Protecting Our Vanishing Species

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Each year, World Animal Day is held to address the decline of endangered species. On the brink of extinction, these endangered animals stand at a crossroads between ceasing to exist and continuing to maintain the balance of the world’s ecosystem.

A call to action for conservation, biodiversity

As the world grapples with critical biodiversity issues, World Animal Day, held annually on October 4, serves as a reminder of our responsibility to care for and protect animals. Since its inception in 1925 by cynologist Heinrich Zimmermann, the day has grown into a global movement advocating for animal rights and welfare. It calls on individuals, organisations, and governments to recognise the crucial role animals play in our lives and to commit to safeguarding their wellbeing.

In a statement released by the Malaysian Humanitarian Foundation (MHF), global animal protection was highlighted as a critical issue that many advocate for and contend with daily. Established in 1996, MHF added that the observance day strives to bring people together, raise awareness, and enhance education worldwide so that animals can live the lives they deserve.

“By increasing awareness and improving education worldwide, those involved are helping to create a space that recognises wild and farmed animals as sentient beings with thoughts, feelings, and individual personalities. Their welfare practices and treatment must reflect this.”

According to MHF, here is how you can celebrate World Animal Day:

Awareness and educational events such as conferences and workshops
Shelter open days and pet adoption events
Fundraising events such as concerts, sponsored walks, bake sales, or gala balls
School events to educate the younger generation early on by using animal-related competitions, concerts, and films
Workshops with owners of working animals
Spay and neuter marathons or veterinary treatment camps
Media interviews to raise awareness of World Animal Day and its mission
Peaceful protest marches

Remembering extinct animals

To date, at least 15,000 animal species are threatened with extinction, according to a statement by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington. The statement added that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact extinction rate because many endangered species have not yet been identified or studied.

The primary reasons for this endangerment and extinction are three major anthropogenic causes: overhunting or overharvesting; the introduction of nonnative species, including the spread of disease; and habitat degradation or loss.

According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), animal protection and conservation are vital, as they are fundamental to the health of our planet.

“The extinction rate of species is up to 1,000 times higher than in pre-human times, and scientists suggest we are living through the planet’s sixth mass extinction. There has been a 68 per cent decline in mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, and fish species between 1970 and 2012. We’re losing biodiversity quicker than we ever have in the past.”

Preserving endangered species safeguards the intricate balance of our planet’s life, ensuring a healthier and more secure future for ecosystems and people, IFAW stated.

Extinct species list (By the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)

1690: Dodo bird — extinct from predation by introduced pigs and cats
1768: Stellar’s sea cow — extinct from hunting for fur and oil
1870: Labrador duck — extinct from human competition for mussels and other shellfish
1900: Rocky mountain locust — extinct from habitat conversion to farmland
1914: Passenger pigeon — overhunting
1936: Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger or wolf) — extinct from hunting, habitat loss, and competition with dogs
1952: Deepwater cisco fish — extinct from competition and predation by introduced fishes
1962: Hawaii chaff flower — extinct from habitat conversion to military installations
1989: Golden toad — extinct from climate change or other impacts
2004: St. Helena olive tree — extinct from logging and plantations

Reminiscing about the lost

Just like memories, what’s gone is lost, and no amount of compensation can bring it back. While extinct animals cannot be revived, endangered species still have a chance when they’re properly protected and conserved.

When reached out to, four individuals shared with Sarawak Tribune which extinct animal they would want to see alive again, and why.

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Xoncz Lee, 30

“I wish dinosaurs could roam the earth again. That way, humans would unite to fight a common enemy, instead of fighting among themselves.”

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Michael Pengiran Liew Boon Boon, 28

“Bringing the Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) back from the brink of extinction would be a critical conservation effort. While not completely extinct, the Malayan Tiger is critically endangered, with fewer than 150 left in the wild. Reviving their population would help restore balance to Malaysia’s forests, where tigers play a key role as apex predators in controlling prey populations. Protecting and potentially reviving the Malayan Tiger would also symbolise Malaysia’s commitment to wildlife conservation and preserving its rich biodiversity.”

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John Chris Panganiban, 33

“The sabre-toothed cats, which went extinct between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age, are animals I would like to see revived, as they were incredibly elegant and would be fascinating to observe in real life.”

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George Ponujuo Barin, 32

“In my opinion, the Kauai O’o bird deserves another song. It would be nice for the younger generations of Hawaii to hear it sing again, and maybe this time they’ll try their best to keep it from going extinct. The fact that the last time people ever heard it sing was a lonely male of the species waiting for a response from a female, which never came, is quite depressing.”

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As the world celebrates World Animal Day, championing animal conservation against extinction to maintain the balance of biodiversity, the question remains: What would you do when it is all gone?

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