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While many organisations put a considerable amount of effort into conservation projects, it is just not enough. Many of these efforts are effective short term, but in the long term they simply do not work, due to a number of factors.
Whilst there remains a demand for exotic animals in society, endangered species will always be at risk of being hunted and poached. Poachers often target larger animals - animals which take a long time to repopulate, such as rhinos and elephants. The poachers are clever and use methods which are sometimes completely undetectable. A recent case involved 300 elephants being killed in Zimbabwe's largest nature reserve. Poachers put poison in the water holes, killing hundreds of elephants and destroying an entire ecosystem*.
Captive breeding is perhaps the most effective method of protecting animals from extinction, but this also has its problems. First, releasing animals from captive environments could introduce disease into wild populations. Secondly, after several generations in captivity, species could become less able to survive in the wild. Would they know how to hunt for food? Or how not to be killed by other animals? Perhaps the biggest problem facing endangered species, however, is the increasing population of the human race. Although conservation measures have helped to prevent humans from completely destroying all natural habitats, human invasion will always be one of the greatest risks to threatened species.
- all the living things in an area and the way they affect each other and the environment
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