Animals Facing Extinction
The Coelacanth
On April 19, 2000, the United Nations Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species (CITES) banned all international trade in the
species.to protect this "living fossil" that experts believe
to number less than 500. It may protect and save the fish that has survived
from the time of the dinosaurs until the middle of this century.
Tigers, especially the Sumatran and Siberian, are near the brink of extinction, partly from habitat destruction, but mostly from greedy poaching and illegal trade.
These mammals are again under pressure from commercial fishing industries worldwide. (Above: Minke whale; below; whale skeleton in the ocean)
Despite a ten year international ban on ivory, poaching is increasing.
Sites to visit
International
Fund for Animal Welfare
International
Whaling Commission
Greenpeace International
Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES)
World Wildlife Fund
(WWF)