals are part of our ecosystem and everything depends on something. Whose to say that the polar bears keep the seal population down. If the bears go and the seal population increases they eat more fish, maybe one particular speicies of fish that humans eat - what happens then? SAVE THE ANIMALS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9. If you are selfish to inhabit the planet Earth then that is your philosophy. Some people care to protect other species because it is boring if humans are the only ones living here on Earth.