All of the animals in the tundra have been hunted, mainly for their skins and meat, but all of that has now declined, since there is no need for humans to kill those animals anymore. However, although they aren’t being killed directly by humans, lots of human caused actions have caused some of these animals to become endangered. Being endangered means that there aren’t much of that species on Earth and the two main tundra animals that are endangered are polar bears and arctic foxes.

 

Polar bears have become endangered, due to the results of many of our modern day life activities. These results are mainly climate change and oil spills. Due to the augmented level of carbon dioxide in the air created by the greater use of fossil fuels, the average global temperature around the world has increased over the following years, and this temperature change is also known as climate change. These increased temperatures thus melts the ice of the Antarctic tundra the polar bears call home, causing a decrease in their numbers due to loss of habitat. Another reason why polar bears are endangered are oil spills. Petroleum, or oil, is a fossil fuel that is a primary resource used around the world, mainly for gasoline and plastic. Therefore, many oil mines and drill sites can be found in the tundra biomes because of the large deposits of oil under the permafrost. These mines and drill sites are then connected to pipelines that run under the ground and through the ocean. However, sometimes these oil pipelines leak or burst. This thus releases large amounts of oil into the ocean, killing many of the fish species that the polar bears feast upon, thus killing many polar bears through starvation. This is why, in turn, polar bears are endangered right now.

 

Arctic foxes are also endangered for the same reasons, but another reason is hunting. For a while in the late 1990s and 2000s, arctic foxes have been hunted, only for their skins to be used as fabric for pelts and coats. Now, strict laws have been put to prevent the hunting of arctic foxes and now their numbers are recovering.

 

Many of the tundra’s endangered species are currently recovering, and there is no room for worry, since there are many organizations out there who look out for the well-being of animals, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Conservation International.