Humans have evolved over the years and have become to be known as, Homo sapiens. They are by far the most unique and intelligent species living on Earth today. The gifts of intelligence and sentience have allowed this race to construct industries, populate the Earth, and build technologies for medicine, communication, and safety in ways that effect the environment unlike any other species. With all this great power, comes great responsibility. Protecting and taking care of the less able and weaker members of our society, has been one of these great responsibilities. Then why stop with just the human race, protecting less privileged species, specifically the Peary caribou, should be just as big of a responsibility as any other. There are many positive effects of not being selfish and saving the Peary Caribou, however many of these effects also bring on tremendous other negative affects that may affect not only the human race, but other species as well. The Peary caribou have lived in relation with humans for over 13,000 years. Specifically, the modern day Inuit and Aboriginal people depend on the caribou for food, clothing, utensils, and as a symbol for culture and religion. Nomadic tribes would track the caribou in order to find other food sources, and eventually some of them would be killed for the tribe’s personal benefit. (HWW Organization, 2005)
Today these caribou’s numbers have dropped significantly due to climate, hunting and competition. Aiding the caribou in their struggle for survival will restore the food chain to its normal balance. The caribou eats many species, and many species depend on the caribou as a food source. With caribou gone, the species that were being eaten by the caribou will flourish and overpopulate, while the species that depend on the caribou as a food source will begin to die off, and may even become the next endangered species. (V., T., T., & I., 2007) (Planet Green, 2011; Wu-Meng, 2000; Aym & McDole, 2011; Powell, 2009; Endangered Species International, 2011)
Over the years many species of plants and animals have been used to discover medicines such as painkillers, antibiotics, blood thinners, anti-cancer agents, and more. All of these discoveries were made through the study of just a few out of the many species found in the world. There are still numerous discoveries yet to be made by the study of other species, including the Peary caribou. (Endangered Species International, 2011) (Planet Green, 2011) (Aym & McDole, 2011) (Wu-Meng, 2000) (Wu-Meng, 2000) Once the population of Peary caribou has been saved, they may also be used as a tourist attraction for photographers, researchers, and various tourists. This will provide economic strength for the Canadian government. (HWW Organization, 2005) With all of these positive effects also follows various negative effects of saving the Peary caribou. It will take a lot of time and money in order to save the caribou from extinction. The majority of this money will have to be taken as grants from the government, which may affect tax levels as a nation. (Wu-Meng, 2000)
Relocating the caribou may have many adverse effects on the new environment in which they will be placed, as well as the old one. If the caribou are a success in the new habitat, they may begin to overpopulate the new habitat, thus reducing the resources available to the other existing species. (Powell, 2009) Furthermore, if the caribou are kept safe via captive breeding, then the caribou may not learn how to
