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Site:
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Issues
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Games, Activates and Graphics
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- Myth: Extinction is a “natural” process and we should not worry about
it.
- Fact: Extinction is a normal process, but the current extinction rate is
not. Scientists estimate that natural extinction rates are one species lost
every 100 years! Today, more than 200 animal species in the United States
are classified as endangered. More than 1,000 animal species are endangered
worldwide. Aquatic species, which are often overlooked, are facing serious
trouble. One third of the United States’ fish species, two-thirds of its
crayfish species, and almost three-quarters of its mussel species are in
trouble.
- Myth: Billions of tax dollars are being spent on endangered species.
- Fact: In Fiscal Year 1996, the annual budget for the nationwide
endangered species program was approximately $.06 billion. This amounts to
an average of 23 cents per person in the United States. By comparison,
Americans spent over $8.2 billion in 1992 on pets, pet food and pet supplies
and the amount has grown since then (U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical
Abstract of the U.S. 1997). Meanwhile, FWS and National Marine Fisheries
Service expenditures on recovery planning are quite limited and should be
increased. In FY 1999 only 30% of the total endangered species budget went
to recovery planning.
- Myth: Most endangered species are worthless, insignificant, lower forms
of life that have no value to humanity.
- Fact: Size and emotional appeal have no bearing on a species’
importance.
- Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife management, said it well in his
book The Sand County Almanac:
“The last word in ignorance is the
man who says of an animal or plant:
‘What good is it?’ If the land
mechanisms as a whole is good, then
every part is good, whether we
understand it or not. If the biota, in the
course of aeons, has built
something we
like but do not understand, then who but a
fool would
discard seemingly useless
parts? To keep every cog and wheel is
the
first precaution of intelligent
tinkering.”
Some other links for more
information:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services: Endangered Species
Information
Print Coloring and Fact Pages for kids here
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