African Elephant Poaching

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Poaching and its Effect on African Wildlife
Poaching is a worldwide catastrophe that not only affects the animals that are being poached but also the environment and the people around them. Poaching is the illegal act of over-exploitation of animals and the illegal trading and selling of them whether it be for killing them for certain parts or just the whole body in general. Africa is a continent in which its animals and people that have been strongly affected by poaching and it is now starting to change African economy and the biodiversity of its animals. Hunting has been a necessary part of human life since the first generation of people such as cavemens. More recently hunting has changed more into a sport rather than a means to survive. …show more content…

If poaching continues and expands throughout Africa then there will be an abundance of animals that will go extinct. The biggest animal group that has been affected by poaching in Africa is the African Elephants. In the 1980s the elephant’s population was over one million but this was before poaching was barely a concern. As time passed there was an increase of poaching activity because people started to realize how useful their ivory was in medicine and well its ability to bring in money. As the poaching activity began to grow around the 1990s the elephant’s population greatly decreased from approximately 1.3 million elephants to around 600,000 individuals (PBS, 2017). Poaching is making the African elephants go to a dangerously low number. The estimated amount of elephants left is as low as 32,000 in Africa. Another animal group that is being affected by poaching are the African Rhinos. The valuable attachment that the poachers want was the black rhino’s horn. People are seeking the horn because if used properly it can be used for medicine such as recovery from fevers and other illnesses. Even though this use of the horn is ok it is not the main reason people kill these majestic animals. The main use for the rhino’s horn is using it for the handles of knives. In the 1960s the Black Rhino’s population was at a whopping 65,000 but today the population is around 3,000. It is one thing to kill for food so you can provide for your family but when killing these innocent animals for your own selfish gain it makes it a horrendous

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