Kid Territory: What You Can Do to Help Wildlife and Wild Places

Gorillas are quickly losing their natural habitat.

Some hard facts

A four-mile (6.4-kilometer) patch of rain forest usually contains up to 125 different species of mammals, 400 kinds of birds, 100 reptiles, 60 amphibians, and countless insect species. Considering that about 74,000 acres (29,900 hectares) of the Earth's rain forests are destroyed per day, the cost to animal and plant life is huge.

Habitat for wildlife in North America is disappearing. Mountain lions (pumas), which were abundant in North America 80 years ago, are now seriously threatened. Grizzly bears, which once roamed the West in great numbers, have dwindled to fewer than 1,000 in the lower 48 states. Wetlands, which are home to many bird, reptile, and amphibian species, are shrinking and becoming seriously polluted.

The large mammals of Africa may not be with us within 20 years. African elephants are still being hunted for their tusks, despite the trade ban many countries have placed on ivory, and their habitat is being eliminated. We have already lost 90 percent of black rhinos because they were killed for their horns. Gorillas, too, are losing their habitat, and the young ones are still being captured and sold.

So what can you do to help?

You're just one person, and the problems seem so big. But as Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." The impact that humans have had on the Earth's habitats and wildlife up to this point has been largely destructive, because our behavior and choices have been destructive. If we change our attitude, our habits, and our choices, we can turn that around and make changes for the better. And that means that every single person–no matter where you live, no matter how old you are, no matter how much money you have–can make a difference, can be part of the solution.

It starts with recycling

Yeah, you've heard it before, but guess what? It really DOES make a difference. Do you know where aluminum comes from? It comes from cutting huge holes in the ground, usually in places that contain forests. The forests are cut down and burned, then the land and the soil are destroyed in order to mine out the bauxite to make aluminum. Once the miners leave, the land may never recover. There's already enough aluminum to go around. All we need to do is recycle all those aluminum cans. If you throw one in the trash, you're throwing away a little piece of wild habitat. The Zoological Society of San Diego has one great way to help with aluminum: the Cans for Critters program. It's a fun way to get your whole school and even your community involved, and you're all helping to save wild habitats.

Paper is another resource that we can recycle: cardboard boxes, newspapers, computer paper, catalogs and magazines, and food packages like cereal boxes. They can all be recycled and made into paper again, without cutting down any more trees. But you can go even one step further: you can buy, and encourage your family and friends to buy, products that USE that recycled paper for their packaging. The note to look for on a box or package is "Made with at least 30% POST CONSUMER waste" (and the higher the percentage, the better). This means that paper stuff we already used in one form has been made back into paper pulp and turned into the package you're looking at.

The same goes for plastic. You can recycle clear plastic, like soda and juice bottles, "white" plastic like milk and water bottles, and colored plastic, like detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, margarine containers, vitamin bottles, and lots of other colored items. And again, when you go back to the store to buy a new bottle of something, look for "Made with POST CONSUMER waste" on it. It means that the company takes recycling seriously and uses recycled plastic to make its packages.

And then of course there's glass. Clear glass, brown glass, blue and green glass–it's all recyclable. Glass is one of the easiest things to melt down and reuse. Some recycling places even give you money for it.

By recycling, you're helping to slow down the rate at which wild places are cut down, burned, and mined, and that leaves more habitat and food for wildlife and endangered species. It also leaves more resources for us, like clean air and clean water. And you're also keeping those items from being thrown into a landfill, which is really just a huge pile of trash. It has been shown that even items that are biodegradable do not actually break down and disintegrate in a landfill. If we keep making enormous piles of trash like that everywhere, pretty soon we won't have any place to live, either.

It continues with respecting and caring

...respecting and caring for wildlife and its habitats. One of the best things you can do is learn all you can about the different types of habitat and ecosystems on the Earth and the animals and plants that live in them, including the ones in your own backyard. Then share that information with everyone you know. The more we all know, the more we can find ways to help.

Respect animals and plants, don't disturb them. Leave bird nests alone, and don't pull flowers out of the ground. Don't chase pigeons, ducks, or squirrels, and don't scare fish. If you run across wild animals while hiking or camping, don't try to feed or pet them, and don't harass them. Do use binoculars if you want a close-up look. Do take photos or make drawings of wild things to remember what they look like. Do find out more about them by watching them from a distance and reading about them. Go out of your way to give wildlife some space.

Clean up wild habitats. When you visit a beach, park, or camping area–and that includes vacations to other countries–clean up any trash you find. Sometimes animals think that plastic bags, containers, pieces of foil, and other trash is food and eat it. They can then become very sick or even die. Cut the rings on plastic six-pack yokes. If an animal like a sea lion, bird, or otter gets its head, flipper, wing, or tail caught in one of the rings, it can die from strangulation, starvation, or infection. When you pick up trash and take your own trash home with you, you help animals remain healthy.

Make your own backyard a wildlife refuge. One of the biggest problems for wildlife is habitat loss, so why not create some habitat? You can help wildlife in your own area by giving them a safe place to find food, rest, and raise their young. Put up bird feeders for seed-eating birds like finches, jays, and sparrows, and for nectar-eating birds like hummingbirds and orioles. Put up a bat box for local fruit-eating and insect-eating bats to sleep in (they'll eat gnats and mosquitoes!). Plant bushes, trees, and flowers that can provide food and shelter for small animals. Then observe and take notes on which animals just visit your little habitat, and which ones live there.

Adopt some wetland habitat or an area of rain forest. Several conservation organizations have programs in which you can directly help protect an area of wild habitat. In the Nature Conservancy's Adopt-An-Acre Program, you buy an acre of threatened rain forest so it will be protected. You can become a Guardian of the Amazon with the World Wildlife Fund, and your money is used to set aside land in the Amazon for protection and teach the local people how to watch over it. Through the National Wildlife Federation, you can protect 100 square feet of wetlands in the United States that is at risk of being destroyed. And there are many others–see the list of organizations below. To raise the money for something like this, get a group of friends or a group at your school together and have a bake sale, a garage sale, a car wash, or a neighborhood walkathon. In many cases, you can help protect these wild areas for as little as $20!

Join a conservation organization

Here's a list of some possibilities. Check out the Internet, too.

Find out if your local zoo or aquarium has any conservation programs.

And here are even more ways you can help!

Turn off the water when brushing your teeth. Use the automatic dishwasher only for full loads. Turn off the lights when no one's in the room. Get permission and plan a Plant a Tree party at your school or in your neighborhood. Don't buy products made from animal parts, like fur or ivory. Try to buy organically grown fruits and vegetables, to reduce pesticide use. Walk or ride a bike for short trips. Join in a carpool. Don't wash soap, grease, or oil off your driveway into the gutter (it ends up in streams and the ocean). Create a compost station and compost kitchen scraps and grass and tree trimmings. Use your eyes, ears, common sense, and imagination and come up with your own ways to help wildlife. If we all work together, we CAN change the world.

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Helping Wildlife
Animal Bytes: Bat, Elephant, Gorilla, Hummingbird, Mountain Lion, Otter, Rhinoceros, Sea Lion