Why should we try to preserve those animals on the endangered or threatened species list?

1. Each animal plays a special role in the environment. When one animal becomes extinct, that delicate balance can be disturbed, causing problems for other animals, people, and the environment.
   
   
2. Animals are fun and beautiful to observe. When an animal becomes extinct, then some of the fun and beauty becomes extinct also.
   
   
3. These endangered species of fish, wildlife, and plants are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people (Endangered Species Act, 1973)