Gr6 Essay- Human activity and endangered species B Essays

Gr6 Essay- Human activity and endangered species B Essays Gr6 Essay- Human activity and endangered species By Emilia Quinlan "An endangered species is a species of wild animal or plant that is in danger of extinction through out all or a significant portion of its range" (About Education) http://endangeredspecies.about.com/od/endangeredspecies101/a/What-Does-Endangered-Mean.htm In this Essay I will be choosing two endangered species. I will choose one endangered animal and one endangered plant. The endangered animal that I will be talking about is a Cross river gorilla (gorilla gorilla dielhi). The endangered plant that I will be talking about is a Rafflesia flower (Rafflesia arnoldii). Cross River Gorilla A cross river gorilla was very hard to study until the past decade or so. Because they were thought to be extinct by many scientists. "Cross river gorillas are scattered in at least 11 groups across the lowland montane forests and rainforests of Cameroon and Nigeria, an area of 3,000 square miles, or about twice the size of Rhode island." (WWF) Physical Description: "The Cross River gorilla is a subspecies of the western gorilla." It also comes from the other subspecies, Western lowland gorilla, it has a similar skull and tooth dimensions.(WWF) Food chain; Sun - flowers - cross river gorilla - leopard Another food chain; Sun - leaves - cross river gorilla - humans Last food chain; Sun - fruit - cross river gorilla- crocodile Population: 200 to 300 individuals. (WWF) Habitats: Forest habitat(WWF) Status: Critically endangered The cross river gorilla's scientific name is Gorilla gorilla diehli .(WWF) Main Threats: Habitat loss- The cross river gorilla group, manly live in unprotected forests and face the threat of habitat loss through logging and as local people treat their habitat bad and clear the land for agriculture and cattle grazing.(WWF) Hunting- The cross river gorilla's are being hunted due to hunters moving in. (illegally) (WWF) Low reproduction- The cross river gorilla has very low reproduction due to hunters and habitat loss. This means that there is a very low population and is very hard to reproduce therefore they will become more endangered and eventually extinct. Conclusion My conclusion for the cross river gorilla is help them by leaving there habitat alone and going somewhere else to log and agriculture. Another point is to stop hunting so they can not become extinct and they can have more cross river gorillas across Africa and the world. Rafflesia flower The Rafflesia flower does not have leaves, a steam, a root and is the biggest flower on earth. It is very rare and critically endangered. It is indeed the most magnificent and largest flower in the world. It was discovered in 1818 by Sir Stamford Raffles and "was mostly named after him self and his companion, surgeon-naturalist Dr James Arnold."( Rafflesia , the worlds largest bloom) " Raflesia ." Rafflesia , The World's Largest Bloom, www.rafflesiaflower.com/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017. (bibliography for worlds largest bloom) This jungle flower of south-east Asia holds the all time record-breaking bloom of 106.7 centimeters (3ft 6 inches) diameter and in fact 11 kg (24 lb ) weight and the petals are an inch thick. ( Rafflesia , the worlds largest bloom) The Rafflesia flower is one of the rarest flowers in the world and is critically endangered therefore on its way to extinction.( Rafflesia , the worlds largest bloom) The scientific name for the Rafflesia flower is Rafflesia arnoldii after a man called Dr James Arnold discovered it and called it that in 1818. ( Rafflesia , the worlds largest bloom) A common name that people call it is the corpse flower because apparently it smells like rotten flesh.(Kew Royal botanic gardens ) Main Threats A main threat is that people are building a highway for more human access and is killing the Rafflesia flower habitat also humans are clearing out land to plant banana trees therefore the Rafflesia flower is losing their habitat and the population continues to decrease so they are in danger. (Red list) Another threat is that the Rafflesia flower has an extremally unbalanced sex ratio and there is more males then females so when it comes to reproduction it is very hard to find another male flower close by and if not the petals eventually die and decreases the population. (