Thousands of monkeys and other primates are traded illegally on the international market each year, wanted for their fur, as pets, or for scientific research. Even the king of the jungle, the jaguar, is in danger of becoming extinct. Its fur is highly valued for use on coats and shoes. Pollution from mining has killed fish populations in the mighty Amazon River. Many Indigenous people, who have depended on these fish for centuries, have become sick from the poisoned fish.
Extinction is a natural process.
Species like the saber-toothed tiger have died off from their failure to adapt to a changing environment. Others like the dinosaurs died off due to a catastrophe such as a comet or asteroid striking the earth. But today humans are altering their habitats too quickly for animals to adapt. So many species become extinct in such a short period of time, that the impact of the industrial age can be compared to the catastrophe of a comet strike on the diversity of life. It would be a sad world indeed without the beauty of a toucan or the grace and power of the jaguar.