My Science School

Many of us have a favourite wild animal, such as a tiger or bear.

But did you know that many wild animals and plants are now rare? Some may soon die out.

People are causing this problem. We hunt animals and destroy wild places.

Luckily, some groups are working to save rare plants and animals. We can all help.

Bison and many butterflies are rarer than they used to be.

Extinct animals and plants are ones that have died out altogether. Wildlife that is very rare is called endangered.

Endangered animals may be large like a bison, or small creatures like a butterfly. Hunters almost wiped out the bison. Many butterflies are threatened by global warming as well as by people destroying the wild places where they live.

Dinosaurs died out long ago.

A species is a particular type of plant or animal, such as the American bison. Extinction is when all the animal or plants of one type die out, so that none are left.

In the past, many species have died out, often because they couldn’t cope with natural changes. The dinosaurs probably died out after a meteorite struck Earth and made conditions change very quickly. Now global warming is making conditions change quickly, too.