MeaghanL

media type="custom" key="5762611"media type="file" key="vozme.mp3" width="240" height="20"media type="youtube" key="0VscjSg_imo" height="385" width="480"media type="youtube" key="gtl82URPJsE" height="385" width="480"media type="custom" key="5690405"media type="custom" key="5669515"**These pictures show just some of the endangered animals. There are so many more species out there, that are nearly extinct. People need to stop poaching helpless animals. They are such beautiful creatures that truely need to be left alone! There are "groups" out there tht spend their lifes helping out endangered animals,some of the most famous groups are The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).**

**Hunting and trading are some of the main reasons that threaten the lives of many innocent living creatures on Earth. People kill animals or plants just for the fun of it, or for trading. Many of them do it illegally, or poaching. People kill animals for their fur, oil, body parts, and many other things in order to fatten their wallet. These things then, are turned into fur coat, cosmetics, perfume, oil for lamps, and traditional medicines.
 * Many animals and plants become endangered or extinct each year. Recently, however, the rate of them dying out increased dramatically. It is estimated that 27,000 species become extinct each year, about 3 an hour. Since 1996, scientists calculated that 124 types of amphibians, 1,108 types of birds, 734 types of fish, 1,096 types of mammals, and 253 types of reptiles became endangered.**

The tiger has been overly hunted for its bone because some people think that the bone has some magical healing power. Now the worldwide population of tiger is not doing so well. Some exotic birds are dying out because of trading. They get shipped around the world. While they are being sent, some die. Others don't adjust to the new environment also die.

An example of people hunting animals just for sport and excitement was the American bison. There were more than 60 million bison living in North America a few hundred years ago. However, when the new settlers came over they hunted them for food and clothing. Later the bison was just killed for the enjoyment of the hunters. Millions of them die in just a short time. Now, there are only handfuls of them remaining.**