Human activity, especially in the last few centuries of the existence of modern mankind, is certainly one of the most powerful factors transforming the environment. The influence of people on animals, for example, both positive and negative, has become so widespread in the 21st century that we can talk about the direct dependence of the survival of certain species on the further functioning of civilization.
Ancient times: hunters
In the days of the Upper Paleolithic people began to hunt. In those days, the influence of people on animals consisted mainly in the extermination of such extinct species as mammoth or woolly rhinoceros today (their remains were discovered during excavations in human sites of that time). The then production: animals, fish, birds - gave people protein food, provided materials for shoes and clothes, some household items. Dwellings were built from hides, bones and tusks during the last ice age. As some researchers point out, in those days people lived in small communities of 100-150 members. At the head of the clan were the most respected elders, and property, including food supplies and dwellings, was common. A sufficiently cold climate led to an urgent need for clothes and to a certain primitive modernization of the home. So, the skins of killed and eaten animals were cut into pieces, and holes were punched out with stone needles from the stone, then everything was sewn with elongated veins. According to studies, one of the most common then was the use of mammoth bones or other large animals as building materials for settlements. Digging a not too deep oval or round pit. On the edge of the pit, ribs protruding inside were driven in. The whole structure was covered or sheathed in skins, covered with branches and covered with earth.
Farmers and Cattle Breeders
The use of meat for food led, according to F. Engels, to the fact that people learned to use fire for its heat treatment and domesticated some types of animals (so as not to hunt, but always have a meat base at hand). As techniques and tools for hunting and hunting improved, so did people's influence on animals and the environment. It was expressed quite multifaceted: in the direct destruction of wild species used as food, and in the domestication of some representatives, and indirectly - in a change in the plant base, preceding the emergence and spread of agriculture. And with the transition to cattle-breeding way of life and agriculture (in the Neolithic era), the influence of people on animals acquired new forms and realities. And his methods became more complicated and expanded.
Indirect human influence on animals
With the spread of agriculture, people have used more and more new spaces for sowing and harvesting. This, in particular, strengthened the indirect influence of humans on animals. Natural habitats were destroyed: forests were cut down and meadows and fields were cultivated, which led to the redistribution and even extinction of some species of the animal world and, conversely, the introduction of others.
Fishing
The huge negative impact of humans on animals, which led to the almost complete extinction or significant reduction of some populations and species, was exerted by the development of fisheries - organized production of animals with the aim of obtaining, for example, fur. So in the 16th century (this became known thanks to the research of the historian Karamzin), after the conquest of Siberia, the Tsar of Muscovy imposes the so-called yasaka on the representatives of nationalities living there: 200 thousand sable skins, 500 thousand squirrel, 10 thousand foxes! Such was the price of the question of fishing, which had a tremendous impact on human wildlife in this period!
Whale extermination
The hunt for these water giants was born long ago. At first, people used carcasses of whales that they carried ashore. Then, in the eyes of the ancient hunters, this mountain of meat and fat became not only desirable, but also very affordable. After all, a whale is a slow-moving creature, and if desired, it could be caught even on a simple sailless boat. For its prey, simple harpoon weapons and ropes were suitable. In addition, the person killed in the water did not sink, which was also an important factor for hunters. Pomors have been hunting whales since ancient times, but the global extermination of species began in the 17th century. Then the population of Greenland whales was so numerous that the ships traveling to Svalbard had to literally push their flocks apart. Every year, the Dutch, Danes, Germans, English, French and Spaniards sent up to 1000 ships a year to fishing in those days! And according to researchers, the annual production of cetaceans, for example, in the 18th century already amounted to more than 2.5 thousand annually. It is not surprising that the reserves of huge mammals were depleted, and by the end of the 19th century this species was put on the verge of extinction by man! And in 1935, the International Commission establishes a ban on the fishing of bowhead whales.
Other examples
Such was the negative effect of man on animals. Other examples can be cited: deforestation of the Amazon, drying out of the Aral Sea, the complete disappearance of some species of mammals due to human fault (steppe kangaroo rat, porcine bandicoot, red-bellied possum, Yemeni gazelle, Madagascar pygmy hippopotamus, and more than 27 just for last century). It is believed that since 1600, no less than 160 subspecies and species of birds, more than 100 mammals, have been exterminated by humanity. Such is the fate, for example, of bison and tours, tarps and sea cows, decided for them by people.
Economic activities of people
Human activities, not related to hunting and hunting, today have a huge impact on the animal world. So, for example, the development of the territory within the limits of the animal’s habitat and, as a result, the reduction of the food supply, can cause a decrease in the population and the subsequent disappearance of a certain species. A striking example is the significant reduction in the numbers of the Ussuri tiger. And in the oceans in nets intended for fishing, dolphins die every year - tens of thousands! After all, they can not get out, confused, and suffocate. And more recently, the scale of death of dolphin flocks reached 100,000 per year.
Environmental pollution
In recent years, this is one of the most important negative factors of human influence on the animal world. Radioactive contamination, acid precipitation on land, harmful emissions into the aquatic environment and atmosphere - all this leads to a decrease in the number of animals and reduces species diversity on the planet.
The positive effect of humans on animals
Honestly, in many respects people realized quite late. Many species of animals in the modern world are on the verge of extinction, and some have completely gone into oblivion. But one thing pleases that at least in the 21st century quite a lot of attention is paid to environmental protection, the protection of the endangered fauna. Nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks are being created where people are trying to restore what they have lost. And not in vain, because, according to the forecasts of some scientists, if humanity does not stop and continues its destructive activities on a planetary scale, then this can lead to a sad and soon end (some give less than 50 years) of all life on Earth.