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Roy Campbell

Jackie Burr, instructor

English 2010, section 4

11 February, 2019

Open Letter to Congressmen and Congresswomen,

I am writing this open letter because I have fallen in love with animals, and I am

heartbroken at seeing many of them dying out with little to no hope. There is an ever growing list

consisting of 100 or more animals, animals either at risk of endangerment or worse: extinction.

Everyone knows the definition of extinction, but does anyone actually comprehend what that

actually entails? It means that those animals, and all the secrets that they may hold to

understanding them as a creature, or even our own selves, will be lost and forgotten. They will

never be seen again roaming or swimming across the surface of the earth's crust. This loss,

would be a far greater loss than you all may realize. As an example of what we’d be missing out

on I direct you toward the great white shark. The great white shark is currently rated on the list as

vulnerable to the possibility of extinction. Great whites are commonly known to be quite

dangerous and many fear the great white and it’s black and empty eyes. This in part due to the

likes of media and pop culture such as the highly acclaimed film ​Jaws ​directed by Steven

Spielberg. Fun and intriguing fact about the great white shark: the species cannot obtain the

disease known as cancer; the great white sharks are in no way a cancer affected species. If we

continue to let poachers hunt down these magnificent beasts for example, we could lose the

possibility at a cure to the senile disease cancer, of which takes the lives of millions every year. It

would truly be a shame as there is hardly anything being done about it. Especially as these lives
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could benefit all of us. We as people can learn and grow from them. Putting better and stronger

acts in place as a means that not just our generations children can learn from them, but our

children's children. Many generations to come would be able to study, learn, and benefit in

numerous fields because you all decided to act and save these lives. It’s true that there are acts

put into place to supposedly help save these dying creatures however I would argue that these

acts are not enough. Currently there are acts in place as to leave the endangered species alone

such as ​The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973​ . The acts says you cannot hunt and/or

destroy them and their ecosystem. They are placed into the hand of preservation programs. But

the programs aren’t strong enough to save them on their own, not without legal help. They aren’t

enough to prevent the decimation of these innocent creatures, let to the mercy of humanity is

certainly not enough. They are weak acts and nobody really cares about them or tries to follow

them.

During the research on whether or not these creatures have been doing well and have

begun to thrive once more, researchers have been tracking what the estimated population of the

dying breeds may be. While very many of the researchers have been able to provide a rough

estimate, there are very many other species that population apparently cannot be determined

because there is far too much variety in the calculations. The approximate number of species that

cannot be honestly determined is about 43%. Almost half of the animals we are intended to be

saving the lives of, we can’t even determine their current population masses. Keeping this in

mind how are we to be sure that these animals are able to be thriving and are gaining the chance

at redemption? Better question what else can we do in order to help these populations be

restored, and not let them and their unique traits go to waste?
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One of the leading causes of extinction is humanity itself, in a variety of fashions. One

way is that humanity is just getting too big and driving the animals out of their habitats, killing

them in the process. Limits can be set to how far we can expand into their territory as this is

causing more problems other than extinction. Limitations being set will provide the species to

adjust and recuperate from their seeming impending doom. But the more pressing matter, in

regards to endangered species, is poaching of endangered species. Regular people still go out and

hunt them even closer to extinction, without punishment. There is very pathetic set punishments

for contributing to the genocide of an innocent species. I am asking you to enforce the poacher

laws, but more importantly, help enact legal laws to help save the creatures from being driven

into the history books and deter hunters.

Something to look into that I found interesting was this study was interesting as they too

an rather interesting approach as a means to breed and the Norwegian Lundehund grow more

pups, with so little actual animals of the breed left to impregnate and provide the means of

impregnation. What the experiment entailed was to use these breeds that already existed and

mate them to a breed as similar to the Norwegian Lundehund as possible. This allowed for much

more opportunity the breed and expand the lives of the Norwegian canines. The study was able

to increase the population and do a great job at this as well. This is one of the best and likely

options we have in order to save many of our endangered friends. If there are any other case

studies trying to find a means of saving the endangered animals, people who are seeking funds in

order to save lives, please I ask you to help fund them

With these solutions in mind it is important to realize that these species are not surviving

and there's so much more that we can be doing in order to help them survive. Our world we are
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conducting right now is not enough. The tigers (Bengal Tigers) everyone loves are essentially as

good as dead. They used to thrive, but now humanity has all but killed them and their species,

unless we do something about it. Rhinoceroses have been hunted for their horns, to the point that

there may not be any more horns to hunt very very soon. They are almost as alive as

Tyrannosaurus right now, and they will be as dead as they are unless we do something. And if

you still somehow do not believe this is a serious issue, we just lost a species recently, the Spix's

Macaw, the bird known in the popular movie ​Rio,​ a movie about saving an almost extinct animal

species, just go obliterated off the face of the earth. This is a real problem, with real solutions.

We have allowed the possibility of redemption before, and we strove to achieve the survival of

the Gray Wolf. The wolf had been on the very brink of annihilation, but we have allowed them to

get to the point of almost being fully recovered. We have done it before, enacting and forcing

legal agendas to preserve a species, and I am asking you to please do it again. I want to allow my

future kids to see the great and fantastic creatures that I have been given the opportunity to see. I

want any future generation to see and learn from them as I have had the opportunity to have.

Strengthen the endangered animal acts, seek out and fund studies on how to keep these animals

alive, enact more opportunities and ideas, extend a hand to the innocent, please don’t let the

animals of the earth down.

Sincerely animal lover,

Roy Campbell
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Works Cited

Andrew Currie “Protecting Endangered Species for Future Generations” Oct 12, 2010

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7MeCPfaPR0

Endangered Species Act Overview: Scientific Background and Major Provisions.” Congressional

Digest, vol. 97, no. 9, Nov. 2018, pp. 3–7. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=132598454&site=ehost-live.

Haines, Aaron M., et al. “Uncertainty in Population Estimates for Endangered Animals and

Improving the Recovery Process.” Animals (2076-2615), vol. 3, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 745–753.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/ani3030745.

Stronen, Astrid V., et al. “Genetic Rescue of an Endangered Domestic Animal through

Outcrossing with Closely Related Breeds: A Case Study of the Norwegian Lundehund.” PLoS

ONE, vol. 12, no. 6, June 2017, pp. 1–18. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177429.