First of all, what kinds of living beings do scientists consider to be extinct? Endangered animals are such kinds of organisms, whose population at the moment has a very low total number as a result of various adverse factors. Unfortunately, it should be recognized that the harmful influence almost always is either the direct human activity aimed at the destruction of this species, or the creation of conditions impossible for its survival. Of course, people affect all organisms to some extent, but not all of them die out. Species of living beings fall into the category of "endangered animals" if our negative influence is too intense. This also happens if groups of living organisms, for example, have physiological features associated with overly long maturing of an adult or a small number of offspring. As a result, the species influenced by the harmful factors of the environment does not have time to reproduce its own kind, the number is decreasing and it is dying out.
What is the Red Book and what is it for ?
Modern man perfectly understands the importance of preserving the integrity of the biosphere on our planet, every kind of animal matter. For this purpose, entire organizations dealing with environmental protection have been created, for example, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Probably, almost every sensible on earth heard the expression: "Endangered animals of the Red Book." What does it mean? There is a special project called the International Red Book. This is a list of species of plant and animal organisms under threat of extinction, it describes the negative impact factors, the number of remaining individuals and possible measures for their conservation. The main emphasis in this list, if we talk about animals, is made on vertebrates, although some types of fungi and protozoa are included in the list. The Red Book has absorbed a large body of information, not only endangered animals, but also extinct animals that have disappeared in the wild but retained in captivity, and finally those that are considered vulnerable to extinction. At the same time, lists of living creatures are mobile, new species are constantly added to the book, they are also transferred from one category to another.
So, here is a short list of "Disappearing animals of the world", and it does not represent all groups of mammals under critical threat of extinction. More than 60 thousand species in the world are listed in the Red Book.
Under the critical threat of extinction at the moment are: bison, snow leopard, Sumatran rhino, Mediterranean monk seal, Iberian lynx, red wolf, lemur vari, Javan rhino, addax, Zanzibar ducker, deer Cooley, sea otter, Florida puma , Amur tiger, gray whale, African hyena-like dog, okapi antelope, black-footed ferret, polar polar bear, Pacific walrus.
Endangered animals - this is undoubtedly a big problem. The disappearance of one species is fraught with a change in the whole ecosystem and a threat to others. Using our knowledge, we can try to keep our planet in harmony through the hard work of specialists around the world.