Up to 2,000 species become extinct every single year, such a high number with not enough being done to decrease it. This begs me to ask the question that if these animals were on our doorsteps, would we be doing more? I can’t help but think if dogs started heading to extinction we would stop at nothing to save mans bestfriend. So why do we care so little about the invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles heading straight to extinction? We are all well aware of Polar bears, Amur leopards, Orang-utans and many more. But so many smaller animals go extinct every day, without as little as a whisper about them. In this next blog series I’m going to compare some of our own animals with those going extinct unnoticed everyday, because no life is too small to not be cared about. If we start comparing them to our beloved pets, maybe we will start to do more to save the small but mighty animals in our marvellous kingdom. After all, they all have as much right to be here as any other species.
Snakes, an animal feared by many, why would anyone care to save them? 97 species of snake are listed as endangered. Snakes are major predators and play a massive part in the food chain, without them numbers of prey would increase, affecting the eco-system. All animals contribute to the earth in someway, and none should be considered more important than others.
San Francisco garter snake
This snake is high up in the chart of the most beautiful snakes, possessing colours of red, orange, light blue and black. However their habitats are being destroyed everyday for commercial and residential use as well as this many toxic pesticides are released into their environments in order to kill them. They feed mainly on California red-legged frogs (Yet another amphibian heading to extinction which many are unaware of) as their prey and habitat declines rapidly San Francisco Garter snakes are heading towards critical endangerment with only a few conservation groups running to their aid.
Maple the cornsnake
Maple is one of my cornsnakes, one you may have met in a session or seen on our facebook page shedding her beautiful skin. These snakes live in the cornfields of California, meaning they share the same country as the San Francisco Garter snake. Cornsnakes are very placid making them an extremely popular pet, if their numbers in captivity started to decrease rapidly many reptile enthusiasts would grow quite concerned. Luckily their numbers in both captivity and the wild are both stable, but with little publicity talking about the endangerment of snake species, would we even notice these pets heading to extinction in the wild?
The woma python can be found in Australia, mainly in grass, and woodlands. They feed on lizards and smaller snakes. However the burning of lands is sending this species straight to extinction, they are critically endangered and only one zoo in Australia is responsible for trying to increase the numbers again with a breeding program in place.
Polly The ball python
You may have met Polly the ball (royal) python in a session or seen her on our instagram page. Despite being considerably larger than Maple my cornsnake, Polly is just as placid and loves coming to meet everyone at sessions. Snakes come to know their owners and can be just as affectionate as any other pet, which is why there are so many snake enthusiasts, but whilst we spend so much time enjoying the ball python, the woma python continues to decrease in numbers with very little being done to help them.
Comparing our own animals with those heading to extinction highlights how important it is to save them as it reminds us all that these animals are not miles away from those we consider parts of our family and deserve to be saved no less than those in our own homes.
Haven’t met our snakes and would like to? Why don’t you book a session with us? Please contact the office via email at email@example.com or by phone 020 3372 4300 for some more information.