Animalsarenaturalresourcesthatpeoplehavewastedallthroughourhistory.Animalshavebeenkilledfortheirfurandfeathers,forfood,forsport,andsimplybecausetheywereintheway.Thousandsofkindsofanimalshavedisappearedfromtheearthforever.Hundredsmoreareonthedangerlisttoday.About170kindsintheUnitedStatesaloneareconsideredindanger.
Whyshouldpeoplecare?Becauseweneedanimals,andbecauseoncetheyaregone,therewillneverbeanymore.Animalsaremorethanjustbeautifulorinteresting.Theyaremorethanjustasourceoffood.Everyanimalhasitsplaceinthebalanceofnature.Destroyingonekindofanimalcancreatemanyproblems.Forexample,whenfarmerskilledlargenumbersofhawks,thefarmers'storesofcornandgrainweredestroyedbyratsandmice.Why?Becausehawkseatratsandmice,withnohawkstokeepdowntheirnumbers,theratsandmicemultipliedquickly.
Luckily,somepeopleareworkingtohelpsavetheanimals.Somegroupsraisemoneytoletpeopleknowabouttheproblem.Andtheytrytogetthegovernmentstopasslawsprotectinganimalsindanger.Quiteafewcountrieshavepassedlaws.Theselawsforbidthekillingofanyanimalorplantonthedangerlist.Slowly,thenumberofsomeanimalsindangerisgrowing.