YOU are responsible for the extinction of hundreds of livestock speciesby | 26-01-2014 19:14 |
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Our planet is facing challanges. Carbon emissions causing air pollution... Cutting down trees destroying forests... and thousands of wild species being endangered and extinct. but today, I would like to talk about another major problem being caused by humans: livestock Now, more and more people are turning into vegetarians, vegans, and so on..but still most of the population around the world are consuming meat. Due to this, livestock, or domestic animals play a fundamental role within our society. We take eggs and meat from chickens. From goats, we take their milk and meat. Sheep provide us with their wool and meat. Pigs are popular for their meat. We take meat and milk from cows, and make cheese, butter, etc. All things considered, we depend on domestic animals every second of every day. However, this has led to a major problem. Since the demand for meat of higher quality and quantity is risng, the improvement of breeds is becoming essential. As the breeds are being improved, the diversity of the breeds has been dropping drastically. According to research, there are over 7000 types of livestock breeds around the world. Of these breeds, 21% is endangered. Things have become worse in the 21st century. About 60 breeds are almost extinct. Pigs have the highest extinction rate, followed by cows and sheep. On top of that, chicken breeds are the most endangered. Experts are pointing out the irony that, because people are tying to create better breeds, a lot of breeds that are possessing good DNAs are dying off. Earth is an ecosystem in which organisms interact. If only a few species disappear from our planet, others will also suffer because we are interconnected through the food chain. Of course, the human race is not an exception. |