Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great summer!
Anyway, now that I’ve adjusted back to school and my daily routine, I’ve found time to write a short article about something that’s dear to my brother and me.
Today I want to talk a little bit about endangered species.
This is the threatened black-bellied pangolin Pangy. Photo credit: Alexis Kriel
Let me start by saying that I believe that children, no matter how big or small the problem, have the power to change the world.
As children learn more and more about what is happening around them, it starts to become a solution.
Take the species endangered issue as an example.
Even more kids than 10 years ago are trying to help.
But, unfortunately, “why should I care?” are you one of them?
A rescued sun bear lives at the Animal Asia Rescue Center in Vietnam.
Photos from OneMoreGeneration.org
Let me ask you this. When was the last time you thought about how many animals were on your “threatened” list?
Well, as of today (I just looked it up) there are nearly 24,000 species of creatures on the endangered list, and the number keeps growing.
This critically endangered animal is one of the most likely to become extinct in our lifetime.
Photo by National Geographic: Steve Raymer (Black Rhino); Joel Sartore (Socorro isopod); Joel Sartore (Giant Pangasius); Joel Sartore (Rabb’s fringe-limped tree frog); Michael Nichols (Mountain Gorilla); Stuart Thornton (California Condor); George F.
What if someone comes along and takes your yard and your pets no longer have a place to play or raise a family?
Would you sit quietly and let that happen?
No, 99.9% of us who love pets would not allow that to happen.
But guess what, that’s exactly what’s happening every day to thousands of species all over the planet.
As you know, habitat loss is one of the leading causes of endangered species worldwide.
Species around the world are losing the space and environmental conditions they need to survive, and most of us are doing nothing about it.
If this happens to our pets, we’ll all fold our arms and try to find a solution.
Photo courtesy of Thomas J.
Abercrombie, National Geographic
We should treat all species, yes, even the not-so-cute ones 😉 as if they were our own pets.
We need to take care of them, feed them properly and give them the space they need to live a comfortable life.
We all need to educate our servants around the world more about what we’re doing and understand that we need to be the voice of the voiceless.
Olivia Ries is a National Geographic Society Youth Empowerment writer.
Along with her younger brother Carter, she encouraged others to “make a difference… if they can do it, you can too.” Check out the TEDxYouth presentation along with the website at OneMoreGeneration.org and ‘Like’ the FaceBook page as well 😉