From a report titled "Bad for your land, Bad for your critters" by Jonathan H. Adler: 1. Very few species have been taken off the endangered and threatened species lists in the past 30 years. 2. Out of those few species the ESA took off the list, most actually went extinct, not saved. 3. Most species on the list weren't even endangered. (Example: brown pelicans and bald eagles)
4. The ESA still put these birds on the saved list, claiming credit.
The Endangered Species Act has celebrity support, which helps people understand the cause. However, these stars tend to pose with cuter animals to do so. Example: Leonardo DiCaprio posed with a cute and cuddly polar bear. This means that people only see cuter animals when they hear about the ESA, which helps them forget that all animals need saving, no matter their looks. If celebrities want to help the cause, they should pose with all endangered species.
People can hurt what they do not know enough about.
This could be considered harassing the species. People often don't realize that they could be hurting or injuring the plant or animal species they are interacting with. For instance, stepping on a plant, it doesn't effect you, but it hurts the plant.