Reptiles, the animals that everyone knows. Snakes, alligators, crocodiles, komodo dragons, lizards, turtles, etc. They’re common animals that are found all over the world. But now, based on research by scientists, and online magazines, that statement seems to lean toward being wrong, in fact, the real statement is the opposite.

According to PostRegister, more than one in five species of reptiles worldwide have been threatened with extinction, according to the journal Nature. And of 10,196 reptile species analyzed, 21% of them were classified as endangered. Even the reptiles out at sea are in trouble, as six of the seven species of sea turtles are threatened. Scientists lack the evidence saying that the seventh is threatened as well, but they say that it will be very likely.

According to Neil Cox, a manager at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s biodiversity assessment unit, reptiles that live in forest areas, like the king cobra, are in higher danger than desert dwellers, which is most likely due to human disturbance and activity. This is what Neil Cox called “habitat destruction”

So with this in mind, there must be some kind of solution to help our reptilian friends be able to eat, drink, reproduce, sleep, etc. Something that could keep them in their daily lives, prospering for longer than what scientists hypothesize. A way for us humans to not intrude on the reptiles.

With the issue of habitat destruction due to the disturbance of humans, we can conclude that we need to decrease acts such as cutting trees. Trees can be a common habitat for reptiles and are needed for them to live. A way to fix this is to start strip cutting, a method used to cut trees, but only by a river-bank. This doesn’t affect the environment as much for animals, and overall cuts less trees. That way animals such as lizards can use the trees they need for food and homes.

For sea reptiles (mainly sea turtles), it’s pretty much a no-brainer.  In the recent decades, all of us have thrown our trash away in regular trash cans, and that trash has gone out to the ocean. With the massive amount of garbage floating in the ocean, it’s obvious that the sea turtles are being harmed. A way to stop this is to increase recycling by a large amount, making it a habit. With the trash in the ocean, parties can go out with nets and scoop the trash, and have experts fix up sea turtles who were harmed by the trash.

With these two aspects to help, the reptiles could live in peace and have healthy lives. We can even have more reptiles be born, increasing their population. As of now though, in order to truly save the reptiles, we have to keep working on trash, and less tree cutting.