Monday, February 27, 2012

Endangered Species-Corey Milewski

Endangered Species-


http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/giantpanda/panda.html



Picture: This is a Giant Panda. It is the rarest of the bear family and is endangered. 

Summary: Giant Panda's are loved universally but their future does not look good. The Giant Panda lives in China and as there economy grows the Panda's habitat is affected.   They are building roads and railroads through their habitats. The building of roads and railroads also fragments their habitat. The Giant Panda is also being poached like many other animals. The Chinese Government then made over 55 Panda reserves which helped protect more then 60 percent of the Panda's. It protected over 2.5 million acres of land. It is critical to protect the Panda's because it helps with biodiversity conservation. In 2004 there was less then 1,600 Panda's in the wild. Foundations like the WWF are working to increase the habitats, creating corridors to link isolated panda's, patrolling against poaching, and are continuing to monitor the Panda's. 

Opinion/Reflection: I don't think people realize what they are doing by putting in railroads and roads. It is destroying their habitat causing them to be endangered. Also it is crazy that people are poaching these animals. I personally think they are very cute and its hard to believe that people are killing them. I think it is great what the chinese government and the WWF are doing to protect them. I hope to see an increase in population of the Panda in years to come!


Questions: 
1- Do you think enough is being done for the Panda's? Why? 
2- Is there something you can do to help endangered species?
3- How do you feel about animals being poached? Explain. 

6 comments:

  1. Opinion/Reflection: I agree with Corey when he says that he thinks it is awful that people are harming and even killing the pandas. It is surprising that because of the Chinese Government creating reserves it has protected 60% of pandas and 2.5 million acres of land. I never would have thought that something that minor could impact the lives of so many pandas. I am glad that I got a chance to read this summary, because it was very interesting.

    Answer to Question 1: I think that things are being done for pandas, but there is definitely a lot of room to improve. The Chinese Government and the WWF are creating a good start, but I believe that if people see how much can be done to help them, they will. I think it is important to keep pandas safe because they are an animal that deserves to survive. Also, if they get extinct, they are adding onto animals that get extinct everyday, which soon may become a mass extinction.

    Expansion: You talked in your summary about the WWF, and it interested me so I found a website that gives more information about them and what they do to protect animals. Here it is: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/index.html

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    1. I would also like to add that in class we learned that people are starting to set up conservations to keep the threatened animals extinct just like they are doing so with the giant pandas.

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  2. opinion/reflection: I think this happens to many species around the world how they just get trampled over and no one notices until they are crying for help. It is such a shame that this is happening and i think before the builders start building they should know what they are killing and all the harmful effects of it. Corey made a great point by saying that it is critical that we protect the Panda's because it truly is because without Pandas we are losing more and more biodiversity and that is bad for the safety of all organisms. I am so glad there are people like the WWF that are working to help preserve Pandas and I think we need a lot more of that around the world to help preserve endangered species everywhere.

    Answer to question 1: I certainly do think things are being done for Panda's but not enough. There could be a lot more help to help preserve them. But that is easier said than done and i think this is a good starting place. But as we progress i think it is crucial that we not only help preserve Panda's but to endangered and threatened species all around the world. With all of the organisms becoming extinct every year we need to do more to preserve our biodiversity.

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  3. I think it is really sad that all these pandas are being poached and that their habitats are being destroyed. I am really glad though that the government is making efforts to help protect the pandas. I was really surprised when I heard that there were only 1600 pandas in the wild. I don't think it is fair to the pandas and the destruction of pandas needs to be stopped. Like Corey said, i hope to see a population increase of the pandas.

    answer to question 3: I think it is really sad that these animals are being poached. Also, I don't think it's fair for the animals because they aren't doing anything wrong.

    1: What other animals around the world are becoming endangered because of poaching?
    2: How long would it take for the population of pandas to increase if they are completely protected?
    3: When did they pandas start becoming extinct?

    http://www.chinatravel.com/facts/china-overview/chinese-indigenous-wildlife/crested-ibis/

    This is an article about a different endangered species in China.

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  4. Opinion/Reflection: I agree with your reflection Corey. People really don't realize what they doing when they build more railroads and roads for their selfish needs. I heard that panda's were becoming extinct but I didn't realize how important it was. I'm glad that China is helping out the panda's and I hope more is done to help them. It's funny that the panda is well known throughout the world but we waited until they almost reached extinction to reach out and help them. Nice job Corey!

    Answer to #3: It makes me sick that people can do that to animals and not care. I would never be able to do that or approve that because it is harming and taking animals lives that are need in the environment. If I was the panda I would not want anything like that to happen to me. I hope that no one continues to do that.

    http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/solutions/pandasuccess/

    I found and article that shows that the population of pandas are increasing ever since people have started to help the pandas. This is also a website from WWF the foundation you mentioned corey, that helps the pandas.

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  5. i would like to add to my post that when species are lost that decreases biodiversity. In class we learned that without a high amount of biodiversity in ecosystems that it can cause the ecosystems to be more easily destroyed by disasters. So we need to stop driving species to extinction.

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