An Essay Explaining the Definition of Extinction

There are hundreds of thousands of mammals on the planet; I will be journeying through the existence of wolves. From the evolution of the species to the extinction of some. I will explore why there are so few of the tain species of wolves. I will also study those who want to preserve the wolves rather than those who want to hunt them for sport or money. There are humans in this world who say “Why should I care about some pest like a wolf? They’re dangerous beasts anyway!” What they do not know is why tales of bloblood-thirstylves exist; I want to explain why.

Humans who hunt wolves for sport or form fur are only looking at wolves through their eyes; they do not see what kind of creature they are turning into themselves.

If the human race keeps treating wild wolves like the trash they throw away, more and more wolves will become extinct until there are no more wolves left in the wild.

Locating articles on wolf extinction proved to be difficult. So, I had to refine my search to different viewpoints on wolf extinction. I looked for articles that contained information about conservation methods, what extinction is defined as, and whether genetics take part in the extinction of a species or variations of a species. Even after I decided to further process the search I had to sift through hundreds of articles to find ones that were adequate for me to explain the matter at hand.

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The scientific term for a wolf is Canis. There are several species in the Canis family, including the jackal and the common household dog. Canis lupus or Grey Wolf is the most common and extensive of the wolf species, having several subspecies. (“Wolf”) The wolf plays a significant role in not just the environment but also several religions and mythologies. In Ancient Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus were raised by Lupa the wolf goddess who trains Roman demigods. Lupa was highly respected and feared; she treated the young demigods as any wolf pack would treat the young, if they were weak they did not survive and were killed.

Wolf packs kill the young if they are weak because in the wild the pack must be strong if it is going to survive. I assume that wolf packs want to stay as close as they can for as long as they can.

I asked myself; what is extinction exactly? Extinction as stated by Philip’s Encyclopedia is the “dying out of a species or population”. In less recent history there have been several mass extinctions when several species go extinct at once; the most common one explored is the dinosaurs. In today’s time, however, there are several debates about how extinctions are happening. One of the leading causes though is humans; they overkill or overhunt, the animals despite laws and regulations to help prevent it from happening. One case of overkill comes from the British Isles when around 1740 the wolf became extinct.

A lot of the articles that were being grouped in with the wolf extinction search were about conservation; so, I looked up what that was all about. I found out that conservation has a key part when discussing extinction. Conservation, according to The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia, [is the protection of the earth. It takes form in the prevention of further damaging the environment, recycling, and replacing used resources. It takes shape in several different manners, such as the protection of animals, plants, and natural resources] (“What is Conservation?”). Some individuals think that all humans’ have to do is save the species’ habitat then everything will work out. Those who believe that get that from the notion of “unless the habitat is preserved it may not be worth saving the individual animal” (Extinction: A Race against Time). People then say ‘there are national parks, the animals there are protected. Well of course they are, legally the animals are not to be touched; poachers do not know of rules (“Beattie Mollie”).

As mentioned earlier tales of wolves have been told for centuries, in several religions and mythologies. In medieval times hunting was not only a source to get food, for nobles it was a sport. Hunting boars, deer, wolves and other large animals was also a way for men to keep their instincts in top top-performingdition. Hunting wolves was either a way of getting rid of them for eating cattle or seen as a way of conquering some kind of terror that had crept its way into the mind of one person or a town. Nowadays people are hunting wolves because they grew up hearing all of these stories about vicious, bloodthirsty, and savage beasts that love the taste of human flesh. While it is true that wolves can be territorial, they are usually rather shy creatures especially when it comes to being around humans. If there is a pack they would typically only get agitated if there were pups with them or if humans were getting too close to their ground.

Examining all of these different aspects of the extinction of wolves I have learned quite a few things. Extinction is simply the eradication of a species, they die out. But there are humans in the world who are attempting to make an effort to prevent species from becoming extinct. “Many zoos have greatly aided conservation” by helping out researchers find ways to cross-breed variations of the same species (“The Role of Genetics in Conservation”). One research team discovered that the red wolf is a cross breed between coyotes and grey wolves. National parks are also giving enormous support to conservation, especially for wolves in Yellowstone National Park. As with everything, some humans want to help and some humans want to wreak havoc; there are humans in the world that think of wolves as trophies. They hunt them for fun and then display them like Olympic medals. Tragically, some individuals act like that towards animals who struggle to survive every day like every other living thing on the planet.

But it does give wolves a glimpse at hope for the humans who are working in their favor. I think that some are doing it to achieve awards for their work, but most are trying to save a dying race of just one of earth’s many amazing creatures.

Works Cited

1. “Beattie Mollie.” (http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/ghael/beattie mollie/0) American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 23 Sep 2014.
2. “Extinction.” (http://serach.credoreferecnce.com/content/entry/helioconhe/extinction/0) The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abington: Helicon, 2014. Credo Reference. Web. 23 Sep 2014.
3. “Extinction: A Race Against Time.” (http://serach.credoreferecnce.com/content/entry/heliconhe/extinction a race against ti me/0) The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abington: Helicon, 2014. Credo Reference. Web. 23 Sep 2014.
4. “The Role of Genetics in Conservation.” (http://serach.credoreferecnce.com/content/entry/heliconhe/the role of genetics in cons ervation/0) The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abington: Helicon, 2014. Credo Reference. Web. 25 Sep 2014.
5. “What is Conservation?.” (http://serach.credoreferecnce.com/content/entry/heliconhe/what is conservation/0) The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abington: Helicon, 2014. Credo Reference. Web. 25 Sep 2014. “Wolf.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Credo Reference. Web. 29 Sep 2014.
6. “Wolves.” The Princeton Encyclopedia of Mammals. London: Windmill Books (Andromeda International), 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 30 Sep 2014.