Endangered Species

I have selected endangered species as my topic because no matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment. One of the articles that I have selected covers multiple attacks that have been made by gray wolves killing huge quantity of valuable cattle and other livestock and whether or not they should be removed for the endangered species list.

The other defines and talks about endangered species themselves and the reason that the endangered species list was created in the first place.Endangered Species Author: Current EventsTitle: Man versus WildDocument type: Article (Informational)Primary audience: Educational| Author: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Title: Endangered speciesDocument type: Encyclopedia (Informational)Primary audience: Educational| | | In a search that I did in the AIU library, I can across an article from an informational magazine called” Current Events”. This is an informational article where the primary audience is teachers and students. They talk about a particular animal that is currently on the endangered species list called the gray wolf.According to the article, “In 2008, the U. S.

Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) suggested that the gray wolf population had recovered to the point at which it no longer needed to be listed in some states” (Current Events, 9/27/2010). But according to the article, some wildlife protection groups took action to put an end to the proposal. The gray wolf was first put on the endangered species list by the USFWS in 1974. But according to estimates given by experts that the magazine collected the research from, “There are 1,700 gray wolves in Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.I came up with the thesis statement of “No matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment”. In Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, there are about 4,000, and gray wolves have been spotted in Colorado, Utah, and as far east as New England” (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Now the USFWS is making its’ fourth attempt to remove the gray wolf from the list in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan but Michigan and Wisconsin are both asking to decrease the wolf population by ten percent annually from the government.

And a U. S. representative from Texas is proposing to ban the gray wolf from being listed as endangered or threatened in any state from the Endangered Species Act. But quite a few wildlife protection organizations oppose any change in the status and still say a wolf recovery plan is still needed even though there are reports of losses in Montana and Idaho. One case where a Montana rancher lost “at least three calves, valued at $2,400, to the Horse Creek wolf pack before wildlife officials took action” (Current Events, 9/27/2010).The McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology defines an endangered species as “A species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. “Threatened species” is a related term, referring to a species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.

The main factors that cause species to become endangered are habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, and overexploitation” (McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (2004). “The evidence of a recovery for the gray wolf is as plain as day,” says U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont. ), who supports Edwards’s proposal. “Yet Montana … wildlife managers have their hands tied when it comes to managing the predator.

” (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Currently gray wolves are still on the endangered species list and can only be killed with the governments permission or by an authorized government agent as they deem necessary, but quite a few wildlife officials feel that the wolf population is stable however and are ready to “pull the trigger when packs pose problems” and believe that “part of having wolves is having o kill wolves,” Mark Collinge, director for Wildlife Services in Idaho, told The Associated Press (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Some wildlife advocates say that man will always come out as top dog in the battle of humans versus wolf and that human activity, hunting, and trapping put the gray wolf on the endangered species list in the first place. And there is the possibility of the wolves becoming endangered again if they were to be removed from the list. And some wildlife advocates still don’t agree that their population is large enough to recover from harsh winters and disease if humans are a threat as well.And simply reintroducing a certain number of wolves back into a particular region may not be enough according to Humane Society of the United States (Current Events, 9/27/2010). So in conclusion, both the USFWS and wildlife protection groups will have to at some point come together at look at what is best for both the gray wolf and also what is best for the people that have to live in the regions that are populated by the gray wolf and come to a joint decision about the final action to be take in order to keep both parties out of harm’s way.This article agrees with my thesis statement of “because no matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment” because it is giving both sides of the story that is presented and giving insight as to why each side is taking the actions that have been said and giving reference points on those actions instead of just saying something to say it and not having anything to represent their case on the subject.