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Animals that have repopulated
In last week's episode I talked about the possibility of bringing back long lost animals from extinction, but this week I will talk about a more present issue that does not concern the prehistoric animals that have been lost to time. As the world’s climate changes, some animals are forced to adapt to their new habitat but for others, the decrease in their habitat is simply not sustainable and they are brought to the brink of extinction. However, due to conservation efforts there have been many species that almost vanished but have since repopulated.
Sea otters are an extremely important part of their marine environments that they exist in, especially because they are apex predators, eating sea urchins. If the sea otters were not there to keep the sea urchin population under control, this would be extremely detrimental to the kelp forests that they live in. The thing that first led to the decline of sea otter population was the demand for their extremely thick, soft fur due to the rise of the fur trade starting in the 1500s. However due to a lack of regulation, their population eventually dwindled to around a few thousand. However, in the last century, regulations on the fur trade and efforts to protect their environment has raised their population to more than 100,000.
An animal that faced a similar predicament was the blue whale, that also experienced a sharp decline in population due to hunting. Blue whales were once very common in all the oceans, but due to whaling their population jumped down to around 2000. They were sought after for their fat and oil when whaling peaked in the 1800s, which was a very useful substance at that time used in lamps, soaps, varnish and many more things. However, in the mid-1900s, regulations were placed and their population slowly started to recover. The practice of whaling was outlawed in 1971 in the US, but it is a hard animal to protect because its huge size means it cannot be bred and kept in captivity, and also since it migrates and not all countries have the same whaling regulations.
Other species that have just started their conservation efforts include Siberian tigers, giant pandas, and bison.
For wild Suzhou I’m Elysia and thank you for listening.
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By 荒野苏州自然频道
5
33 ratings
In last week's episode I talked about the possibility of bringing back long lost animals from extinction, but this week I will talk about a more present issue that does not concern the prehistoric animals that have been lost to time. As the world’s climate changes, some animals are forced to adapt to their new habitat but for others, the decrease in their habitat is simply not sustainable and they are brought to the brink of extinction. However, due to conservation efforts there have been many species that almost vanished but have since repopulated.
Sea otters are an extremely important part of their marine environments that they exist in, especially because they are apex predators, eating sea urchins. If the sea otters were not there to keep the sea urchin population under control, this would be extremely detrimental to the kelp forests that they live in. The thing that first led to the decline of sea otter population was the demand for their extremely thick, soft fur due to the rise of the fur trade starting in the 1500s. However due to a lack of regulation, their population eventually dwindled to around a few thousand. However, in the last century, regulations on the fur trade and efforts to protect their environment has raised their population to more than 100,000.
An animal that faced a similar predicament was the blue whale, that also experienced a sharp decline in population due to hunting. Blue whales were once very common in all the oceans, but due to whaling their population jumped down to around 2000. They were sought after for their fat and oil when whaling peaked in the 1800s, which was a very useful substance at that time used in lamps, soaps, varnish and many more things. However, in the mid-1900s, regulations were placed and their population slowly started to recover. The practice of whaling was outlawed in 1971 in the US, but it is a hard animal to protect because its huge size means it cannot be bred and kept in captivity, and also since it migrates and not all countries have the same whaling regulations.
Other species that have just started their conservation efforts include Siberian tigers, giant pandas, and bison.
For wild Suzhou I’m Elysia and thank you for listening.