Throughout history, humans have tended to draw a distinction between civilization and wildlife in various ways, including in legal, social, and moral terms. Some animals, however, have adapted to suburban environments. These include domesticated cats, dogs, mice, and rats. Some religions consider certain animals to be sacred, and in modern times, concern for the natural environment has led activists to protest against the exploitation of wildlife for human benefit or entertainment.
Global wildlife populations have declined by 68% since 1970 as a result of human activity, particularly overconsumption, population growth, and intensive farming, according to the World Wildlife Fund’s 2020 Living Planet Report and its Living Planet Index, which provides further evidence that humans have triggered a sixth mass extinction event.
In November 2008, nearly 900 plucked and “oven-ready” owls and other protected wildlife species were confiscated by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Malaysia, according to TRAFFIC. The animals were believed to be headed for China to be sold in wild game restaurants. Most are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which prohibits or restricts such trade.
This subsection focuses on human-caused forms of wildlife destruction
A November 2008 report by biologist and author Sally Kneidel, PhD, documented numerous wildlife species for sale in informal markets along the Amazon River, including wild-caught marmosets sold for as little as $1.60. Many Amazonian species, including peccaries, agoutis, turtles, turtle eggs, anacondas, and armadillos, are sold primarily for food.
Other animals in these informal markets, such as monkeys and parrots, are destined for the pet trade and are often smuggled into the United States. Still other Amazonian species are popular ingredients in traditional medicines sold in local markets. The medicinal value of animal parts is based largely on superstition.
Many animal species hold spiritual significance in various cultures around the world, and they and their products may be used as sacred objects in religious rituals. For example, eagles, hawks, and their feathers hold great cultural and spiritual value for Native Americans as religious objects. In Hinduism, the cow is considered sacred.
Animals living in the wild face many threats due to causes that are either entirely or partially natural, such as starvation, dehydration, parasitism, predation, disease, injury, and extreme weather conditions.
This subsection focuses on human-caused forms of wildlife destruction. The loss of animals from ecological communities is also known as defaunation.
The exploitation of wild populations has been a hallmark of modern humans since our exodus from Africa 130,000 to 70,000 years ago. The rate of extinction of entire species of plants and animals across the planet has been so high in the last few hundred years that it is widely believed we are in the midst of the sixth major extinction event on Earth: the Holocene Mass Extinction.
