Endagerment of the Grizzlies
With all the new and advanced technology that is accessible today, who has time to enjoy or care about the great outdoors? Unfortunately, much of the wilderness and the animals within it are gradually fading away. There are many animals that have already been extinct and many more will soon be put on the list of extinction. In the second issue of Target Earth, Tim Stevens found in 1975, the grizzly bear was listed as a threatened species, under the Endangered Species Act. Stevens also stated, Today, the grizzly bear hangs on in the last remnants of wild places left in the U.S.--places like the Greater Yellowstone, Glacier Park, and Shelkirk Mountains of Northern Idaho. The survival of the grizzly bear depends on several factors such as: amount of food they need and amount of space they need to live. Grizzly bears have tremendous food requirements in order to survive--adult females average 300 pounds, and males around 450 pounds, stated Stevens. Furthermore, grizzly bears are opportunistic feeders thriving on roots, berries, pine nuts, insects, herbaceous vegetation, fish, small mammals, and occasionally wild ungulates and their young. With grizzly bears wide variety of provisions, they need a large area to sustain them
Leopold goes on to state, they have not so functioned is tragically illustrated in the case of the grizzly bear. The Greater Yellowstone is isolated from other wildland ecosystems. These populations become vulnerable to inbreeding and other genetic problems, it is critical to have these grizzly bear ecosystems connected by "linkages" or "biological corridors." Ecosystems are much larger than the designated national parks within them. At the core of the Greater Yellowstone National Park, which is 2.2 million acres. The ecosystem is 18 million acres and includes 7 national forests, wilderness areas, national wildlife refuges and Bureau of Land Management land. Bears are not only dependent upon the National Park "core," but also upon the surrounding lands. Scientists have long recognized that these species are dependent upon the health of the entire ecosystem(Stevens, Target Earth). However, conservation biologist states, none of the current grizzly populations is large enough to sustain itself over time. Aldo Leoplod states, the most feasible way to enlarge the area available for wilderness fauna is for the wilder parts of the National Forests, which usually surround the Parks, to function as parks in respect of threatened species. In addition, on our national forest lands, logging and mining companies and willing federal agencies continue the steady drumbeat of resource extraction. Logging, road building and other developments have begun to invade and alter these landscapes, reducing their ability to support grizzly bears in two critical ways: first, transforming large expanses of land into smaller patches that will be isolated from each other. If the remaining patches become separated by too great a distance, populations of grizzly bears will inevitably decline and may disappear altogether. Second, developme
Some common words found in the essay are:
Target Earth, Earth Furthermore, Edward Abbey, Bear Project, National Forests, Stevens Furthermore, Glover Johnson, National Park, Northern Idaho, North America, grizzly bear, grizzly bears, target earth, national forests, threatened species, grizzly habitat, bear listed threatened, listed threatened, national park, north america, wide variety, listed threatened species, grizzly bear listed,
Approximate Word count = 1241
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
