When natural disasters happen, people and animals lose their homes. However, they can rebuilt and remain in the same area. This is not the problem endangered animals face. Their natural habitat, if threatened, means they need to adapt to new environment, presuming they find one. In the course of man-made habitat loss, a domino effect starts to take place. Here’s what happens to endangered animals because of habitat loss.
Animals who lose their homes permanently have to go and look for new homes. They will find a place, but the problem is, it’s likely to be populated by another species. Thus, ensues a fight over the land. Whichever animal wins, we suffer a loss, and the problem remains or even gets more complicated.
One instance of an animal that displaces others happened in some places in Asia like the Philippines. A South American sucker fish known as the Janitor fish somehow managed to find its way into a major river. It multiplied and became predator to the other fish living there, until that species of fish completely disappeared. Now, this river is inundated with Janitor fish, which is an inedible type of catfish, and has been a major loss of food source for the people living near the river.
This loss was manifested on several levels. For the Janitor fish, it lost its natural habitat and had to adapt. The other fishes became endangered and eventually disappeared from the river. Finally, the people lost their source of food.
Animals can also leave an area voluntarily because they can no longer sustain life in their original habitat. The migration will upset the biological diversity. They even become mutant species because they have to face certain challenges, just the way dog breeds have produced mixed breeds, which is cross between two breeds.
Even if just one species becomes extinct, the delicate balance swings wildly, even if the effects are not immediately seen. For example, when the kangaroo-rat was removed from the desert as part of a study, the desert turned into grassland, and this affected the desert plants and other animals living there.
In short, imagine playing Jenga! or any other similar game. One block can tip the whole tower, causing it to collapse. This is how important each and every animal species is, and why we should give endangered animals more than a couple of dollars a year.