WILDLIFE:
All animal and plant species live independently in natural or wild conditions. They mainly are fishes, mammals, birds, and other microorganisms. They are in almost every ecosystem such as grassland, deserts, rainforests, etc.
India-motherland for a large variety of animals and home for them. It has Indian elephants, snow leopards, Indochinese leopards, different varieties of deer, lions, Bengal tigers, rhinoceros, etc…There are 120 national parks,18 bio-reserves, and 500+ bird sanctuaries, and 4 biodiversity hotspots.
IMPORTANCE OF WILDLIFE:
Its key function is balancing the entire ecosystem and environment.
Its importance is:
ecological importance, economic importance, conservation of biological diversities, gene bank, recreation, investigatory importance, etc.
1) Ecological importance:
As already said it helps in ecosystem balancing.
For E.g.:if carnivores become less in number then there will be a drastic increase in the number of herbivores and therefore there will be difficulty or scarcity of food resources for them so then they might come into crop fields and may destroy them.
Hence, if the equilibrium is disturbed then the whole diversity will face many problems.
2) Economic importance:
As we know plants and their products have abundant uses such as for medicinal purposes, food, fibers, etc, and animals for silk, meat, medicines, leathers, etc have a greater economic value.
3) Conservation of biological diversities:
Diversity in the environment can be conserved by conserving wildlife. The more the diversity the greater the ecosystem stability.
4) Investigatory importance:
Wild animals are used to test products or medicines to know their reactions. Mostly chimpanzees and monkeys are used to test.
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
The bitter truth is that many plants and animals are at threat of getting extinct. The main reasons for this are hunting, pollution, poaching, habitat loss, the introduction of foreign species, illegal trading, etc…Hunting and trading top the list among these which has become India’s biggest problem. If this continues our next coming generations would never be able to see wild species but can only see them in films or textbooks.
Wildlife conservation is a practice or an act in which the flora and fauna are protected in their natural habitats. The wildlife protection act came into play in 1972, in India, its main aim is to protect or conserve wild animal and plant species. The main aim is to make sure that our future generations should know the importance of wildlife and enjoy nature.
Major threats to wildlife:
1) changes in climate:
The very known term “global warming” is the main reason for climate change as it increases the temperature on hot days, heavy rainfall, severe droughts, stronger hurricanes, etc. It is increasing stress on wild animals by making changes in the landscape. Due to heavy rainfall, there is a disturbance caused by hibernating animals. Even natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis will also affect the wildlife.
2) Pollution:
Pollutants released by vehicles, industries, factories, etc mixed with the atmospheric air which is inhaled by the wild animals will lead to their death. Fertilizers, pesticides, and other toxic materials are used which in turn make the environment toxic to certain plants and animal species.
Wildlife Diversity. (2022, Aug 11). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/816567-2/