Page 17 - Boca ViewPointe - September '21

September 2021 Viewpointe, Page 17
Saving The Endangered Innocents:

Fighting Apathy, Building Empathy

By Steve Handwerker Many animals face violent deaths when construction occurs. they occupy is small and cut
There are other ways construction kills animals. off. Relatively few individuals
One key ingredient to creating the endangerment of • Individuals are prevented by the road from migrating in of prey species increase the
innocent species is habitat fragmentation. This is often caused search of food and shelter. risk of predators hunting
by new residential construction and building highways all of • Their escape is blocked when there is a local fire, drought them to extinction, and then
which pose a grave threat to ecosystems and every animal or other threat. those predators going extinct
who lives there. • Local extinctions are more likely to occur when the land themselves. Or, prey species
may suffer mass starvation
events if the predators who
Halli’s Comments keep their populations in check
go extinct, and the prey species grows uncontrollably and
consumes all of the available food.
A Party Like No Other the fixture over the table which occurs when closely related individuals mate. Because
• Some creatures are threatened more indirectly by inbreeding
and anywhere you looked
By Halli Moore in either direction were their habitat is fragmented, the number of individuals who live
flowers. in each fragment is greatly reduced. The gene pool has shrunk
Lou and I were An international buffet considerably, and the chance of mating with a close relative
invited to Harriet in the living room displayed increases, and quickly approaches 100%.
Beberman’s 80th food from many nations • Inbreeding leads to animals who are less healthy, less fertile,
birthday party. and was so appetizing and and less likely to survive into adulthood. So in this sense, too,
Harvey and Harriet inviting looking, it was one local extinctions become more likely.
are neighbors and of the most popular spots in There is a solution at hand. By building wildlife safe areas
friends and I was the house. This was a most and crossings this will prevent animals from being struck and
looking forward to enjoyable afternoon!!! killed, and reconnect to their vital habitats that construction had
it knowing Harvey fragmented.
is very artistic and Halli Moore is a resident of The Palms.  However, the animals are not safe yet. Can you think of a
talented. What I pictured was not what I saw when Lou way to help? Every effort counts!
and I entered the house. Harvey builds model ships;
exquisite model ships, which of course he sells because Steven E. Handwerker Ph.D. D.div, RM
they are very much in demand by knowledgeable owners Board Certified Licensed Psychologist
of ships and those that would like to own one. 50 years experience
Because of the talent everyone in this family has, I www.IAAHW.org. REVISED...
pictured lots of Art which I saw, but not the kind of art that Books and Blogs 
I thought I would see. I imagined the outside would be used
because it was recently redecorated, but what greeted us was
a dining-room table decorated like what any knowledgable
art dealer would recognize as the most exquisite table anyone
would love to own. A necklace saying happy birthday in
different colors was on each plate, Harriet’s initials were on

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