Why animal poaching is a problem that should be stopped, how it can affect the environment and why you should help prevent it.
What if your favorite animal was on the verge of extinction? People love going to zoos to get an up close and person look at non-domestic animals, but a lot of people don’t realize how popular animal poaching is. It is when an animal’s life is taken illegally, usually for valuable body parts, and the numbers of animals killed each year are increasing at alarming rates, for example studies show that: “An average of 96 elephants are murdered for their ivory in Africa , more are being killed for their ivory than being born, says animalmatters.org. To further emphasize my point, I’m going to state some facts that quite frankly should
…show more content…
This was equivalent to the amount of at least 2,500 elephants.
- In 2012, 668 rhino’s lives were taken as a result of poaching in South Africa. January of 2013 it increased to about the amount of 946, these animals were being targeted at a rate of 2 animals per day.
- Since the beginning of the 20th century there were a few million elephants and exactly 100,000 elephants. Now elephants are considered an endangered species, appearently now there are about 450,000-700,000 African elephants and 35,000-40,000 Asian elephants.
- A 2010 United Nations report suggests that gorillas could disappear from large parts of the Congo Basin by the mid-2020s
Need I go further? Get the point? A lot of Americans don’t realize this and we need to pay attention to what this can mean for not only these beautiful animals, but for the environment if this continues. Here’s some reasons why this is serious. Poaching can cause a great decrease in the species of certain animals also known as extinction which can cause an interruption in the food chain, further causing adaptations of animals that are beyond our
Did you know that poaching has led to most animal extinctions this century? Poaching is a continuously growing problem that will cause many problems to the environment and people. Poaching can be defined as the illegal hunting of animals on land that is not the hunters own. Poaching does not only happen in unprotected lands such as the wilderness, but it has also happened in protected lands such as zoos. Animals may soon become extinct because of the high rate of killing the poachers are doing. If animals do become extinct, life would be very different. An example of how life would be different without animals, such as tigers, is talked about by Eugene Linden when he said, “the wild tigers of old will be gone forever, their glory surviving
People around the world need to acknowledge that poaching can affect more than just the extinction of animals but can also cause many economic issues. If the average citizen was educated about poaching most likely it would not occur as often as it does now. Journals that are put into the world about poaching are very upsetting and emotional to read, but they can educate people around the world about how devastating poaching actually is. Not only are these animals endangered, but poaching can also affect the economy and disrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem. A Harvard University graduate reported: “The loss of these species would have harmful effects upon the overall ecosystem and the environment's ability to provide"ecosystem services"such as soil stability and water retention”(Xie). Also there are many health risks that come from wildlife trafficking; “Experts have noted that increased traffic in animals will raise the risk of zoonotic disease transmission. Diseases such as Ebola, which is often carried by bats and other primates, come to mind. It is hypothesized that HIV is linked to the consumption of primate meat and that respiratory viruses may be found in smaller animals, such as civet cats”(Xie). These different diseases are very lethal to the human body and cause death if made contact
Elephant populations suffered a drop in numbers that carried the species into the endangered animals list. At the beginning of the twentieth century, about ten million elephants lived in Africa. Presently, the ten million is reduced to half a million because of illegal hunting and habitat loss. Studies of the population show twenty-two thousand were killed in 2012 and twenty-five thousand in 2011. When comparing the death rate to the natural population growth, there is a possibility the largest mammal on Earth could be extinct soon (Vaughan 1). Because the elephant is the largest animal to walk on land, the greatly increasing human population affects the elephant population first. They live in some regions of the world that have the densest human population which continues to grow, which therefore continuously decreases their own population (Bryner 1). As the human population swiftly increases, the elephant population in turn, decreases. This is so because they cannot cohabitate the same living space. Elephants and humans cannot cohabitate because they would kill each other due to the inability to communicate. About population recovery, the Animal wildlife foundation states, “Populations of elephants- especially in Southern and Eastern Africa- that once showed promising signs of recovery could be at risk due to the recent surge in poaching for the illegal ivory trade”(1). Poaching presents one of the main issues that make recovery so difficult for these animals.
Poaching animals is defined as the “illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals mainly in areas in which hunting is forbidden” . The main difference between poaching and hunting is the legal permission, indeed “hunting is regulated by the government, and hunters must obtain permits authorizing them to kill certain animals” .
Many people believe that poaching is wrong, but what most people do not realize is that poaching animals is an illegal crime in most places. Orenstein, proving his assertions, stated that, “Perhaps it is stating the obvious, but poachers, whatever drives them to poach, are breaking the law…The media often confuse matters by talking about ‘illegal poaching’ as though there were such a thing as
It's a widely known fact that poaching has been detrimental to the welfare and very existence of elephants. Despite countless efforts to thwart poaching and ivory trade missions, the number of elephant deaths at the hands of poachers is still critically high. IB Times reported in 2015 that due to poaching, a staggering 35,000 African elephants are killed each year—that translates to nearly 100 elephants
Wildlife hunting is a big business a 2013 estimate valued the illegal poaching trade in Africa worth 17 billion dollars a year and growing. While elephant poaching between 1800’s - 1999 and 2000’s and up have some similarities they also have a wide variety of differences. Elephant poaching in 1800’s-1999 was done to meet the worldwide demands, but elephant poaching in 2000’s and above was done for sport. Elephant poaching is wrong and shouldn’t be done.
Although poaching is an illegal act, it is still a growing problem in the world because it is making the extinction of various animals more probable. Not only it cruel, but it affects the environment and ecosystem where these animals reside. Although various people, usually trophy hunters or those uninformed, argue that it isn’t that big of a problem, there are realities to it that won’t be stopped unless we act upon it and bring awareness of the situation.
Poaching is bad thing to do. After reading my opinion on poaching I hope you will reconsider to help protect animals from being poached as they are just an animal trying to survive. How would you like to be hunted every day by illegal weapons and blown up just so they can have your horn or your pelt you have. Hopefully the world will someday
Planet Earth is the one and only home for humans, and it’s their natural duty to protect it and all of its inhabitants. For many people, the fate of animals is of little importance, especially when there are so many of their own species suffering throughout the world. However, only when one has respect for nature can he or she come to appreciate for his or herself. In the past few decades, some animals have progressively come closer and closer to extinction. When compared to demographics 30 years ago, less than 5% of tiger and rhino populations remain in the wild (Congressional). The main culprits for this abominable crime against nature are avaricious poachers who seek personal gain and profit. Poaching is the illegal killing of
Thesis Statement: My purpose today is to inform you on the illegal poaching on elephants and the ivory trade.
Animal poaching has a bigger price tag than the trophy sitting on the shelf. Poaching is causing iconic animals of many continents and of our oceans to become endangered or even extinct. These animals that people have come to love and fantasize over may be gone before we are (Africa). Elephants, rhinos, lions, and zebras are the animals thought of the most when it comes to animal poaching, but many animals are poached. They are killed for only one quality, like their horns or skins and the rest of the animal is left behind. Poaching is a massive business that is ran by international networks, it’s estimated to make hundreds of millions of dollars (World). Not all wildlife trade is illegal, but it becomes a crisis when an increasing amount of illegal poaching is done and it directly threatens the survival of species in the wild (World). Since 1960 97.6% of the Black Rhino population in Africa has been poached and lions are extinct in seven African countries (Africa).
The causes of animal poaching is a very widely open topic. To sum it up in a few words, Animal poaching is caused by
Just imagine life without any elephants, wiped out just like the dinosaurs. In the early 1980’s, there were more than a million reported elephants in Africa. Tragically, during that decade, 600,000 elephants were destroyed for ivory products. Today, conceivably no more than 400,000 elephants remain across the continent. Elephants are facing a very real threat of extinction; In fact, the African elephants are listed on the
Studies have shown in recent years that the amount of problems for game wardens has increased dramatically. In an article by the New York Time’s, William Dicke states that in previous years, economic issues have caused an uptick in poaching (Dicke, para. 7). Due to the sheer number of unemployed and the rates going up, crime is rising as well, and it shows in abnormal crimes like poaching. Since the unemployed have nothing to do, and they have too much time on their hands, the act of poaching is becoming more common. Often the animal is not harvested for its food products, but instead for its antlers or skin. This goes to demonstrate one of the various problems that game wardens often face, poaching.