Wildlife Definition, Benefits and Importance of wildlife.
What Is Wildlife?
When we go to explain the word wildlife, we find two parts to it.
01. Wild and
02. life
Generally, Wild means those who are not domesticated.
And, life means those who have souls or all living things.
In this case, all living things divided into two parts-
- Those who cannot produce their own food means all kinds of animals.
- And Those who can produce their own food means all kinds of plants.
So the simple meaning of wildlife is all the creatures that grow up in the wild.
In detail, Wildlife is all living things that grow independently in the natural environment. This means that all the living elements of the environment that grow and develop in the natural environment, where there is no human intervention are called wildlife.
According to Cambridge Dictionary Wild
life definition-
"Animals and Plants that grow independently
of people, usually in natural conditions"
Here Animals Means, Something that lives
and moves but is not a human, bird, fish, or insect.[Ref-1]
Plants Means, a living thing that grows in
earth, in water, or on other plants, usually has a stem, leaves, roots, and
flowers, and produces seeds.
Independently meaning, without being
influenced or controlled in any way by other people, events, or things.
According to Merriam Webster wildlife
Definition-
"Living things and especially mammals,
birds, and fishes that are neither human nor domesticated"
How many species are there in the world?
Although there is no precise information on the species that exist in all ecosystems around the world, it is estimated that there are about 8.7 million species in all. About 92% of which live in marine ecosystems. As a result, it is not possible to determine the exact number of species. The number of species discovered by humans is 1.6 million. However, scientists are constantly discovering new species.
Importance or Benefits of Wildlife
Wildlife is one of the biggest
contributors to making our planet habitable. By maintaining the balance of the
environment, they have made the world habitable. The role of wildlife is
paramount in sustaining all the ecosystems of the world. As a result, they are
an essential part of human survival, directly or indirectly. The role of
wildlife is immense in every field from food supply to textiles, economy, medicine,
education, recreation. Simply put, we survive in the shadow of wildlife. We
will describe the importance of wildlife in a few headings.
Environmental Importance
Wildlife plays a big role in maintaining ecological balance. We know that the living element is one of the basic elements that make up an ecosystem. Among the living elements, everything except human and domesticated parts is wildlife. So the importance of wildlife is paramount in maintaining the stability of an environment.
Every member of an ecosystem is dependent on each other. Sometimes for food, sometimes for shelter, or sometimes for food production. An ecosystem is stable in the presence and activity of all. So the role of wildlife is essential to keep an ecosystem stable.
As
an example, if the number of tigers in the forest decreases in any way, the
number of deer or Red foxes will increase. If the number of deer or fox increases abnormally, it
will affect the producer or primary level eater. As a result, the number of producers will be reduced.
Again, if the productive part (trees, grass) is reduced, the forest will lose
its wildness, which means the forest will be destroyed, which will affect the
environment of the whole world. Once the forest is destroyed, deer will come to
the locality for food and destroy the fields of human crops. This will reduce
food production.
Economic importance
Wildlife is the driving force of a country's economy.
Wildlife forms the basis of a country's strong economy. The supply of raw
materials from different factories comes from wildlife. In particular, the
supply of almost all the raw materials for the textile industry comes from
wildlife.
It is also possible to earn a lot of foreign currency by
exporting wildlife directly. Which is the main source of income in many
countries.
If we look at the
picture of world trade, we can see that in 2018 alone, 84.4 million tons of
marine fish was captured for export.
Not only fish but also all kinds of wildlife are exported.
Especially vertebrates, big trees, shrubs, etc. At present, about 5500 species
of birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles are legally exported all over the
world. Its market value is estimated at $300
billion. Which strengthens the economy of any country. At the same time, it
also provides employment to the people.
In the laboratory
Many times wildlife is also used directly for research and always used in laboratories to test the practical usefulness of different types of experiments. In particular, rabbits, rats, monkeys are more used in this work.
In the pharmaceutical industry
The primary raw material for various types of medicine comes from wildlife. In addition, many wild animals act as carriers of various diseases.
Entertainment:
As people enter the light of civilization, they are moving away from wildlife. As a result, wildlife is very attractive to the new generation. So various zoos, eco-parks have been set up for the entertainment of the people. Wildlife is displayed in a variety of circuses or games that give us pure entertainment. Animal hunting is also a joy for many. People have also domesticated wild animals for recreation. Pet dogs and cats are now in our homes.
Reference-
01. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wildlife
02. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wildlife
