How many animals have been saved from complete extinction?

Due to human activities annually under threatdozens of animal species are completely extinct. Fortunately, scientists from all over the world monitor their populations and, if necessary, take measures to protect them. Actions are different - for example, sometimes conservationists catch individuals remaining in nature and breed them in reserves. In some cases, they exterminate numerous invasive animalsthat pose a threat to endangeredspecies. All of this is commendable, but are these measures really helping the populations of rare animals to recover? Scientists from England took up the search for an answer to this question, who drew attention to animals that were once on the brink of extinction. It turned out that the actions taken by people to preserve them really brought great results.

Despite all the efforts of people, many animals can no longer be saved. But some still survive

Invasive species - animals, the diversity of which can lead tothe disappearance of other creatures. As a rule, invasive species appear on foreign territories through human fault. Examples of invasive animals: Colorado potato beetle, red fire ants, gray rats, and so on.

What rare animals are saved?

The results of the study werepublished in the scientific journal Phys.org. As part of the scientific work, researchers from the English University of Newcastle and BirdLife International found out how many animals people have managed to save since 1993. It turned out that a lot - for several decades, conservationists have prevented the extinction of 21–32 bird species and 7–16 mammal species. So, among the rescued animals were the Puerto Rican Amazon (Amazona vittata), the Pyrenean lynx (Lynx pardinus) and the Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus).

Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus)

Puerto Rican Amazons are parrots thatlive on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. In 1975, they very much risked extinction completely, because in nature there were only 13 individuals. For a long time, parrots were in a very difficult situation until in 2006 they were placed in Rio Abajo State Park. Some remained in the wild and died in the 2017 hurricanes. If people did not decide to take them under protection, the birds would definitely disappear completely.

Puerto Rican Amazon (Amazona vittata)

The fate of Przewalski's horses turned out to be even morecomplicated. Already in the 1960s, they did not remain in the wild at all. For several decades, they were only in protected areas. Decisive measures to restore their population were taken only in 1990. Thanks to human action, in 1996, the first individual in a long time was born in the wild. At the moment, there are about 760 Przewalski's horses in nature, and most of them live in the steppes of Mongolia.

Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus)

Did you know that climate change is endangering even bumblebees?

How are animals saved?

Many other species that were on the vergeextinction, too, were saved from extinction. Only in their cases did the conservationists use other methods. Most bird species have been preserved through invasive species control and conservation in protected areas. And mammals were saved by banning hunting and keeping in zoos. According to researchers, without all these measures, the level of extinction would be 3-4 times higher than it is now. Rike Bolam, head of scientific work, announced that there are still benefits from security measures and humanity needs to continue in the same spirit. The results give hope that someday the protected animals will once again be free and live as peacefully as before.

Many species of animals are kept in reserves

Today even the most endangered speciestenacious creatures. Would you think that someday the common hamsters of the species Cricetus cricetus will be on the verge of extinction? It seemed that they can adapt to any conditions and will always find something to eat. But no - recently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced that these rodents are no longer found in some regions of our planet. For two decades they have given very few offspring - if in the 20th century females gave birth to 20 cubs at a time, now they have no more than 5 hamsters.

Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus)

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The reason for the extinction of rodents is thatpeople began to actively use chemicals to protect crops from pests. But hamsters are frequent guests of various fields. Also, their population could be affected by climate change and light pollution, which disrupts the sleep patterns of many living creatures. You can read more about all this in this article.