National Endangered Species Day

Today marks National Endangered Species Day. 

An endangered species is defined as “a species of organisms facing a very high risk of extinction.” The International Union for Conservation of Nature has published a list of plants and animals that fall under the category of ‘Endangered Species.’ The most recent list includes 3079 animal species and 2655 plants! Some of the more recognizable species deemed to be endangered are the giant panda, the green sea turtle, the common chimpanzee and the snow leopard, while the southern Bluefin tuna, the leatherback sea turtle, the brown spider monkey and the red wolf are all found on the ‘Critically Endangered Species’ list. For a full listing of the IUCN’s Endangered Species list, check out their website.

We’ve touched on topics of endangered or threatened species in previous blog posts, and it’s certainly not something we should be taking lightly, or is it? There are currently claims that we are amidst the largest extinction period in history. This statement usually generates action to protect the species on the path to extinction. However, it also usually only happens for those cute and cuddly imaged animals, and not so much for the ones we associate with being ugly or scary! So, should we only be protecting the species we find visually appealing, or all of them? Or, should we just leave them all be and let “nature take its course?” This is a question I certainly struggle with, because on the one hand, I don’t want to see anything suffer, yet, I’m not sure its up to us, as humans, to alter things more than we already have. Why should it be up to us to decide who survives and who doesn’t?!

Now folks keep in mind, that as a ‘Ginger’ I, too, am technically an endangered species! This is something I like to use to hold over those around me, and generally as a means to getting out of things I don’t want to do! It usually doesn’t work very well, but you can’t blame a girl for trying!

Have you had time to think about the question above? Why not head to the daily poll, and tell us where you stand on the “to save or not to save” debate! You can do so by clicking here.