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Throughout history, there have been five major extinctions. We are currently living in what some scientists consider the sixth major extinction, also termed the Holocene extinction.
Species extinction is a natural ecological process. However, due to human activities, it is currently happening at a rate much higher than the historical average. The most detrimental impact of human activities is habitat loss, followed by pollution, introduction of invasive species, and the removal of species from their environment.
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The Chinese river dolphin, shown below, is thought to have gone extinct around 2006, when a research team spent 6 weeks attempting to find any of it in the Yangtze River. Its decline has been attributed to overexploitation, pollution, and underwater explosions.EXAMPLE
Another species that has gone extinct is the golden toad. It is thought to have gone extinct in 1989. Its home was in the Monteverde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica. Its extinction has been attributed to warmer seasons and a specific type of fungus that grows on the toad's skin and kills it.The United States passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973, which required the listing and protection of species identified as threatened or endangered within the United States.
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A threatened species is the Guadalupe fur seal, which was added as threatened in 1985.EXAMPLE
An endangered species is the false killer whale, which was added to the list of endangered species in 2012.When a species is protected by the Endangered Species Act, it means that there are restrictions placed around activities of individuals and private industries that might impact the species or their habitat range. Restrictions under the Act can be from local, state, and federal governments.
There are several challenges to protecting endangered species. The following are some of them:
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