Threatened Species of Africa's Ecosystem

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Dr. H. Kwame Afaglo ©2010

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified some species of the ecosystem as endangered based on their availability. An endangered specie is a particular type of living organism whose population is significantly reduced and heading for its complete lost from the planet earth. Living organisms include marine, terrestrial and airborne species.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Forty per cent (40%) of all living organisms have been classified as endangered by ICUN based on an specie sampling evaluation in 2006. As a follow up to ICUN initiative, approximately a hundred and ninety nine (199) countries have sign up to the protection of organism act. Member countries of ICUN have moved on to promulgate endangered species laws in their respective countries.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Besides, civil societies have been aided by central governments in the establishment of conservations and environmental non-governmental organisations (NGO) . Environmental studies have consciously included protection of species as an integral part of the discipline at the secondary and tertiary educational levels.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem The protection of endangered species act goes to strengthen traditional African believe system of reserving a day of the week as rest day for farming, hunting and fishing, that will permit regeneration of species. Specifically, fishing is prohibited on Tuesdays and farming either on Mondays or or Fridays depending on community’s believe system.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Despite the large number of list of endangered organisms, there still are accounts of other organisms that have not been red listed as endangered species by ICUN. A list of some of the endangered species of Africa include the following: Mammals – Addax, African Wild Ass, African Wild Dog, Black Rhinoceros, Cheetah, Chimpanzee, Dama Gazelle, Ethiopian Wolf, Leopard, Mountain Zebra, Pygmy Chimpanzee, Sand Cat, Zanziba Suni among others.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Avian – Egyptian vulture, Ostrich, Pink Pigeon, Marungu Sunbird etc. Reptiles – Geometric Tortoise and African Slender-snouted Crocodile. Amphibias – African Viviparous Toad. Aquatic – Ornate Eagle Ray

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Although some species have not been listed in previous slides as Elephant, Whales and Eagles are endangered, they are listed on the ICUN. International trading in the mentioned species falls under the Wildlife Act of most African states that prohibits Ivory, animal skin heads and bones without a licence from the state Wildlife agency.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Classification of endangered species Threatened species are in various degrees and the classifications are as follows: Least concern – They are species with minimal threat to their survival, e.g. White-tailed Mongoose Near threatened – Worth considering as threatened in the near future, e.g. Blue-billed Duck, Solitary Eagle, Tiger Shark, okapi.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Conservation dependent – Though species are not severely threatened, but need conserving programmes to increase their population, e.g. Killer whale, Leopard Shark, Spotted Hyena. Vulnerable – Risk of extinction is high in the medium-term, e.g. African Golden Cat, Lion, Polar Bear, Cheetah, Komodo Dragon. Endangered – High risk of extinction in the near future, e.g. Blue Whale, African Wild Dog, Tiger, Ethiopian Wolf, Dhole, Indian Rhinoceros.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Critically endangered – Extreme high risk of disappearance from the face of the earth in the immediate future, e.g. Mountain Gorilla, Darwin’s Fox, Arakan Forest Turtle. Extinction – Disappeared from the face of the planet Earth, e.g. Passenger Pigeon, Caribbean Monk Seal, Dodo, Thylacine, etc.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Causes of organism threat of existence Having understood the balance in the ecosystem as beneficial to all factors in the environment, especially the survival of the human race as dependent on all members in the ecosystem. It is worth exploring and adapting remedial actions to reverse the Threatened state of the existence of other members of the ecosystem.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem With a significant number of the members of our ecosystem classified as endangered, the causes of the threat to their survival must be taken into consideration. Some of the notable causes include, habitat loss, pollution, disease, climate changes, human activities, among others.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Habitat loss – The major cause of the threat to the survival of organisms in the ecosystem is the lost of their home. Lost of habitat forces them to relocate and adapt to new ecosystem or they die. Besides human encroachment into other species habitat, disastrous events leads to a lot of death and significant reduction in species population.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Pollution – Human conscious activity of polluting water bodies, land and air per industrialisation is another significant cause of the reduction of the other members of the ecosystem. Fishing with chemicals as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), gaseous pollution of the air that affects the weather and in particular rain pattern, chemical disposal on soil especially

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem the disposal of nuclear waste etc, have got the attention of conservationist and environmental civil society movements. Disease – Outbreak of disease and zonotic effects, thus eventually leads to the lost of lives of some species including humans. E.g. Mad-cow disease, H1N1 strain, Avian flu, etc.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Climatic changes – Though not a rapid event gradual climate changes forces species to relocate or migrate to environments that will support their existence. With the current concept of global warming, conservationist have a growing concern for the habitat and survival of species living in the polar region.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Human activities – Hunting in all ecological systems as aerial, terrestrial, and marine is another concern that is contributing to the regressive numbers of species. The controversy surrounding the ban on hunting of endangered species is been heightened by the prices of these species on the world market. Quizzically, the price of endangered species is high vis-à-vis the ban associated with it, leading to unapproved markets trading in them. Say, Ivory is banned but the trade is still alive and gone underground.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Though Ghana has over two hundred and fifty (250) reserves with policies against hunting of endangered species, the trade in certain classified species is still rife. The situation is no different and if not worse in other African states with elephants, hippotamous, rhinoceros, colourful parrots, Chimpanzees among others.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem A gray area for African conservationist is the marine species, of which are under-studied. Recommendations for the preservation of endangered species Information gathering and sharing – States, organisations and philanthropist must fund conservation organisations to enable them gather data of the species living in the bio-diverse African ecosystem.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Captive breeding – Here endangered species must be reared in human controlled settings, so as to increase their population before relocating them to their supposedly original habitat. This process does protect the endangered species and promotes rapid regeneration to prevent species from extinction. Say, zoos, wildlife preserves etc.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Rare species farming for Profit – Legally permitting rare species farming by individuals with the motive of making profit will go a long way to increase the population of the endangered. A case in point is China’s Turtle farming, this has increased the population of the herethe to their endangered state. Fish farming is another growing trade, where exotic marine species are reared for the market.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Conclusively, humans benefit more from a balanced ecosystem from all its members or species, hence it is detrimental for us to allow some members of the ecological community to become extinct. Besides, other members of the ecosystem serving as food to humans, some for medicinal purposes, as a profession and aesthetics among others.

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem References Endangered Species (2005) UCB Libraries, GovPlus ICUN (2009) ICUN Red List Endangered species Available on http://www.icunredlist.org/ Accessed [2 September 2010] Zambia’s Protection of Endangered Species Africa (2004) Available from http://www.zambia-the-african-safari.com/endangered-species-africa.html Accessed [2 September 2010]

Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem : Threatened species of Africa’s ecosystem Thank you