me severely endangered or even extinct due to the high rate in which the species is being used. One example of this is the case of the great whales, many of which were reduced to extremely low population sizes in the mid-20th century because of unrestricted whaling. In 1982 a number of countries agreed to put a ban on commercial whaling. As a result, some whales species that used to be endangered have made great comebacks. Many other species, however, are still at risk (Washington Post 57). Some other animal species experience high rates of exploitation because of the trade in animal parts. Poaching is still common in some parts of the world but in far fewer numbers than before. Most poaching affects animals with horns or tusk that can be sold for ivory of medicinal purposes. Currently, this trade is centered in several parts of Asia where there is a strong market for traditional medicines made from items like tiger bone and rhino horn (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 69). Disease, pollution and limited distribution are more factors that threaten various plant and animal species. If a species does not have the natural genetic protection against particular pathogens, an introduced disease can have severe effects on that species. For example, rabies and canine distemper viruses are presently destroying carnivore populations in East Africa. Domestic animals often transmit the diseases that affect wild populations, demonstrating again how human activities lie at the root of most causes of endangerment. Pollution has seriously affected multiple terrestrial and aquatic species, and limited distributions are frequently a consequence of other threats. Populations confined to a few small areas due to habitat loss may be disastrously affected by random factors....
