As humans, our population is increasing at a very rapid rate. Human interference with natural wildlife is causing the extinction rate of the animals we live with to skyrocket. As more and more humans are born, more and more land is needed to live a comfortable life, but we seem to be unaware of how our expansion into the world is affecting the lives of native species. We jeopardize the lives of these animals when we recklessly scrape the surrounding land and chase live animals from their natural habitats. When we feel the need to acquire more land to create a suitable place to live, we destroy land already occupied by native species, thus increasing the rate of extinction. The occupation of the animals' native soil forces the animals to leave the area in the hope of adapting to another piece of land. For some this adaptation is simply impossible and the species begins to die. In an article on Treehugger.com the author states: "Thanks to human development and expansion, species are becoming extinct exponentially faster than ever before: they are dying out at the frightening rate of a thousand times their natural rate (Merchant 1) As we rush to make these “developments” happen, we pollute the natural landscape with petroleum products, pesticides, and other chemicals. When this happens, we endanger living species and accelerate the process of extinction through our interference with the local wildlife. As our population continues to grow, the amount of waste we produce also increases. Due to the fact that there are so many humans, most of the waste we produce is not disposed of properly and eventually ends up contaminating. the... half of the paper... filled by poachers. The white rhino population has also been hit hard by poachers looking for their precious horns. The Los Angeles Times reported that "the world's largest surviving population of white rhinos took its heaviest toll on record last year, when poachers killed more than a thousand threatened animals to feed an international market in trinkets and potions made with their horns." (Williams 1). According to the WWF, the white rhino population has dropped to just twenty thousand specimens. The worst part is that the rare tusks are used for incredibly useless products. White rhino numbers are so scarce that even the killing of a thousand represents a major blow to the delicate and slowly growing population. It is truly disappointing that such a majestic species is being sacrificed due to the high demand for its rare tusks.