Speeches

Over the last week room one and two have been presenting their speeches.Mine was on Native endangered animals:

Here it is:

Our native Nz endangered animals

Have you ever seen a live Moa, the flightless giant bird that once roamed NZ? Of course not, maybe a few at the Auckland museum but they are only stuffed because they have been extinct for more than 600 years. So, what happened to them you must be wondering?

Was it because the europeans and maori were hunting them too much for their BBQs or was it a volcano plunging them to their death forever, that's the big question? What ever

happened to them, they are not here for us to enjoy anymore!

Now, you have probably heard the word endangered a lot already but do you really know what it means?

Endangered means that a certain type of species only have a small population left of their kind. Imagine that since Earth formed 4 billion years ago, 95% of all species are now extinct!That's scary, isn't  it?

The most popular native NZ species on their way to extinction are Maui dolphins, Kakapo and kiwi birds which are my favourite. However lets not forget that there are many more clinging to survival like the short tailed bat, NZ sea lion and the white heron just to mention a few.

There are only 55 Maui's dolphins left in Nz because humans have been overfishing and catching too many of them. There is only 124 Kakapos left because the arrival of pests in the wild is starting to kill them. There is about 24-27,000 Kiwis left because we have been cutting down their homes in the forests. Other threats to our animals are pollution and blocking rivers, hunting and natural disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Now, you probably have been thinking "yes there is a lot of endangered animals but why do we really need to help them?" Well, first of all these animals are our friends, imagine what you would do without your frisky pet puppy or your adorable sleepy cat. It really wouldn't be life! Secondly we wouldn't survive. For example if some special animals like cows or sheep become endangered we wouldn't have things like cheese, cream and butter. We also need their fur and wool for clothes and rugs.

There is lots of ways to help these exquisite creatures from dying out.

1. You could join the WWF at the

auckland zoo and pay a small donation to adopt an animal.

2. Try recycling. You could use your old jam jar and make a pencil holder and lots of arty things like that.

3.Next time you go fishing only catch what you need.

4. Next time you see a piece of rubbish on the ground simply bend down and pick it up.

We need to start to save these animals because if all the kiwis become extinct our namesake will be gone and we will be called something silly like the seagulls or sheep, not kiwis. So are you in? Lets go save the endangered animals.