Chapter 12 Questions
1. A) Population growth affects biodiversity because as the number of people grow more resources
are being consumed therefore more species are at risk to be threatened.
B) Poverty affects biodiversity because if one can’t afford to buy meat or food from the market
they’re more likely to poach an animal. In Africa the amount of Bushmeat being consumed is
high because they can’t afford to buy food. This has depleted much of the local gorillas,
orangutan and chimpanzee.
C) Climate change affects biodiversity because as the climate changes animals cant adapt to the
changes fast enough killing them off as the change get more and more with animals not being
able to survive the climate they don’t have a chance of life.
2. “Eventually all species become extinct. Thus it does not really matter that the passenger pigeon
is extinct and that the whooping crane, the California condor and the world’s remaining
rhinoceros and tiger species are endangered mostly because of human activities.”
I don’t agree with this quote because animals have the right to live they may not affect humans
directly or even benefit them but that doesn’t mean they should all just die. I believe that
humans have the right to do as they please but should keep the animals in mind while they’re
doing it. If most of the animals go extinct how much fun would a ride through the woods be if all
you saw were trees. Animals make it an adventure and exciting to make the trip in hope that
you’ll see a wild species.
3. A) I accept the ethical position that each species has the ethical position to survive without
human interference regardless if it serves a purpose to humans because if we allowed the all the
species to die off the nature around us wouldn’t be much nature at all. Even animals that carry
diseases such as mosquitos that transmit malaria have the right to live. We don’t kill off people
just because they have AIDS. Every living thing has the right to live no matter what.
B) I believe each individual animal species has the right to survive because they have been on
earth for a very long time in areas humans haven’t been of have disrupted in the past 50 years. I
would even extend this to microorganisms and tigers that have killed people because if humans
didn’t disturb the tigers habitat they probably wouldn’t have been killed. Humans have
disturbed more species habitat than can be counted this displaces they tigers and other species
making them have to work harder to find their food source. For these reasons I believe that all
species have the right to live.
4. I would agree with using animals for research because research allows for us to learn about
new species. Currently, for every mammal or marine species 1 out of every 1-10 million goes
extinct in a year. Most of these species aren’t discovered until after they’ve been found to be
extinct.
I would disagree with keeping animals captive in a zoo or aquarium, as it depletes the
biodiversity on the planet and reduces chances for reproduction. This will increase the chance of
extinction.
I disagree with killing surplus animals produced by a captive-breeding program in a zoo when no
suitable habitat is available for their release because the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was
created to protect all animals that may be threatened or endangered. These animals are a part
of the world’s biodiversity, killing them could cause their species to become threatened.
5. If my yard and house are invaded by fire ants I would spray a repellant around the foundation
of my house to keep the ants out, and then I would clean around the house to make sure that
whatever it was that attracted them to the house is gone.
If I find bats flying around my yard at night, I would find the source of food or resource that they
seek and move it away from my yard, and hopefully somewhere further into the woods. The
bats will not be harmed and neither will my yard.
If deer invade my yard and eat my shrubs and vegetables, I would put up fences around the
shrubs and vegetables to keep the deer out. This will not harm the deer, and it will save my
yard.
6. The following statement that best describes my feelings toward wildlife is E) Wildlife should
be protected. Humans are destroying the wildlife and biodiversity on earth as we industrialize
the world. Habitats and ecosystems are destroyed every day and there is no one to stop it.
7. My three favorite wild species are the snow leopard, the jaguar, and the tiger. I like wild cats
because they’re strong and very agile hunters. They’re relatively big animals and they all have
cool patterns and designs on their fur. If you watch videos of them while they’re hunting its very
interesting to see how they stock their prey and then chase them. I think the reason I like these
species is because I like the hunting animals in wildlife.
8. I think that in a situation like this there are not many compromises, you either go with one
side or the other. If I was going to have to make this decision I would have to know how
important the squirrel species is to the forest, if it was a critical species then I would say that the
timber company can’t cut there. However, if the squirrel species doesn’t have a very important
role in the ecosystem then I would choose to allow the timber company to cut the forest.
9. Resource extractors such as Timber companies oppose this development because it helps
protect wildlife in the country. When that happens it can make it a lot harder for the timber
companies, along with other natural resource extraction companies, to get the resources they
need.
10. The first thing we would do is make sure we can designate and certain land area for their
habitat and also make sure it’s well protected. Next thing we would do is to try and get a law
passed so that nobody can hunt or harm our species in order to protect it from hunters. Then
we would create groups of specialist on our species that would spend their time taking care of
the ones who are hurt or maybe no longer wild. Hopefully performing these three tasks we
would be able to successfully prevent the extinction of our species.