ENDANGERED ANIMALS

ENDANGERED ANIMALS

1 Hi my name is Dylan.  Today I am here to tell you about a few endangered animals.

But first, who here has ever been up close with a majestic creature such as a tiger?  I bet it was an amazing experience you won’t forget.   Have you ever wondered how many there are in the world, or if they’ll be around in years to come?

Perhaps not…But I have…

2. So today I am here to tell you about three endangered animals in particular. They are the Bengal tiger, the mountain gorilla and the Amur leopard.

But before I tell you about them, let’s talk about how they’re losing their habitat.

3. Humans such as us are destroying their habitat for resources of our own, but should we be taking their habitat, their home. Why can’t we leave them alone? Why should we take what is theirs and make it ours. It’s like taking candy from a baby, it’s cruel. Why can’t we grow our own trees instead of taking theirs?

4 And poachers…poachers take hundreds of endangered animals a year to get selfies and a trophy to put on their wall. How would you like to be shot with a rifle, shotgun or bow, it’s not kind, it’s horrible, beastly even. Their just as much of a living mammal as we are, I think they deserve better than this.

5 So time to tell you about the Mountain Gorilla. The mountain gorilla may look like a gentle giant but it’s like a power house of strength. Did you know that gorillas can split apart full grown banana trees with their incredible strength.

A mountain gorilla’s diet is so large it consists of eighteen or more kilograms a day, to put that into prospective that is around the size of a medium dog, now that’s impressive.

6 These gorillas survive on vegetation that consumes of at least one hundred and forty two plant species and three types of fruit.  This consists of a menu such as leaves, roots, stems, vines, herbs, trees and grasses.

7 Mountain gorilla’s habitat is now very limited to national parks in Africa. One group of gorillas lives in Bwindi impenetrable national park, the other group is spread over three national parks in the Virunga’s Mountain region in the Democratic republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda.

8 This is due to human intervention such as clearing of rainforests causing habitat destruction, shortage of food, poaching, trophy hunters lurking and civil war.  And now there is only nine hundred left due to human activity.

9. The Mountain Gorilla has become the most endangered species of gorilla. That’s all for the mountain gorilla, now it’s time for the Amur leopard.

10 In the wild the Amur leopard, like all wild cats are carnivores. Amur leopards eat a wide variety of prey based on what is available. In fact, the Leopards highly adaptable hunting and feeding behaviour has it being successful in several different habitats throughout Africa and Asia.

11 Amur leopards have the most northern range of any leopard. Amur leopards are also found in eastern Russia, near the Amur River. The Approximate number of Amur leopards that are left in the wild is thirty five due to them being killed or poached for their fur coats, hat’s and medicine.

12 Lastly the Bengal tiger. Bengal Tigers are carnivorous mammals and they prefer to prey on medium-sized mammals such as hog deer, Gray langur, wild boar, and muntjac. The Bengal tiger roams a wide range of habitats including high altitudes, tropical and Sub tropical rainforest, mangroves and grasslands.

13 They are primarily found in parts India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The tiger is historically been a popular big game animal and has been hunted for prestige as well as taking trophies. Extensive poaching has continued after such hunting has become illegal and legal protection was given to the tiger.

14 Tigers were once considered to be harder to hunt than lions, due to their habit of living alone in dense cover and not giving up their location with noisy roars as often.

I hope you now have a better understanding of what it’s like to be an endangered animal.

15 For many the only safe place is National parks. Maybe you might even think twice now to donate to charity to help the conservation of these creatures, so please don’t destroy animal’s homes for the sake of it, or choose to kill for a trophy or selfie.

Look after our planet and our majestic animals. Thank you for listening.    ROAR!