Larry Ramsey, age 15, of Derby, Kansas, for his question:
How do animals become extinct?
When we learn that a species of animal has become extinct, we tend to feel guilty and perhaps a bit ashamed of our human race. In some cases this evaluation of mankind is justified. But in the world of nature, the wiping out of entire animal species is a regular part of the story of life.
The buffalo, the whooping crane and several other hard pressed species of animal have been saved from extinction by the efforts of nature loving human beings. Some of us may regard this as an effort to balance our books, to calm our consciences. For in the past few generations, mankind has totally wiped out the passenger pigeon and several dozen other animal species. As the reigning race of this luxurious planet, it behooves us to keep a protective eye on the other tenants. Maybe all of us have a duty, say, to encourage and even push a little to get laws enacted to protect the blue baleen whale. He is the largest animal that ever enjoyed life in our world. Latest reports say that the gentle giant has been hunted almost to the state of extinction.
The Maoris of New Zealand hunted the moa for his meat and his feathers until none of the giant birds were left. Settlers on the island of Mauritius brought pigs and dogs that devoured the last of the clumsy dodo birds. The vast buffalo herds of North America were slaughtered until only a few remained. Whole flocks of our passenger pigeons were slaughtered until none remained. Many other species were driven to extinction to supply us with their meat and feathers, their furs or their skins. Still other species were wiped out because they were dangerous or merely a nuisance to human communities.
Mankind can do a lot to destroy or to preserve this or that animal species from extinction, but we do not have the last or by any means the strongest word in the matter. The animal world is ruled by the laws of nature. And these stern laws may bestow blessings and hardships upon the animal world without consulting us. In nature, the basic rules of the game are survival and improvement. The long story of animal life is a weeding out of the weak and the unfit so that the strongest and the fittest may survive. Mankind is guilty of driving perhaps a few hundred species to extinction. Nature has wiped out thousands and thousands of animals species since the story of life on earth began.
Ice Ages and rising seas, changing climates and other world wide conditions have come and gone. Each of these drastic changes caught a number of comfortably settled animals unawares. Some species were able to adapt themselves and survive in the new conditions. Those that failed to adjust became extinct. The great dinosaurs were able to adapt themselves and dominate the earth through more than 100 million years. But at last they failed to meet one of nature's changing conditions. The last of the giant reptiles groaned goodbye to the earth some 60 million years ago.
All but a very few of the extinct animals were wiped out by the harsh laws of nature. Over countless ages, each lost species had developed its own unique features for coping with life, and these features cannot be repeated. When the last of a species is wiped out, that animal is extinct and never again can it appear on the earth. So let's do what little we can to protect our hard pressed animal species. One good plan is to join a group of people dedicated to the protection and conservation of our natural wildlife.