Dear Next President,

There are many issues in the United States, but I feel that one stands out more than the others, one that I believe is very important. Many endangered species have been and are being hunted by humans into extinction. Humans aren’t only hunting them into extinction, they are destroying animals’ habitats causing them to go extinct. Species extinction is happening 1,000 times faster because of humans. Humans have been over hunting animals and nobody is doing anything about it. These issues are always present, but have been blown over because people don’t want to deal with them or believe that they are happening. I believe that everyone should know and understand this issue because it is serious and important. Many species of animals have been hunted into extinction and people are ignoring this fact.

About 325 years ago, dodo birds were alive on this Earth. That changed when a sailor shot the last dodo with a musket and killed it. From that point on, those birds were never seen alive again. Deer can become the new dodo if humans don’t stop thinking like that sailor. For example, a species of mammal named the thylacine was recently over hunted into extinction. In 1936 the last thylacine died in a zoo because of neglect and exposure to freezing temperatures. Before that, farmers shot and killed more than nine tenths of the thylacine population because the thylacine were thought to be a threat to sheep and other small farm animals. The quagga was ruthlessly hunted to extinction by South African farmers because they wanted profit on the quaggas’ hide and meat. Dodo, thylacine, quagga, eastern cougar, caspian tiger, and the great auk. They all were hunted into extinction by humans. This issue isn’t getting better, but getting worse. Soon deer will become the dodo, bears the quagga, and geese the thylacine. If the mass murder and extinction of animals species continues, what will happen to this Earth? What will become of the important animals in our lives that make living possible?

With these thoughts in my mind, I set to work and researched this issue. Extinction data reveals that a rate of 100 to 1,000 species are lost per million per year, mainly due to human caused habitat destruction and climate change. A report found that as many as 1.7 million hunted animals were shot, killed, and sent across the border of the United States for a profit in the past 10 years. At least 200,000 of those animals are endangered animals. The number of lions hunted has tripled in the past 10 years, about 1,500 per year. The number of elephants killed doubled, 1,600 per year. These are just two species that are slowly being hunted into extinction. These numbers are high, but they might be way higher. These numbers are only the amount that have been sent across the border. The number of animals animals kept in the country where they were killed are not recorded. The most popular hunted animal was the American black bear. As many as 93,000 were hunted in the last 10 years. They were close to becoming extinct. There are about 100,000,000 different species on Earth. Even if the extinction rate is just 0.01% per year, at least 10,000 species will go extinct each year. This is crazy to think about, and if we don’t do something about it soon, terrible things are soon to happen. This is a serious and important issue that needs to be addressed and fixed.

From humans to natural factors, animal extinction is caused by many different things. Climate changes, changes in sea level, acid rain, asteroids and diseases can all be natural factors that cause a species to become extinct. Humans can cause extinctions as well as natural factors. Humans shoot their guns without thinking. We don’t think of the long term effects that one pull of a trigger can do. With the human population increasing, the need for more homes is necessary. We tear down forests to build houses for the growing population to stay in. This leaves the animals who used to live in that forest homeless. We pollute the air and spill oil into the ocean. We are causing global warming. The polar ice caps are melting, leaving polar bears, penguins, and other arctic animals without homes and places to hunt. Humans are a massive cause as to why species are going extinct, and if we don’t step back and think for a minute, we could lose a lot.

'What is it but deliberate massacre when tens of thousands of tame, hand reared creatures are every year literally driven into the jaws of death and mown down in a peculiarly brutal manner? A perfect roar of guns fills the air; louder tap and yell the beaters, while above the din can be heard the heart-rending cries of wounded hares and rabbits, some of which can be seen dragging themselves away, with legs broken, or turning round and round in their agony before they die! And the pheasants! They are on every side, some rising, some dropping; some lying dead, but the great majority fluttering on the ground wounded; some with both wings broken and a leg; others merely winged, running to hide; others mortally wounded, gasping out their last breath amidst the hellish uproar which surrounds them. And this is called “sport!”'   -Florence Dixie

So, will you help these poor animals, and keep them around for new generations to see? I don’t know about you, but I would like my future children and grandchildren to be able to see an elephant in the wild, in person, in their lifetime. This issue will not get better without your help. There have been presidents who felt strongly about making sure children get a good education, making sure people stay active and healthy, and so much more, but there has never been a president who has fought to help abused and endangered animals. It is up to you to make the decision if you want some of Earth’s most beloved animal species to stay on this Earth for a long, long time. It is up to you to make the decision if you want Earth to be a barren, lifeless mass floating through time and space. It is all up to you. Will you step in and help out this dire situation, or will you sit back and watch mankind destroy itself? It is all up to you.

Sincerely,

Sarah H., Pennsylvania

Works Cited

"Newsela | Nonfiction Literacy and Current Events." Newsela | Nonfiction Literacy and Current Events.

N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

By. "Animal-rights Groups Are Puzzled over the Hunting of Endangered Animals." Newsela. N.p., n.d.

Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

By. "Black Bears, Aka Teddy Bears, Are No Longer on Endangered Species List." Newsela. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

By. "Africa's Trophy Lions Are in Great Danger from Hunters, Studies Say." Newsela. N.p., n.d. Web.

15 Oct. 2016.

"Species Extinction Happening 1,000 Times Faster Because of Humans?" National Geographic.

National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

"Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d.

Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

"What Causes Extinction?" Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

"How Many Species Are We Losing?" WWF Conserves Our Planet, Habitats, & Species like the

Panda & Tiger. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.