Among the many quirks of human nature, one that has always struck me as particularly worthwhile is the tendency to project our own feelings onto other animals.

This seems to me like a fast route to empathy, a way to bring us closer to different species. But many scientists disagree. They call this anthropomorphism, and they discourage it.

Such is the case with Tahlequah, also known as J35, a 20-year-old female orca from the critically endangered southern resident population based near Puget Sound, Wash. On July 24, she gave birth to a female calf, who lived for just 30 minutes. The calf was emaciated, lacking enough blubber to stay afloat. Tahlequah kept the body at the surface, supporting it on her head or holding it in her mouth.

The whale population is constantly under threat over the last few years. A lack of food is only one of the reasons southern resident whales are struggling, said Millstein, who mentioned noise from marine traffic and pollution as factors which strongly impact the orcas' health.

In 2006, more than 500,000 people went on whale watching ships, according to 2014 NOAA technical memorandum on the whale watching industry in the Puget Sound. Annually, nearly 200,000 people visit the Lime Kiln State Park on San Juan Island to view the whales from land.

 Humans have exploited most of the natural resources and in the process, they have destroyed animals and their habitats leading to decline in animal population and extinction in many cases. Apart from this, humans kill animals for food and to certain extant, its justified. Humans consume a lot of meat that, animals are bred for their meat. In the name of exotic food, wild animals are killed too. Above all these are game hunters and trophy hunters, who kill wild animals for fun and hobby thus decimating their population.

Hence it is our moral responsibility to protect the wildlife and live in harmony with them. Scientifically speaking, individual animals have their own roles in the global food web and ultimately impacts the ecosystem directly or indirectly.

Wild animals keep check on the population of flora and fauna in an ecosystem by themselves. Any disturbance in this natural balance will have an effect on the ecosystem and ultimately on global climate.

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-it-important-to-save-animals

https://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/the-orca-her-dead-calf-and-us-1.2261811