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      There are over 24,000 species that are endangered or threatened. Endangered means a species is in danger of extinction in its range. The basic causes are human inflicted; they are indirect, direct and natural causes. The main human cause is destruction of species habitat. This is so critical because distinct species have evolved and adapted to these specific habitats and can not survive else where. For example, deforestation, pollution, over-grazing and urbanization are only a few of the many ways precious habitats are demolished. 

     A natural cause could possibly be the fact that species do become extinct, but only over enormously long periods of time. Human population growth has spurted so quickly in such a short period of time that the extinction is not natural and can be traced back to excessive human activities.  A direct cause is huge numbers of beautiful whales are lost to meat and oils for human luxury. An indirect cause is an unusual species of flower endemic to one community is picked by admiring human beings. The flower will become extinct when the 1 billionth person picks one.

     The Felis Concolor commonly called mountain lion, cougar or puma was put on the  list of endangered species throughout its range on August 14, 1991. Their colors range from tawny to reddish brown and most have a lighter colored face. They feed on deer wild turkeys, small mammals and even domestic livestock. They need between 5 and 25 square miles to survive. When people continue to urbanize, land is taken from the cougars. This forces them to try and survive within our territory. They are often killed because of interfering with our domestic animals and even our own human kind. They are also mangled by vehicles on roads that cross through their innocent area of land. Food supply is greatly decreased as well. This causes a huge imbalance of nature. There becomes less grass for the small mammals to feed on, making less small mammals for the cougar to feed on. This drives the cougars into any area in search of food. Most families of cougars die of starvation.......and some are here in California.

      Luckily there are many organizations that put forth efforts to save endangered species of all kinds. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Services have done surveys to understand what needs to be done for habitat protection. The Endangered Species, Inc. is a group of  volunteers who make this viable information available to the public. There are also things individuals can do to help. For instance, donations, volunteering time, and simply refusing to buy animal products. Today there is an Endangered Species Act that legally protects and proposes a recovery plan for the listed species. Also, the Mountain Lion Foundation is for habitat conservation. They urge prop 117 that provides $30 million to habitat recovery. 

     Though there are numerous efforts to save cougars and all other endangered species, it is inevitable that humans will continue to affect worldly habitats. The problem is that the consequence of our actions not only harm innocent creatures and plant life, but harm our entire biosphere and possibly our own demise as a human population.

By: Julia Reay