Many creatures on earth are in danger of becoming extinct. There are fewer and fewer of them every year. Often the cause is man, through hunting, or killing, or just destroying habitats.
Here are a few of the creatures that are endangered, and what's being done to try to save them.
 Marine Turtles
by Jennifer S.
Marine turtles live in Hawaii, Florida, and Australia. For most of their lives they live in the water. Marine turtles are endangered due to a loss of nesting habitats to humans. Also, turtle eggs are very valuable; the eggs are said to be superior to chicken eggs. The meat of the turtle is considered a delicacy in some countries. Marine turtles are very vulnerable to raccoons when young, who destroy as much as 70% of the turtles' nests. Other predators are foxes, gulls, and sharks. Sometimes turtles are killed by nets used for catching shrimp or fish, and by harsh chemicals dumped in the ocean. We can help these marine turtles by watching for their nests and not destroying them, not touching the eggs, and not dumping chemicals into the ocean (which also kills other marine life).
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 Wolverines (Gulo gulo) by Aaron H.
Wolverines are found in many parts of the world, including Canada. They live in thick spruce forests, and eat meat, like squirrels, birds, mice, and small deer.
Wolverines were mostly killed off by over-trapping; people killed them because they were a nuisance around livestock.
To help bring the population back up, a law has been put in place that says that before you can legally trap and sell wolverines, you must buy a tag that you tag them with after they are caught.
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 The American Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by Josh W.
Haliaeetus leucocephalus (meaning (halo) eagle, (aeetos) with a white, (leukos) head) or 'bald eagle' is one of the most widely recognized birds in the United States. This bird has been sought after for many years and therefore is almost extinct. Many measures have been taken to try and help save this bird, but to save it, we need to know some facts about it.
80% of all Bald Eagles live in Alaska, where the habitat has not been much interfered with. The American bald eagle is endangered because of people. Aside from hunting, people have unknowingly harmed the eagles because we have ruined their natural habitat, depriving them of food and shelter. For eagles to flourish, they need not us, but our absence. To save the eagle, the United States Congress declared it an endangered species, and illegal to hunt. National parks have been set up to help preserve the eagles and their habitats. The eagles will come off the endangered species list in July of 2000, but will still be protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Do eagles migrate? Some do, others do not. The ones that do have complex migratory systems that depend on rising columns of air called thermals. When migrating, eagles can reach speeds up to 50 km/h. The main reason for migration is to find open water. If eagles can find open water, they will usually stay near it, unless the air temperature drops too far.
Eagles have excellent eyesight. They have two foveae, which allow the eagles to see both forwards and to the side at the same time.
Bald eagles have 7,000 feathers, which are made from keratin. Their feathers are also layered.
More information about eagles can be found at http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/
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 The Jaguar (Panthera onca) by Ryan J.
The Jaguar lives deep in the Amazon region, and it commonly eats fish, frogs, turtles, and small alligators. The Panthera onca ranges from the southwestern United States to Argentina. It can be found as far south as Patagonia.
Jaguars contain eight subspecies, all of which are endangered. Many are extinct except those in zoos, where they are successfully bred. The biggest reason why Jaguars are endangered is due to overhunting for their fur, and the loss of their habitat due to the clearing of the forests for farmland.
People are trying to capture jaguars so they can breed the animals, so they can be returned to the wild. They are also trying to stop the overhunting of the jaguars, so maybe the population will start to grow again as time goes on.
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 Wolves (Canis lupus) by Tyler S.
Gray wolves can be found in Canadian
forests and further up into the Alaskan wilderness. You can also find them in Yellowstone National Park. There are also a few gray wolves through
Montana, and also in North and South Dakota. You find the Red wolf in the state
of North Carolina in the national parks there. You can find the Mexican gray wolf
being reintroduced into the wild in Arizona. But all wolves are endangered, and their numbers are declining rapidly in some areas; in other places, with man's help, they are doing better.
One of the main reasons wolves are endangered is because of human
persecution and habitat destruction. The wolf almost became extinct because of the heavy trapping and poisoning in the 1940's and the 1950's.
But the gray wolf is being bred in captivity, and can't be hunted in all of the states and places that they are now living in the wild. Because of this, gray wolf is making a comeback; its population is now so large in Yellowstone National Park that they are going to soon take some of the larger packs of wolves and turn them into the wild in the Northern Canadian and Alaskan Forests, and they are hoping they will be able to reproduce as fast as they have done in the park.
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The Tiger (Panthera tigris) by Zain L.
Tigers are mostly located in Asia. The reason why the tigers are becoming endangered is because of the loss of their habitat due to the spread of man, and because of poaching. Tiger skins and body parts are considered valuable as medicines in some parts of the world, but are illegal to posess in more 'civilized' nations.
There are many things happening to stop the killing of tigers. You can donate money to organizations to help save the tigers that are still left on the earth. It is estimated that there will soon be more tigers in zoos and circuses than there are in the wild.
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 The Lynx by Chris K.
Why is the lynx on the verge of extinction?
This is mainly because of trapping for fur, and because their habitat
is slowly disappearing due to logging.
Lynx live all over the globe. They like forests to live in
and have their young. In order to prevent their eventual extinction,
their habitat is being preserved. Less trapping is being done.
They are also being born in captivity and being released back
into the wild.
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 The Shark by Robin S.
Sharks live all around the world. Sharks are endangered because of their environment and it's conditions ... pollution and deforestation, as well as by the fishing practice of 'finning', or taking only the shark's fins and returning it to the water to die. (Shark fins are eaten in some countries).
What is being done to help preserve and protect sharks? There are foundations whose job is protecting sharks, by mostly changing the public's opinion. Most people think of "Jaws", a purely fictional movie based on a vicious shark that couldn't exist (and wouldn't behave like that) when they think about this creature. Shark foundations are also studying these animals thoroughly for more information on their behavior, breeding, and the future of this animal.
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