Conservation assessment statements

Extinction: This is where an animal no longer exists on the planet and can happen for a number of reasons.

• Detruction of habitat by fire or industrialisation 
• Over hunted or a disease wipes them out 
• A chemical spill can kill a species of fish 

Conservation: This is the idea of saving a population by increasing genetic diversity. Conservation of animals and plants is very different. 

Animals: 

• This is done with captive breeding programmes
• These want to increase the size of an animals popualtion and maintain genetic diversity  
• They use stud books to allow careful selection of mates. Only those with different genes can mate. 
• This is helped by genetic testing.
• They move animals around zoo's to increase the gene pool  
• They reintroduce the animals back in to the wild in order to increase genetic variation.
• Once the animal is back in the wild they educate the local people and aim to protect it from predators  

Plants:

• They are kept in seedbanks  
• They are washed and dried 
• They are placed in a container that is then placed in to stroage in a cool room 
• They are germinated often 

• They are washed and dried so that there is no mold on them that would kill them and dried so that they do not germinate. 
• They are placed in a cool room so that they don't germinate or go mouldy.
• They are oftern germinated so that they can check if the container method is correct and it is not killing the plants. 

It is better to keep seeds rather than full plants becuase: 

• Seeds take up less space so you can store more of them to increase survival 
• Seeds are cheaper to take care of 
• They will survive for longer 

These are two different methods of conserving animals

In Situ is about keeping the animals in their natural habitat and is beneficial becuase: 

• Some animals can't survive outside their natural habitat 
• The environment is already there so it is cheap 
• It employ poachers to catch the animal and so increase its changes of surviving
• It can bring tourism which, if dealt with correctly, can bring money to the area 

Ex situ is taking the species out of their natural habitat beneficial because: 

• It allows keepers to keep a close eye on the animal and increase genetic variation 

Detrimental becuase: 

• It can be expensive