Extinct and Vanishing Animals: A Biology of Extinction and Survival

In the limited scope of this book I wish to present a brief review of the progressive destruction of nature, particularly in the domain of animal life, and at the same time to ill- trate some of the possibilities by BIII:- Ion-.--------------, which man can prevent this de- 3 ~----------~f_4 struction. As the mightiest creation of na- 2,51-______ a _ ___ ~L...-_j ture, man extends his influence into all of nature's provinces and in- 2 1--- - -------1---; habits all zones of the earth. ,,51----------1'------1 Civilization and technology, ulti mate consequences of his unique 1 cerebral development, have pro moted man to this position of O~,I,.,oo-="'------------I power. An enormous population increase in recent centuries has 1850 1100 1700 1800 1BIIO 1800 .110.2000 made him one of the most numer An ous of all animal forms. A com h parison of the alarming climb of 5 earth's population curve (Fig. la) - ",0 with the graphical representation r-- of exterminated animal species 30 r- (Fig. Ib) establishes a striking conformity. The steeper the human 20 r-- population curve climbs, the higher 10- stretch the bars representing the h -r-- number of exterminated animal 1650 1700 17150 1800 18SO 1900 19SO 2000 species.