Question

Though the conflict between humans and wildlife started with the evolution of man, the intensity of conflict has increased due to the activities of modern man. Justify your answer with suitable examples.

Answer 1

Impact of human activities on wildlife :

• During the evolution of man, the eating habits changed from fruit eating to meat eating, this led to exploitation of animals for food.
• As civilisation dawned on humankind, animals were exploited for various uses such as fibres, hides, draught work etc.
• With urbanisation and increasing population, the need for everything including food, space, natural resources, etc. has increased. This has urged the modern man to hunt more animals, destroy their habitats and exploit them more to fulfill his needs.
• Modern activities of man have led to an increase in the rate of extinction by 100 to 1000 times due to overexploitation of resources for agriculture, urbanisation and industrialisation.

Examples:

• 2000 species of native birds became extinct dut to the colonisation of Pacific Islands by humans .
• Increased deforestation has resulted in habitat loss and fragmentation of a large number of plant and animal species.
• More than 15,500 species face the threat of extinction at present.
• There have been the disappearance of 27 species in the last 20 years.
• The conflict between humans and wildlife due to anthropogenic action is expected to wipe out nearly 50$\%$ of species in the next 100 years.