African Animals on Endangered Species List - Paper Example

Most of the recognizable wild animals today are fighting to survive which has brought worries to most parts of the world as they may be extinct in the future. For instance, tigers are fewer than 4,000 and the number keeps declining each year indicating that they could disappear from the wild in some years. Africa is one of the most visited tourist destination continents because of the presence of wild animals it has commonly in East Africa. Most of the wild animals are however becoming endangered due to factors such as poaching and low reproduction rates, which poses a great threat to the national parks in the continent. Black rhinos, chimpanzees, African wild dog and the northern white rhino are some of the most endangered wild animals in Africa.

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Black rhinos

The wild animals are the most endangered animals from Sothern Africa. There are three existing subspecies of Black Rhino, south-western, East African and southern central black rhinos because the fourth species, West African black rhino, was declared extinct in 2011. The West African black rhino lived in Central-west Africa in the savanna habitats. In the world, only 4880 black rhinos exist according to IUCN data in 2010. There are various characteristics of the black rhinoceros. It is a solitary loner as it likes traveling on its own. It feeds on plants, twigs, and herbs as well as bathing in mud and water to cool off its skin during summer months. The black rhinos in Africa are found in Namibia, Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa (Wessels, p. 5). The main threats that have affected the black rhinos are a loss of habitat and hunting practices by European settlers in the 20th century. Poaching has also been rampant as poachers target to get the rhino horn illegally for international trade. There has been war and civil unrest in some African communities where the rhinos may be living, and the increase of weapons in the areas has facilitated the killings of the animals thus their decline in Africa. There have been measures put across by various national parks to prevent poaching practices such as the killing of poachers, burning of any horns found being transported and support programs to make donations that assist in taking care of the rhinos.

The Black rhinos have dark patches on their skin which make them appear dark hence the name black rhinos. The rhinoceros horns have been deemed to have healing powers while others use them to decorate their homes. Some people have used them to make a special tea that relieves fever, impotence, cancer and hangovers which have made many people believe in having rhino horns. Their horns have been used for ornamental carvings as well. The horns are very expensive nevertheless, and it has been used to indicate wealth in some countries. Some of the rich have triggered the killing of rhinos by purchasing the horns. People have also encroached into the habitats of the rhinos. The human population is growing and rising drastically, and people have begun settling outside cities, and some find their way into wildlife habitats (Shogren and John, p. 250). For instance in Kenya, some pastoralists live within the national parks and have been used by poachers to perpetrate rhino killings for the horns. In return, they are offered huge sums of money however they pose a great threat to the extinction of the animals. Law enforcement to prevent poaching, translocation of the rhinos to more secure areas and security monitoring have been some of the ways that have been used to ensure the black rhinos are conserved.

African wild dog

It is the second most endangered carnivore. The wild dog is commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa and the dogs majorly live in groups of 10 to 40 members. The largest numbers of African wild dogs are found in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and the southern parts of East Africa (Murphy, p. 57). The animals hunt during the day and mainly target antelopes, warthogs, and wildebeests. The major threat of the African wild dogs is lions. They always win jungle battles against the dogs that at times leads to the death of the dogs during the fights. Hyenas have also become a threat to these animals. Hyenas wait until the dog's hunt and kill other animals for food and later come and take the food by themselves leaving the dogs with an environment to live in. The encroachment of animals such as lions and hyenas into their habitats makes them find new places to live.

Habitat loss causes African wild dog endangerment which could result in extinction shortly. Human beings have also relocated to some of the habitats of the African wild dog thus being other agents of habitat loss (Jackson, p. 1436). Additionally, farmers have hunted the dogs by believing that they attack their livestock. When farmers hunt them over the years, it may lead to extinction. The wild dogs have also encountered infectious diseases contracted from captive dogs that have become major threats to their survival. The African Wildlife Foundation has educated the community on ways of guarding their local wildlife to ensure that African wild dogs are safe and chances of becoming extinct are minimized. Communities have also been helped to construct bomas where livestock are enclosed to prevent predators attacking them. Farmers, therefore, minimize the chances of killing the African wild dogs when their livestock are attacked. People relocating to areas where the African wild dogs live being restricted to avoid human-animal conflict (Jenkins et al., p. 240). In South Africa, there is a predator-proof fence around small reserves that confines the dogs to the reserve and prevents human beings from interfering with the animals habitats. The main challenge is a lack of measures to stop the spread of diseases within the dogs as well as treating those that are already infected. It is hard to control wild animals as one would with domestic ones hence the spread of diseases poses a great threat to the extinction of the dogs.

Chimpanzees

Human beings share over 98% of their DNA with chimpanzees however the animals are not treasured as much hence being listed among the most endangered African animals species list. The common chimpanzee has been endangered since 1996 which is about two decades. They are only found in Africa and about 150,000 are the remaining chimpanzees in the world. The common countries one would find chimpanzees are Benin, Gambia, Togo and Burkina Faso. They behave similarly to humans because they easily learn sign language and use their fingers, hands, and arms in communication. Chimpanzees do not have tails like monkeys do. They feed on nuts, eggs, bugs, insects and tree barks. They also hunt for antelopes or goat and later distribute the meat among their families. One can find the chimpanzees in forests because they like climbing trees.

The biggest threat facing the animals is chopping down of trees to create firewood. They live in forests but human beings are exploiting the forests by cutting down the trees and forests may be no more within years, which may cause the extinction of the chimpanzees (Nakamura, p. 679). People have used the habitats of chimpanzees for settlement which greatly affects their natural habitats. Some people start farming or mining in such areas thus making them lose their homes. The animals may also lose their lives when human beings poison their crops to protect them from being raided. The trend is increasing as more forests are being converted into plantations or agricultural feeds hence chimpanzees will go on suffering. Poaching is another threat facing them. The bush meat is a delicacy common in West and Central Africa. Poachers have targeted the adult chimpanzees among other apes and later sold the chimpanzees meat to wealthy urban occupants in Europe, Africa, and the United States. The young chimpanzees are poached and sold to homes as pets or to foreign countries zoos hence making poaching a huge contributor to the decline of the animals in Africa.

Diseases have greatly affected chimpanzees. For instance, between 1994 and 2003, 98 percent of the chimpanzees in the Republic of Congo and Gabon were wiped out by the Ebola virus (Fleeks and Brandi, para 3). Human diseases are also likely to affect the chimpanzees because of common genetic make-up thus people can pass their illnesses onto chimpanzees which affect their survival rates. Respiratory diseases, as well as anthrax, are infectious diseases that are common among chimpanzees. There are few or no medicine that can be used to treat animals unlike in humans which make it hard to protect the animals from diseases.

Conservation measures put across for chimpanzees include the collaboration of government entities, wildlife organizations, and research facilities to save the animals from extinction. African countries are expected to enforce the law on mining, logging and agricultural practices to ensure human beings do not interfere with the habitats of chimpanzees. Awareness has been created on how people should deal with the land as well as protect the natural resources. There are plans for chimpanzee-focused eco-tourism that focuses on stopping the illegal trade of the wild animals. Additionally, ways are being sought to reduce bush meat trade from apes, which will decrease the rate of chimpanzee killings to obtain meat from them.

In conclusion, Africa has some of the best wildlife. However, factors such as poaching have led to wild animals such as the black rhino, chimpanzees and African wild dog to be listed among African animals on endangered species list. The common reasons among these animals as to why they are on the endangered species list include poaching, habitat destruction, and animal diseases. The government entities, wildlife organizations, and research facilities have collaborated to solve the threats facing these animals. Chimpanzees have been reserved in zoos and game reserves; rhinos have been tracked while African wild dogs have been kept in a predator proof area to prevent them from poachers and predators. More research on how to save these wild animals needs to be done to ensure the animals do not face extinction.

Works cited

Fleeks, Brandi and Brandi Fleeks. "Chimpanzees: How They Have Become An Endangered Species Guardian Liberty Voice". Guardian Liberty Voice, 2014, http://guardianlv.com/2014/06/chimpanzees-how-they-have-become-an-endangered-species/.Jackson, Craig R., et al. "Evaluating habitat connectivity methodologies: a case study with endangered African wild dogs in South Africa." Landscape Ecology, vol 31, no. 7. 2016, pp. 1433-1447.

Jenkins, Eva, et al. "Home range and habitat selection of a reintroduced African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) pack in a small South African game reserve." African Journal of Wildlife Research vol 45.no.2, 2015, pp.233-246.Murphy, Alan. Southern Africa. Footscray, Vic., Lonely Planet, 2010,.Nakamura, Michio. Mahale Chimpanzees. 1st ed., 2015,.

Shogren, Jason F and John Tschirhart. Protecting Endangered Species In The United States. 1st ed., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001,.Wessels, Andre. Wildlife The South African Way. 1st ed., , Xlibris Corporation, 2013,.