Will humans be the ultimate downfall, and eventually cause the extinction of the snow leopard? What can we do to protect these magnificent creatures? Like many other top of the food chain predators, the snow leopard populations are in rapid decline. This is mainly because farmers and their livestock share much of the same habitat as the snow leopards. The snow leopard’s diet includes wild sheep, goats, and other large mammals of comparable size, but is not limited to these larger animals.
The tail on every snow leopard is more than a yard long, and they do not roar like another other big cat. The usually age for a snow leopard is no older than 15 years old and they can leap horizontally about 45 feet in distance. Habitat Destruction Snow leopards live in the high rugged mountains of Central Asia while their habitat covers 2 million Km2 which is the approximate size of Greenland or Mexico. Their habitat extends through 12 different countries, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. China happens to contain a total of 60% of the habitats compared to those areas.
Bio 100 Homework due 11/05/12 Name : Nicholas Oliveira Go to the website on cheetah conservation www.Cheetah.org and read the following sections under the tabs About Cheetahs: Intro, Genetic Diversity, & Race for Survival 1. Why are cheetahs endangered? Our attitudes and misconceptions about these species have led to their endangerment because many people deal with their fear by eliminating predators. 2. What are the 5 most common causes of extinction?
(They live in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America.) It is also said that “they are especially vulnerable to the effects of forest fragmentation.” (2) Another reason that some Spider Monkeys are endangered is because of the threat of hunters. People of the same habitat as Spider Monkeys often hunt them for food. A big reason why they are so attractive as food to others is because of their huge size, with them being able to reach 24 pounds in weight as a mature male. Although the Spider Monkeys are suffering every day because of their loss of habitat and the threat of their hunters.
On the contrary, even a Chihuahua puppy the breeder considers extremely large would probably weight less than two and one-half pound at eight weeks of age. It is common to have a six-month-old Chihuahua that only weighs three pounds. Until a Chihuahua puppy is several months old he or she must have high quality food and fresh water available at all times. Because Chihuahua puppies have very tiny bodies, they should never be placed on a timed feeding schedule. In opposition to this, in a regulation on the number of hours it may be safe to withhold food from an animal, the IATA states that a pet can be without additional feeding for up to 12 hours after the flight is airborne (“International Air Transport Association”).
I am very much against foxhunting because I think it is a cruel and unnecessary. Foxhunters kill foxes only for ‘sport’ and amusement, and because of the exhaustion, terror and trauma inflicted on the victim, the death of the fox itself, is violent and painful. Foxhunters argue that foxes are pests and their numbers need to be controlled. They say that even controlled fox populations still cause problems. A survey financed by the Countryside Alliance showed that in spite of control, 30% of farmers had experienced significant losses from foxes in the preceding twelve months.
The Amur leopard is a distinct subspecies of leopard and one of the most endangered big cats on Earth. The situation surrounding its conservation is critical, and its population in the wild is small and rapidly decreasing in size. Though it is far more endangered than the Amur tiger, it receives much less attention than its close cousin and few have heard of it or its precarious state. The Amur leopard’s habitat now spans about 5000 square km and the last remaining viable wild population consists of less than 40 individuals in the province of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The leopard’s habitat once extended through north-eastern (‘Manchurian’) China, including Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, and throughout the Korean peninsula.
Even more are lost each year to other causes such as weather or disease, 21,100 in 2012, plus 3,600 dead from unknown causes. So of a total of 43,000 head of sheep lost in 2012, 300, or 0.698% were killed by wolves. These facts lead me to believe that wolves are not the threat to livestock that many ranchers make them out to be and. In fact, wolves are beneficial to the ecosystem because they effectively regulate prey populations without the need for human intervention, and to the livelihood of the very ranchers who oppose their reintroduction by removing coyotes (the actual number one killer of livestock) from the top of the food chain. After conducting this research, it is my belief that reintroducing wolves to Rocky Mountain National Park will be of benefit to all parties involved, humans and animals
A major concern to non scientists is the danger to domestic animals and livestock. The panthers have reportedly been killing goats, sheep, llamas, and dogs. Many individuals also feel the endangered animal needs help because
Moreover, the Amur Leopard has longer legs than normal leopards, these long legs helps the leopard walk in and through snow easily. One of the environmental conditions that is affecting the Amur Leopard, is lighting the forests to turn into grassland for farming. By lighting up the forests the people are destroying the habitat of this species. Furthermore, by building natural gas pipelines, roads, and railway networks, humans are not allowing Amur Leopards live in their territory, and also not letting them have more space to roam. Logging can also contribute to these problems.