When a creature is critically endangered, you may think there is no hope left for the species and it’s just a matter of time, but conservation efforts have brought some species back from the brink of extinction to thriving populations today. It’s important to remember that conservation is worthwhile, so here’s some species that have recovered over time:
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon was endangered in the 1970s, largely caused by contaminated food by pesticides, and sometimes hunting and loss of habitat. Once the fastest bird in the world, the peregrine falcon was in decline until the pesticide that was harming them was banned and a captive breeding program was launched. This led to an increase in the numbers, who’s nests were now protected, and swift return of the species to quite a common sight in some parts of the country.
Image from https://www.britishbirdofpreycentre.co.uk/our-birds/peregrine-falcon/
Carmarthenshire along the cliffs of rivers is a good place to spot them up high, sometimes they’ll even dive down for something and get much closer. These lovely creatures have thrived again all thanks to the conservation efforts which saved them.
Blue Whale
There was a point where blue whales were hunted very near to extinction for their oil and fat, becoming a problem with how the species was dwindling. Legal protection was added in the 1960s, which led to them making a slow recovery over the span on many years to what they are today.
Pine Marten
The Pine Marten was driven to the brink of extinction largely due to deforestation. They were fortunately made a protected species in 1981 and started on a track to a slow recovery. This didn’t just mean breeding or more habitat, they actually became more adaptive to their new environments, and were also omnivores and would eat grey squirrels.
These three species are here today because of conservation work to make sure the threats against them were minimised, which is definitely possible for a lot of species that are endangered today.
Check out the blog to see more about endangered species close to us that we can help now.
