"With the help" of the human race, large mammals became extinct on most continents. Throughout the years of history, most of the area of Africa was spared from the damage, but in the last few hundred years the extinction reached the Black Continent as well
The rich variety of large mammal species in Africa is a source of attraction for many. The forests, deserts, savannahs and bodies of water are decorated with elephants, hippopotamuses, lions and tigers and attract millions of travelers, will future generations also be able to enjoy this wealth?
In the last thousands of years, humans have harmed the population of mammals in the entire world and continue to harm even today. Remains of mammoths, giant buffalo, horses and saber-toothed cats that disappeared from America and Eurasia are few Victims of the expansion of the human population at the end of the Paleolithic period. . Islands in the oceans that were remote "refuges" for rich biodiversity have become poor in native natural species andInhabited by invasive species that were imported to them.
"With the help" of the human race, large mammals became extinct on most continents. Throughout the years of history, most of the area of Africa was spared from the damage, but in the last few hundred years the extinction reached the black continent as well. Bluebuck - Hippotragus leucophaeus that was common in South Africa was hunted until it became extinct in 1800 and thus became the first large mammal to become extinct in Africa in the historical period.
Other species may share a similar fate, while the damage to elephants, gorillas and rhinoceros grabs weekly headlines in the media, many are the less famous species such as the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) or the hyrula (Beatragus hunteri) (pictured) whose survival is in much greater danger.
Fragile and scattered mammal populations lose in the competition for resources and territory, compared to human populations thatAccording to the UN, it will increase fourfold by the year 2100.
On top of the friction and competition for habitat between wild animals and people is added an ominous change in the form of global warming.
In recent decades, the periods of drought in East Africa are increasing and at the same time the temperature in the Indian Ocean is rising - which affects The rainfall cycle in the area. Rainy seasons are getting shorter and dry seasons are longer than usual.
In response to these developments initiatives Many studies that examine the effect of warming on wildlife. These studies raise questions such as: How does the climate affect the distribution of mammals?, or what is the degree of sensitivity of different species in mammal populations to climate changes?
Almost every study that touches on these questions starts with the assumption that the distribution of mammals is coordinated and synchronized with the changes in climate and follows them in real time. The validity of the assumption and its truth are essential to predict the response of species to climate change.
In the severe drought that hit Kenya in 2009 – hit the Amboseli Reserve, And so it provided a horrifying example of the combination between warming and human invasion of natural areas, which indicates what is expected in the coming decades. The rains in Amboseli did not fall, the grass did not grow and the herbivores in the reserve who were used to migrating to low and marshy areas that at other times were a hinterland for grazing, found themselves trapped in the dry areas due to human development around the reserve which caused the damage and destruction of the grazing areas and the blocking of the passages between the areas.
https://www.eawildlife.org/swaraonline/swaras/swaraIssues/EAWLS_Swara_Magazine_03_2010.pdf
Roads, farms and towns prevented the migration of thousands of zebras, wildebeests, antelopes and elephants who, without access to water and pasture, died - "in the shadow of Kilimanjaro"! It turns out that while the effect of warming will increase in the coming decades, wildlife will lose more and more areas.
These days the initiative to pave is coming up again A main road that will cross the Serengeti Reserve, and these are just a few examples of "initiatives" that have a devastating effect.
In an attempt to verify or contradict the assumption that the distribution of mammals today is correlated with the climate, data was collected on the mammal populations in Africa andComparing their situation to today's climate versus the situation of mammal populations in the Paleolithic period.
It is clear that the state of mammals today is the result of populations affected by climatic and environmental changes. Is it possible that the environmental changes will be too fast for species to react and adapt if this is the assumption above in doubt? It turns out that the structure of mammal populations today is the result of climatic effects over thousands of years, but during the cold and dry period - the ice age that occurred from about 22 years ago to about 6000 years ago, there were mammal species that were unable to follow their preferred climate and adapt, since there Time difference between the climate changes and the adaptive response of mammal species, so it is clear that in the current situation, When man-made warming causes changes at a speed that dwarfs changes in thicknessR - The adaptation chances of the mammals are weak.
There is a less pessimistic possibility that the mammal populations that have been flexible enough to adapt to changes in the past thousands of years will succeed this time as well, but here too there is cause for concern because it is not clear how those species that were able to adapt to changes in the past will succeed in doing so again when the speed of changes is so great, and when to them is added competition against human population, even the most optimal ("optimistic") options are questionable.
It is hoped that combining and studying data from the Paleolithic past will provide an understanding of the process of adaptation of species to climatic changes.
A number of current studies may bear fruit. as to to the direct influence of people,
I will repeat what I have written many times: the time has come that instead of controlling the environment for the sake of the human population, there will be control of the human population for the sake of the environment.
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I mean, until progress and technology finally seeps into Africa, we need to stop it for the sake of the giraffes?!