How can we help animals like the American Alligator? What are making them endangered?

Answers:
HABITAT LOSS
A habitat is the ecosystem a species needs to live in - a swamp, rainforest, woodland, limestone bog, desert etc. HABITAT LOSS IS THE GREATEST CAUSE OF SPECIES BEING ENDANGERED. Construction of homes, buildings, roads, timber harvesting, loss of farmlands and the creation of farmlands (more likely outside of the U.S., as in the rainforest of South America) threatens many ecosystems large and small.

POLLUTION:
Pollution can take many forms. Water, air and ground pollution are all related. Toxic substances dumped in a wooded area will destroy the soil and the species that live in it (from bacteria, to insects and the birds %26 animals that eat them) but it will also get into the groundwater below it. that water may lead to the same source of water that comes out of your faucet!!

COMPETITION FROM OTHER SPECIES
Sometimes there are just too many animals living in an area that compete for the space, water and food that is found there. For example, in NJ, a large population of raccoons (which turned out to have a parasitic disease) threatened the last remaining population of woodrats in NJ.

DISEASE
By our definition, diseases occur naturally. We are not talking about diseases that animals get because of pesticides or pollution. It is a part of nature that animals get diseases. But sometimes humans introduce diseases and problems into a species.

PREDATION
Predators are species that hunt other species as their way of getting food. For example, a peregrine falcon will kill small rodents (like mice %26 voles) and even kill other birds to get food. This is natural and expected. There are no predators that cause extinctions in NJ and none that we could find in our research - unless humans had changed the predators or introduced other predator species.

UNREGULATED OR ILLEGAL KILLING
People were once predators that hunted and killed to get their food. In some parts of the world people still need to do that.

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humans imposing on their habitat. we take up all the room and think they are trespassing...but in reality the animals have been there before us and are getting kicked out of their own neighborhoods and dont know where to go or do.

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Does anyone really care they are becoming endangered? What use do they serve? Would anyone really miss them if there were none left?

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The increase of synthetic oestrogen's in the environment doesn't help with the fertility of male gators,lots of these oestrogen's come from us humans who are trying to avoid fertility..I am sure you can work out how this happens

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Actually, alligators are about to be taken off the endangered species list!!! They have made a remarkable comeback since they became an endangered species in the early 70's. We can only pray that other species will recover as quickly as the American alligator!!!

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The American Alligator isn't endangered. Florida has tens of thousands of the creatures. They cull them for meat and skins. Pick something else that is truelly endangered and then research the subject on the net. Find out what can be done to help. You'll come up with something.

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american alligators are actually thriving very well right now and have encountered a SIGNIFICANT come back mostly due to people recognising the issue at hand. There are at significant higher numbers now, enough in fact to allow small numbers to be hunted during a short period in fall in some southern states, and also enough to allow them back into the food and hide trade once again, not that I condone such acts as an avid reptile hobbiest, but alligators are doing very well, both in the wild and numerous "gator farms" and zoo's around the world