Why are so many animals in danger?
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It is estimated that there could be as many as 14 million species of plants and animals in the world, although only around two million have been officially recorded so far. More than 12,000 species of animals and plants now face extinction, due largely to human activities. Some will die out before they have even been discovered.
Habitat destruction
Tropical rainforests are the world’s richest natural habitats, housing more than two-thirds of all plant and animal species on earth. Sadly, the rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate – with more than half already gone – for timber, and cleared so that the land can be used to graze farmed animals or to provide housing for expanding human populations. If rainforests disappear, all the plants and animals living there will be lost forever.
Six species of great ape who live in the tropical rainforests – the eastern and western gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, Sumatran and Bornean orang-utan – now face extinction. This is due to habi...
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