Why is the vulture becoming extinct?

Answer 1

There are many things that can cause a species to become threatened or endangered. Some problems, such as pollution, can affect many plants & animals at the same time. In other cases, perhaps the loss of a wooded area for new construction, a problem might threaten only one particular species in that one area.

These are the major causes:

HABITAT LOSS

A habitat is the ecosystem a species needs to live in - a swamp, rainforest, woodland, limestone bog, desert etc. HABITAT LOSS IS THE GREATEST CAUSE OF SPECIES BEING ENDANGERED. Construction of homes, buildings, roads, timber harvesting, loss of farmlands and the creation of farmlands (more likely outside of the U.S., as in the rainforest of South America) threatens many ecosystems large and small.

POLLUTION:

Pollution can take many forms. Water, air and ground pollution are all related. Toxic substances dumped in a wooded area will destroy the soil and the species that live in it (from bacteria, to insects and the birds & animals that eat them) but it will also get into the groundwater below it. that water may lead to the same source of water that comes out of your faucet!!

COMPETITION FROM OTHER SPECIES

Sometimes there are just too many animals living in an area that compete for the space, water and food that is found there. For example, in NJ, a large population of raccoons (which turned out to have a parasitic disease) threatened the last remaining population of woodrats in NJ.

DISEASE

By our definition, diseases occur naturally. We are not talking about diseases that animals get because of pesticides or pollution. It is a part of nature that animals get diseases. But sometimes humans introduce diseases and problems into a species. The most publicized example is DDT. An insecticide that was used all over the U.S., it was found in water & soil and eventually worked its way up the food chain from small water feeders to the fish who ate the plant life in the water and the animals and humans who ate the fish! When DDT was left into the water it eventually broke down and became DDE. These toxic substances (along with others like PCB's) caused eagles and peregrine falconsto produce eggs that had shells so thin that they broke just from the mother sitting on them.

PREDATION

Predators are species that hunt other species as their way of getting food. For example, a peregrine falcon will kill small rodents (like mice & voles) and even kill other birds to get food. This is natural and expected. There are no predators that cause extinctions in NJ and none that we could find in our research - unless humans had changed the predators or introduced other predator species.

Answer 2

The horned desert viper is becoming extinct because of overcollection. Their main habitat is near Saudi Arabia, where they are collected for their venom.