After talking about some extremely large issues, I feel like it is time to mainly focus on one animal again. This time I will be discussing the endangerment of the largest cat species in the world: the Siberian Tiger. Personally, I am a big fan of the big cats and hearing that tiger populations like this one are on an extreme decline worries me.

Fig. 1 Siberian Tiger

The Siberian Tiger is also known as the Amur tiger but got its nickname of the Siberian due to over 95% of its population residing in the far east of Russia. Currently, only 500 of these wondrous animals reside in the wild today, a small number for an animal that once ruled over Russia, northern China, and the Korean peninsula.

Fig. 2 Distribution of Siberian Tiger

In the 1940s, hunting of these animals caused extreme damage to their population, leaving only around 40 left in the wild until Russia finally became the first country to pass protection laws to try and save this tiger species. These protection laws were a step in the right direction as they allowed the tiger population to grow to its current population, but the tiger is still under threat. Only around 10% of the tiger population lives in the protected lands designated by the government, and elsewhere illegal activities in Russia’s far east have severely threatened the ecosystem of the tigers. Due to the remote environment, Amur tigers have large areas of territory in order to get as much prey as they need to survive. Illegal logging in Russia has had a devastating effect on the environment. The major loss of trees has caused population decline in the tigers’ prey, ultimately decreasing the tigers’ food source and threatening their future survivability. Poaching has also become a serious problem. Amur tigers are prime real estate for exotic sellers on the black market, and poachers today are better equipped for evading the law and most times have international links to get them out of trouble. People are hurting the already dwindling population of Amur tigers just for the money, and I find that extremely saddening.

I am a cat lover through and through, and the suffering of these big cats is something I want to bring to people’s attention. Even though the government is trying, there is still more that can be done to ensure the future of this amazing species. The Amur tiger is directly under threat by humans, and it is humans who have to set this right. The damage we have done already is unacceptable, and the pattern seen with this one species is mirrored in thousands more across the world.

Despite the raging fires in Australia, other wildlife populations around the world are also struggling. One in particular concerns me: the arctic. I’m fairly certain that everyone has heard about the ice caps melting and has maybe even seen pictures of starving polar bears on melted glaciers, but the situation has far more depth than is usually mentioned. The arctic is one of the most unique ecosystems on Earth due to the extreme environmental conditions. Animals and plants that live there must be extremely adaptable to the harsh cold and desolate rocky conditions that make up a majority of the arctic circle.

Fig. 1 Oil Drill

Contrary to the harsh living conditions, many different species have been able to thrive in the arctic until recently. There have been many recent threats to life in the arctic circle, most of which are either caused or accelerated by human involvement. One of the major threats to wildlife is the oil and gas industry. The arctic circle is a goldmine for large reservoirs of petroleum and natural gases, especially Alaska in the case of the United States industry. Extracting oil and gas is an expensive and difficult process, but with recent technological developments, it has become faster and easier, leading to an increase in demand for extraction in Alaska. Oil companies have begun pressuring the US government to increase the amount of land and coastal areas they are allowed to work on which poses a large threat to the native populations and the wildlife in these areas. These specific areas they want access to are those with large polar bear populations and porcupine caribou. If these areas are destroyed by the fossil fuel industry, this could signal major problems for both of these animals along with countless others.

Fig. 2 Melting Glacier

The other major problem threatening the wildlife of the arctic is climate change. As mentioned in the beginning, the ice caps and glaciers melting is constantly mentioned in the debate on climate change, and while people know that these issues are happening, for many it just hasn’t sunk in yet that many of the wildlife populations living on this ice are becoming severely at risk for extinction. Polar bears use the ice to hunt, walruses use the ice to rest after long journeys, algae rests under the ice because it is an ideal feeding spot. These glaciers and ice sheets are more than just frozen water, they are entire ecosystems that are being lost because of climate change.

There are so many things happening in the world right now that it is impossible to focus on everything at once, but I believe that it is important to bring up the threats to the arctic circle in order to try and preserve this unique ecosystem. The amount of damage being done here just breaks my heart.

I think that by now everyone has heard about the devastating fires in Australia. The amount of wildlife decimated by these fires is truly shocking, and the human lives lost will never be forgotten. So far it has been estimated that over a billion animals have died so far in these fires, including mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and insects, but until the fires are over it is difficult to tell the true effects and lasting impacts of these events. Many animal species have been possibly wiped out entirely.

Fig. 1 Map of the Fires in Australia

Kangaroo Island is home to many unique species not found anywhere else in Australia, and with the fires causing such extensive damage, some of these wonderful animals may now be extinct. The Glossy Black-Cockatoo is one of these threatened species, as it is estimated that sixty percent of their nesting sites and habitats have been completely destroyed by the fires. Conservation efforts before the fires had brought the birds back from near extinction before, but now all we can do is wait and see how they are affected. Another Kangaroo Island resident in danger is the Kangaroo Island Dunnart, a small marsupial that was already a threatened species before the fires. It is now feared that the species is completely gone, as all of the cameras set up to monitor the last known populations have actually melted due to the extreme heat from these fires.

Fig. 2 Kangaroo in the Glow of a Fire

A classic animal known around the world is the Koala, but these creatures that have captured many people’s hearts are now fighting for their lives. So far an estimated 30% of their population has been wiped out, and the population on Kangaroo Island has been especially hit hard. Even though there has been so much population loss for the Koalas, there is some good news as there are still populations living in areas unaffected by the fires, most likely guaranteeing the survival of this wonderful species.

Many more species have been affected by these fires including the Hastings River Mouse, Regent Honeyeater, Blue Mountains water skink, Brush-tailed rock wallaby, Southern corroboree frog, Quokka, western ground parrot, Northern eastern bristlebird, and the greater glider. These species have been hit hard by these fires, but some are projected to recover, but no one truly knows the lasting effects of these devastating flames. One of the potential lasting effects comes from the loss of the bees. Losing whole populations of bees throws off the entire ecosystem and could take decades to recover.

This whole fire situation is extremely worrying as entire species are being wiped off the map. We’ve just got to hope that they can be gotten under control soon and don’t do any more extensive damage to the already vulnerable populations of animals in Australia.