{"id":2334,"date":"2022-04-16T17:56:40","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T17:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/?p=2334"},"modified":"2022-07-04T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T12:00:00","slug":"deforestation-effects-on-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/deforestation-effects-on-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Deforestation: Effects on Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the final days of the Trump administration, the US government announced that it would stop endangered species protections for the American gray wolf. The move angered conservationists who said it was too soon. The gray wolf has required special protection for 45 years after losing its natural habitat and being hunted by farmers. At one point, they were only a few thousand of them. <\/span><\/p>\n The controversy around this also illustrated the devastating effects of deforestation on wild animals around the world.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The number of wild animals on Earth has reduced by over two-thirds over the last 50 years, according to the Living Planet Report 2020. Deforestation,<\/a> driven by a desire to use the land for agriculture, was the biggest cause of falling animal populations, the WWF and Zoological Society of London found.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n Their findings mirrored that of the UN too. One million animal and plant species are under threat of extinction, the UN found in 2019. \u201cWe are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health, and quality of life worldwide\u201d, said Sir Robert Watson, who chaired the investigation.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n An estimated two million wolves once roamed North America. But by the 1960s, with their habitats largely destroyed, their numbers fell so low that they had to be protected by the Endangered Species Act. They had been exterminated from all the contiguous United States, except parts of Michigan and Minnesota. <\/span><\/p>\n But the impact wasn\u2019t just felt on wolves. It benefited species that wolves eat, including songbirds, foxes, and beavers.<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDeforestation and its effect on animal habitats<\/h2>\n
Deforestation effects on wolves in the US<\/h2>\n