Extinction Is Forever

[elcent]

Above: Trends of extinction for birds, amphibians and mammals. Here Thailand in a leading position.



Above: Thailand looks clearly carved out



Above: Global threats of extinction with the numbers under threats. Thailand(land) has 143 kinds of animals on the list and 55 kinds of animals in the marine section.

WHY?

[travelmann]

Good to know along with corruption, extinction,and education Thailand is moving forwards:whistling:

[gregb]

This kind of a graph is meaningless unless it is displayed in percentages.

As a general rule, the tropics are always going to have a higher number of species under threat because there are so many more species there to go extinct. If you look at the map, you'll see this is basically correct.

Good to see the Greenland has almost no extinction threats. Of course, very little lives there either. Funny how that works.

Please go check the original source and normalize for total number of species per region, then repost. That might be a more interesting study.

[elcent]

This kind of a graph is meaningless unless it is displayed in percentages.

As a general rule, the tropics are always going to have a higher number of species under threat because there are so many more species there to go extinct. If you look at the map, you'll see this is basically correct.

Good to see the Greenland has almost no extinction threats. Of course, very little lives there either. Funny how that works.

Please go check the original source and normalize for total number of species per region, then repost. That might be a more interesting study.

When you look at the colors and imagine the borders you get about 18000 species lost worldwide.

As "critically endangered", "endangered" and "at risk" are

* 25 percent of mammals,

* 13 percent of the fish,

* 22 percent of reptiles,

* 41 percent of amphibians,

* 33 percent of the cartilage and 15 percent of the bony fishes.

Scientists talk already about the sixth mass exodus!!!

[lost_in_space]

Maybe Thailand can become the extinction hub for Asia.

[elcent]

Maybe Thailand can become the extinction hub for Asia.

OMG, another "hubby"

[travelmann]

Thailand has little concern for its environment , witness many roads in Thailand are full of rubbish strewn everywhere.

[tartempion]

No surprise here: every night some people are hunting (see the flash lights around my house) and killing anything that moves.

[aussiebebe]

This kind of a graph is meaningless unless it is displayed in percentages.

As a general rule, the tropics are always going to have a higher number of species under threat because there are so many more species there to go extinct. If you look at the map, you'll see this is basically correct.

Good to see the Greenland has almost no extinction threats. Of course, very little lives there either. Funny how that works.

Please go check the original source and normalize for total number of species per region, then repost. That might be a more interesting study.

dam_n, you're clever. Can't fault that logic. I think that's the first time a TV thread has had a definitive answer by the third post.

[Beetlejuice]

No surprise here: every night some people are hunting (see the flash lights around my house) and killing anything that moves.

Same here.

What really upsets me is when I see the Thais keeping native species of wild birds in those tiny bamboo cages. I've had neighbors that keep a solitary bird in a cage so small that the bird could hardly move and left out fully exposed to the eliments. They teach the bird to make funny sounds like a phone ringing or a few words and the bird almost becomes an ornament in a box. After a year of neglect and lack of care the bird dies and is replaced with another one.

It`s a disgusting practice, yet there are no enforcements of any laws if they exist and no one cares.

They say Thai people love their country, yet how can this be true when people have no respect for it`s wildlife and the environment? Examples as travelmann and tartempion quite rightly point out.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Beetlejuice

[SergeiY]

WHY?

Lots left and plenty to kill, meanwhile in other region of the world the diversity isn't that voluminous and the exterminations and extinitions in a big scale was already done.

[Jimi007]

Actually, I'm not too surprised. I have seen what has happened to Phuket. The turtles are being wiped out and a lot of sea life is being destroyed by trawlers. All the building going on around that is destroying many animals habitat. I used to see a lot more snakes and frogs around my house, that I don't see now, as well as some bird species. Greed has raped and pillaged a lot of this country's beauty... But I suppose that's true of most places. I guess they call it progress...

[GM1955]

No surprise here: every night some people are hunting (see the flash lights around my house) and killing anything that moves.

I'm sure if you gave them the money they would do as you do, go to a supermarket and buy animals that somebody else killed for your consumption.

And if you had no money, you'd hunt also.

[IanForbes]

Extinction is quite easy to explain. It all has to do with wealth. Poor people only want to survive and fill their bellies. They have little or no education and haven't learned the concept of preventing unwanted babies. The Catholic church keeps them in a position of having too many babies. Buddhist beliefs doesn't explain there are consequences for bad decisions. The wealthy in every nation make sure the poor remain poor. Poor people don't understand the concept of conservation. Go to any third world country and the examples are clearly evident in the lack of concern for conservation. Religious Idealism doesn't work... anywhere.

It is only the upper middle class people in any nation that actually care about conservation. The wealthy are only interested in attaining more wealth, and will do so at the expense of anyone or any thing. The poor are too busy starving to care.

[sirineou]

Above: Global threats of extinction with the numbers under threats. Thailand(land) has 143 kinds of animals on the list and 55 kinds of animals in the marine section.

WHY?

because they are delicious

[inmysights]

I believe it comes down to education. Some Thais are very concerned about the disappearing wildlife, whilst when I point out that little 'ornament' they're holding up in that little cage will soon be gone from the wild and that it's cruel to keep something like that that should so obviously fly free, I'm met with a blank stare.

The bloody 'government' should promote environmental issues via the tv in every household - Don't drop litter - Don't buy Birds in Boxes, and those key rings with little tails on the end? They were once attached to a living creature.

It's not just 'hunger', I've met plenty of poor Thais who care about this country's environment. If the rest are either too stupid, or too lacking in empathy to care, maybe it should be drummed into them. Along with the forthcoming 'Anti-Corruption Drive'. What, another one?

Edited October 28, 2010 by inmysights

[Richb2004v2]

It's not at all surprising. If there is anything at all that moves and is worth even one satang someone is going to catch it and make use of it. I often look into the little visited hills and forests and wonder if there is any wildlife left at all. It's a real shame, but as said before where there is poverty and poor education this will always be the case. I always imagined Thailand would have a lot of interesting wildlife but sadly it's not the case.

[IanForbes]

As I've said many times... If it hops, slithers, slides, walks, runs, jumps, swims, flies or even lies there inert, it gets eaten if it can some how be used as food. Tiny clams and crabs, shell and all, get mashed up and used as a condiment or garnish. Fish too small to be cleaned get dried and eaten whole. Lord help any creature larger than a squirrel.

One of the really sad practises happens in the Philippines where so called "fishermen" use dynamite to blow coral reefs for the tiny fish that hang around them. The destruction has been terrible and will last for centuries... if not forever.

Fortunately, In Thailand the King has decreed many national parks where all wild life are protected. The destruction is clearly evident in nearby places outside the parks.

[dansat]

Maybe Thailand can become the extinction hub for Asia.

I can add one more species that are getting treated more and more badly here in Thailand and are quickly becoming close to extinction here...... Tourists

[canuckamuck]

The mind set is:

If I see an animal that I can eat, and I do not catch that animal and kill it, someone else will and I will be a fool for not getting it when I could.

To change this type of thinking will take at least a generation and a lot of media support.

In the meantime, get your pangolin while you still can. Mmmm pangolin!

Edited October 28, 2010 by canuckamuck

[isanbirder]

What none of you seem to realise is that Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are all countries where most of the forest cover has been or is being destroyed; this provided the most diverse habitat for the largest number of species. Destroy the forest; species become extinct in large numbers

[H2oDunc]

That's funny as I was only reading an article in a UK newspaper that stated that the extinction rate has been vast over exaggerated and 60% of the animals classed as extinct have actually popped up again. I find that scare stories like this just remind me of the crap that the climate change loonies keep spouting. I was also reading that they have discovered hundreds of new species in Indonesia and surrounding countries. How can they be telling us lots are becoming extinct when they do not even know what is there in the first place ?

I'm all for conservation and saving animals. What I don't do is the scaremongering and sensationalism propaganda.

Plus some are very tasty indeed

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

To the OP:

While your map is a pretty picture, the headline for this thread is completely inaccurate.

Hawaii has the highest rate of extinction per square mile on Earth, and many endemic Hawaiian species are currently threatened or endangered.

Hawaii is ecologically unique because it is so isolated from other land masses. As a result, there was tremendous speciation (far exceeding that that Darwin studied in the Gallapagos Islands). Hawaii is still home to more than 25,000 unique species.

Source

[IanForbes]

What none of you seem to realise is that Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are all countries where most of the forest cover has been or is being destroyed; this provided the most diverse habitat for the largest number of species. Destroy the forest; species become extinct in large numbers

Yah mean like we do in Canada? And, Canadians are hardly starving. Just go into any big super market and look at all the fat people walking around.

[Valdezugar]

Extinction is quite easy to explain. It all has to do with wealth. Poor people only want to survive and fill their bellies. They have little or no education and haven't learned the concept of preventing unwanted babies. The Catholic church keeps them in a position of having too many babies. Buddhist beliefs doesn't explain there are consequences for bad decisions. The wealthy in every nation make sure the poor remain poor. Poor people don't understand the concept of conservation. Go to any third world country and the examples are clearly evident in the lack of concern for conservation. Religious Idealism doesn't work... anywhere.

It is only the upper middle class people in any nation that actually care about conservation. The wealthy are only interested in attaining more wealth, and will do so at the expense of anyone or any thing. The poor are too busy starving to care.

Not picking a measuring contest with you Mr Forbes (I generally like your posts and agree with them) but I find that kind of logic a bit rich. Not surprising that it's in most of the 3rd world countries that we want to educate the 'uneducated" about the importance of preservation. Whilst the 1st world countries have already destroyed all their wild life . . . .

Same for global warming. The UN and G20 countries run campaigns in my country for us to stop using coal powered electricity, because it damages the environment. That after they mined the hel_l out our countries first and now tell us we can't do it ourselves.

Destroyed their own country's wildlife and now want to "educate" others about saving theirs; i.e. don't progress, stay in the bush

Though I do agree that we're doing irreversible damage . . . .

[isanbirder]

What none of you seem to realise is that Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are all countries where most of the forest cover has been or is being destroyed; this provided the most diverse habitat for the largest number of species. Destroy the forest; species become extinct in large numbers

Yah mean like we do in Canada? And, Canadians are hardly starving. Just go into any big super market and look at all the fat people walking around.

Most of the Canadian forest is single species plantations, right? And cutting is managed? Moreover, Canada is temperate zone (not to say Arctic, some of it); Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia are tropical. Compare like with like, Ian.

And if you're proud of all the fat people, I wouldn't be.

[Richb2004v2]

Fortunately, In Thailand the King has decreed many national parks where all wild life are protected. The destruction is clearly evident in nearby places outside the parks.

Yes, that's certainly working out well, as can be seen in this picture of a large take away meal/pair of boots, captured on Koh Chang National park last year.

[Goshawk]

I always imagined Thailand would have a lot of interesting wildlife but sadly it's not the case.

what a ridiculous thing to say.. of course it does. You obviously don't get out much..

.

Fortunately, In Thailand the King has decreed many national parks where all wild life are protected.

Right.. and most of these places are huge!

Together with the Non-hunting Areas, Forest Parks, Ramsar Wetlands etc.. i absolutely don't see the catastrophe that many posting here presume looms.

There are many Thai heavyweight conservation forums, groups & societies working in the country that most people on this thread (or site) probably aren't even aware of. Most of them are petitioning in some form for ever increasing areas of protection. Yes its very sad to see the deforested areas, particularly some of the small to mid size Doi in the north, but there's still vast tracts (and islands) of it remaining.

So, education is key.. and i'm always happy when i see large organised school groups visiting many of the National Parks on field trips.... Therein lies the spark..

I've seen it in these young kids eyes when they see perhaps a wild Hornbill feeding its young for the very first time, or maybe an otter hunting & catching fish..

Don't write the ecology off then people, most of the warnings ultimately come from grant hungry 'research' groups hoping to stay living/working out 'in the field' for months on end instead of getting a proper job..

(and the OP's map/graphic is vague & inaccurate)

[IanForbes]

Fortunately, In Thailand the King has decreed many national parks where all wild life are protected. The destruction is clearly evident in nearby places outside the parks.

Yes, that's certainly working out well, as can be seen in this picture of a large take away meal/pair of boots, captured on Koh Chang National park last year.

There will ALWAYS be poaching in parks and nature reserves. Africa has terrible problems because there is still a trade for animal parts. The discovery of Viagra and Cialis probably saves more animals than any other program. The Asian market for so called aids for men's potency problems has been an on going battle for years. Bears and tiger gall blanders, and ground up rhino horn are just some of the supersticious Asian solutions for impotency.

[Spee]

Sounds like FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) journalism and statistical spin to me.

How does one prove conclusively that a species is extinct? People thought for many decades that the coelecanth was extinct .... right up to the point where people started seeing them again.

Even if a species does become extinct, where does it state that it is mankind's job to prevent extinction? Or that mankind in and of itself is capable of causing a species to become extinct?