Question

Alien species invasion is a threat to endemic species - substantiate this statement.

Answer 1

Exotic species are organisms often introduced unintentionally or deliberately for commercial purpose, as biological control agents and other uses. They often become invasive and drive away the local species and is considered as the second major cause for extinction of species. Tilapia fish (Jilabi kendai) (Oreochromis mosambicus) introduced from east coast of South Africa in 1952 for its high productivity into Kerala’s inland waters, became invasive, due to which the native species such as Puntius dubius and Labeo kontius face local extinction.
Amazon sailfin catfish is responsible for destroying the fish population in the wetlands of Kolkata. The introduction of the Nile Perch, a predatory fish into Lake Victoria in East Africa led to the extinction of an ecologically unique assemblage of more than 200 nature species of cichlid fish in the lake.