Environmental Threats
What Is an Environmental Threat?
Word of the Week
Poaching
Poaching occurs when an animal is illegally hunted or captured. Animals are poached for their body parts (for trophies or traditional medicine) and the illegal pet trade.
Elephants are poached for their ivory tusks.
Species Spotlight
Gharial
Gavialis gangeticus
Gharials, also known as gavials, are a species of crocodilian native to India and Nepal in Southeast Asia. They are known for their long, narrow snout that is specialized for eating fish! Males are much larger than females and have a large bump on the tip of their snout known as a ghara (named after the Indian pot). The ghara is thought to help resonate sound to make their call louder to attract females!
Gharial populations are very fragmented, meaning they are far apart and it is hard for them to reach each other. This makes it hard for gharials to find mates. Many of the waterways where gharials are found are blocked by dams, limiting nesting spots along the river. Water from these rivers, which gharials depend on for hunting and shelter, is being drained and used to water local crops. These threats have caused the population of gharials to drop to less than 900 individuals, making them a critically endangered species.
Conservation Corner
The Problem with Palm Oil
Palm oil is an oil produced from the fruit of an oil palm tree. Compared to other oil plants, these fruits produce large amounts of oil that can be used in a wide variety of products. Palm oil is commonly found in processed food, like chocolate, bread, ice cream, cereal, cookies, and so many others, and many household items, like lotions, soaps, makeup, and laundry detergent.
Palm oil is a great resource, but the way we grow it is usually not sustainable. Thousands of acres of forest are burned every year to clear space for palm oil plantations which destroys the homes of many species and produces large amounts of greenhouse gases. You can look for items certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to make sure that the products you use are made with sustainable palm oil!
BRAIN BLAST
Using the search and scanning features of the PalmOil Scan app, determine which of your everyday items in your kitchen and bathroom use sustainable palm oil and which do not. For the items that do not use sustainable palm oil, find out if there is an alternative product that does use sustainable palm oil!
Environmental Threats Matchup
Match each environmental threat to the appropriate description or example.
Environmental Threats Challenge
Take a look at your environmental impact! What can you do to benefit the planet?
Glossary
Conservation
The act of preserving the environment.
Climate Change
A change in global weather patterns as a result of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Deforestation
The act of forests being cut down or burned to create room for human expansion.
Endangered Species
An organism that is threatened with extinction.
Environmental Threat
Something that has a negative impact on plants, animals, and the natural world.
Extinct
When an organism has no living members remaining.
Habitat Fragmentation
When a large environment gets divided into smaller, separated areas because of roads, cities, and other developments.
Habitat Loss
When habitats are destroyed and changed into human-managed land such as farms or cities.
Human-Wildlife Conflict
Occurs when humans and wildlife live in close proximity and negatively impact each other.
Illegal Pet Trade
The illegal capture and sale of primarily endangered animals.
Invasive Species
An organism that has established a population somewhere they are not typically native to.
Livestock
Farm animals that are used to benefit humans (cows, pigs, goats, etc.).
Overfishing
Harvesting fish faster than they can reproduce.
Poaching
The illegal act of hunting or capturing an animal.
Pollution
Toxins or other harmful substances that have entered the environment and are harming the natural world.
Population Size
The amount of individuals currently alive for a given species.
Range
The location in which an organism is found.
Sustainability
The act of advancing as humans while working to have a positive impact on the natural world.
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