Can we stop animal extinction? | 91TV
Transcript
- The story of the last great auk is a tragic tale,
- but one worth telling.
- A gentle, flightless seabird,
- it once thrived on the windswept islands
- of the North Atlantic,
- but it was hunted for its meat,
- collectable eggs, feathers and oil,
- and its population declined rapidly
- in the 19th century.
- Unused to any kind of predator,
- enormous numbers were captured.
- The islands on which the auks lived became "fast-food drive-throughs"
- for European sailors travelling to the New World.
- In 1844, the last known pair of great auks
- were found on Eldey Island, off the coast of Iceland.
- A group of sailors captured the placid birds.
- Tragically, the last pair were killed not for food
- but for scientific curiosity and collection.
- For much of Western European history,
- many people, including scientists,
- believed that nature's creations were eternal or protected by God.
- In 1796, scientist Georges Cuvier put forward a new theory.
- By studying fossils of ancient elephants called mastodons,
- he proved that some species could completely die out.
- Cuvier thought natural disasters had killed the mastodons.
- But it wasn't until humans hunted the great auk to extinction,
- around 50 years later,
- that people realised that
- human action could directly cause
- a species' extinction
- and forever reshape the natural world.
- Scientists have now identified five periods of mass extinction
- where species have been eradicated at alarming speed.
- Previously, these mass die-offs had natural causes,
- like volcanic activity
- and the asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
- Normally, a new or existing species fills the gap,
- but today life on Earth is vanishing faster than it can be replaced.
- Intensive farming has transformed the planet,
- the burning of fossil fuels has caused catastrophic climate change,
- and sprawling cities have paved over habitats.
- Human activity has driven flora and fauna
- into smaller and smaller spaces
- and reduced them to smaller and smaller numbers.
- There are thought to be over a million species
- on the brink of extinction globally.
- Take the humble hedgehog -
- expanding cities and shrinking hedgerows,
- toxic pesticides and busy roads
- are driving our prickly friends to the brink.
- Three-quarters of Britain's rural hedge-loving hogs have disappeared
- in the last couple of decades.
- And it's not just hedgehogs.
- The loss of an iconic species signals a much deeper issue -
- the collapse of entire ecosystems
- where countless creatures and plants depend on one another.
- These ecosystems are vital to our survival,
- providing the pollination of our food,
- cleaning our air and water,
- and protecting us from floods and droughts.
- Since we are the cause of this sixth mass extinction,
- we can also be the solution.
- In 2022, nations across the world
- agreed to reverse biodiversity loss
- and protect 30% of our planet by the end of the decade.
- Achieving the target would certainly slow biodiversity loss,
- but arguably it will take a far greater effort
- from governments, businesses and individuals working together
- to transform our relationship with nature
- and prevent mass extinction.
- And sometimes individuals can have a big impact.
- Hotlin Ompusunggu is a dentist
- who lives in Indonesian Borneo.
- This Asian island is covered in some of the most incredible rainforest
- and is home to hornbills, leopards and orang-utans.
- Slowly swinging through the rainforest with their long arms,
- orang-utans have been driven to near extinction,
- in part because of rapid deforestation.
- Hotlin knew that poor health and poverty incentivise local people
- to chop trees to pay for treatment.
- So, Hotlin offered discounted dentistry
- to anyone who didn't cut down the forest.
- If anyone couldn't afford treatment,
- they could plant native trees
- or learn how to earn an income from organic farming.
- Since she started in 2011,
- over 100,000 trees have been planted
- and illegal logging in her area has been significantly reduced,
- improving and protecting the orang-utans' habitat.
- These charismatic creatures are now beginning to come back in numbers,
- thanks in part to Hotlin.
- Extinction isn't just about far-off exotic creatures.
- It's happening in our back yards, too.
- But unlike the great auk,
- the fate of the hedgehog and countless other species
- can still be changed.
- The extinction crisis we're facing isn't just about animals and plants.
- It's about the future of all life on Earth, including us.
- Individuals can only do so much.
- Will we work together to stop driving the sixth mass extinction?
Human activity has eradicated hundreds of species, including the great auk (the penguin of the North). Now it is pushing orangutans to the brink, and putting hedgehogs, gorillas and millions of others at immediate risk of extinction. What can we do to stop animals going extinct?
Made in partnership with @bbcideas
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