Getting Our Endangered Species Act Together
Passed in 1973, the Endangered Species Act is meant to protect threatened and endangered plants and animals from going extinct. It also is meant to protect the habitats where endangered species are found. The numbers of plants and animals on the list changes, as studies show how the populations of plants and animals are doing. If an animal like the bald eagle recovers, it is taken off the endangered animal list and moved to a threatened animal list. If an animal like the Bactrian camel becomes so scarce that it is threatened with extinction, it is added to the endangered animal list.
Kids go to the zoo to see wild animals. But there is a lot of wildlife right in our backyards! We need to protect these creatures and save them some space, too. See if you can put the letter groups in the margin together to spell some common animal neighbors. Each word has been broken into three parts, and the first letters are given.
Hint: The pictures are clues!
If we all learn to use less energy, land, and resources, there will be more of these treasures for everyone. Start by recycling these scrambled letters into familiar words! The definitions will give you a hint. When you are done, use the numbered letters in the shaded boxes to complete the saying below. To create a new look, use fabric paint to put this saying on an old T-shirt!
Most species become endangered because of loss of habitat. If an animal has no place to live, it will go extinct. So the Endangered Species Act gave the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the job of picking habitats in specific locations on land or in U.S. coastal waters that needed protection to save the endangered species.
There are about 1,880 species listed under the Endangered Species Act. Only about 1,310 of them are actually found in the United States and its coastal waters. The rest are found in other countries. Some of our most endangered species on Earth include:
Black-footed ferret
California condor
Giant panda
Ibex
Mountain gorilla
Orangutan
Snow leopard
Sumatran rhino
White rhinoceros
Yangtze dolphin
To see the full list, go to:
The peregrine falcon was once very close to extinction because of the use of the pesticide DDT. The chemical was sprayed in wetlands to kill mosquitoes but moved up through the food chain as birds ate the insects and falcons ate the birds. DDT didn't kill the falcons outright but caused their eggs to have soft shells and break, so no new young could be born. Once scientists discovered what DDT did in the food chain, the chemical was banned and slowly animal populations began to recover. With a lot of help from wildlife biologists and a captive breeding program, peregrine falcon numbers have recovered. Now it is not unusual to see these amazing predators nesting on skyscrapers in New York City, hunting pigeons!
