Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history. Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the earth forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.
Why should people care? Because we need animals, and because once they are gone, there will never be any more. Animals are more than just beautiful or interesting. They are more than just a source of food. Every animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems. For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks, the farmers' stores of corn and grain were destroyed by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks eat rats and mice, with no hawks to keep down their numbers, the rats and mice multiplied quickly.
Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger. Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws forbid the killing of any animal or plant on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.
動(dòng)物是自然資源，人們已經(jīng)浪費(fèi)了整個(gè)歷史。動(dòng)物有它們的皮毛，獵殺的食物，運(yùn)動(dòng)，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)诼飞稀３汕先f種動(dòng)物已從地球上永遠(yuǎn)地消失了。更是數(shù)以百計(jì)的瀕危動(dòng)物名單。約170種，僅在美國(guó)被認(rèn)為是危險(xiǎn)的。
人為什么要在乎？因?yàn)槲覀冃枰獎(jiǎng)游�，因�(yàn)樗鼈円坏┫�，就永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)再出現(xiàn)。動(dòng)物不僅僅是漂亮或有趣的。它們不僅僅是人類的食物來源。每一個(gè)動(dòng)物在自然界的平衡有它的地方。毀滅某種動(dòng)物會(huì)導(dǎo)致許多問題。例如，當(dāng)農(nóng)民大量死亡的鷹，農(nóng)民的玉米和糧食倉庫被老鼠破壞。為什么？因?yàn)辁棾允箢�，沒有鷹保留下來的數(shù)量，鼠類就會(huì)迅速繁殖。
幸運(yùn)的是，有些人正在努力幫助拯救動(dòng)物。有些組織籌錢來讓人們了解這一問題。他們?cè)噲D讓政府通過保護(hù)瀕危動(dòng)物的法律。很多國(guó)家已經(jīng)通過了法律。這些法律禁止瀕危名單上的動(dòng)物或植物的殺戮。慢慢地，某些瀕危動(dòng)物的數(shù)目正在增長(zhǎng)。
