Daniel Cortes Prof. Greely NR Lab 11 April, 2014 Rhinos For humans it’s second nature to go out hunting and kill, but for what cause. As for humans we have come a long ways and seen the destruction we humans can cause and are causing. We have established laws to protect our beloved animals and their homes that we need in order to coexist and keep the beauty of nature around. However, some haven’t been able to grasp that idea because of the greed of money, mystical medicinal use, and unnecessary traditions. According to SaveTheRhino.org, at the turn of the nineteenth century there were approximately one million rhinos roaming earth. By 1970, there were about seventy thousand rhinos in the wild and as of today, there are only about 28,000 rhinos …show more content…
According to Christine Dell'Amore article 1,000+ Rhinos Poached in 2013 Highest in Modern History on Nat Geos Daily News, the slaughter of one thousand rhinos was simply because of the high demand of rhino horns. Also, it has increase of 1.5 times higher, than of 2012, when 668 white rhinos were slaughtered for their horns. One reason for increase, the article continues, “there's new evidence that poachers are using neighboring Mozambique as an operational base, both to entering into South Africa to kill the animals, as well as for smuggling out their horns,” said Richard Thomas, global communications coordinator for TRAFFIC, a wildlife-trade monitoring network. The poachers aren't just the local people Richards continues on, they're often part of powerful, organized crime networks that have been linked to other illegal activities, such as drugs, weapons, and human trafficking, worldwide. The offender tend to sell the horn in marketplace in China and Vietnam, disappointingly used by the growing wealthy class people for “health refresher” and as well as status symbols. Also, demand for the horns is …show more content…
However there are solutions, like the legalization of international trade of the rhino horn, the thoery is supported by the idea of farming rhinos and eventually harvest their horns. Another solutions, is safe rhino dehorning it’s been said that if done under controlled conditions, the rhino’s horn could be safely removed without harming the animal. The only problem here is that it has a negative effect on the animal’s behavior and on the male rhino’s ability to mate. Harsher prison could deter some, so perhaps longer sentences and increased patrolling is another proposal to serve as a deterrent to illegal poachers. The simplest one of them all is educating people around the world is another way to help dealers and poachers realize the vainness in actually killing of the rhino for its horn. Then there is a need to make them realize that there is no real medicinal value that can be attached to the horn of the rhino. Ultimately, they all required an increased in funding and donations from the public will help to conserve the rhino for future generations, as stricter measures can be taken to help maintain them. To add, the introduction of a treatment known as Rhinoprotect, where the rhino horn is made valueless to poachers as it gets injected with color dye and poison whereby X-ray scanners will be able to detect the horn (10 Realistic
There’s another catch to trophy hunting: it is extremely expensive. Permits for trophy hunting usually cost thousands of dollars, which leads to the idea that killing animals can actually help conservation. This concept might seem ridiculous at first, but trophy-hunting permits bring in a plethora of money. For instance, the so-called “ten-day ‘elephant package’ could cost… 36,000 [dollars]” (learnenglish). Even if you merely wish to watch the hunt, you are obliged to pay 3,800 dollars (abcnews). The prices are strikingly high, meaning that so is the revenue. South Africa alone brings in more than 744 million dollars every single year, making it its “most profitable form of commercial land use” (learnenglish). This enormous amount of money can not only be used to aid the many third world countries in Africa, but also with conservation. Many argue that by killing wild game during hunting, it causes some species to go extinct. However, strong economic incentive has motivated landowners to expand their territories, reintroduce species, and take care of the animals in general, which would indicate the opposite: more animals are safe. One might even conclude that the world is saving animals, by killing
Killing animals to collect their horns, tusks and teeth is a common activity. Hunters firstly kill the animals with shotguns or snipers, and then they cut the animals into pieces to take the parts that they want to keep as souvenirs. Africa is usually the chosen “playground” because it has a wide range of animal species and lots of endemic animals. For some people, trophy hunting is a sport, and for others, it’s a job to make a living. However, trophy hunting jeopardizes animals and puts the endangered animals in a risk of extinction, and therefore it shouldn’t be allowed.
Wildlife conservationists are constantly working to supervise the rivers, forest, and other natural resources of Africa in order to preserve and protect them through prudent management. In Kenya, laws against trophy hunting has assisted these conservationists in maintaining wildlife populations. However, park rangers face a huge battle against the illegal poaching of these rare trophy animals, such as lions and elephants. In Asia, the demand for ivory continues to surge, despite the long-time ban on its international trade. The demand is so high that the Tanzanian government has developed plans to construct a commercial highway through the Serengeti in order to more efficiently trade goods with Asia (“The Need for Serengeti Watch”). However, the highway will also provide a faster route to the coast for ivory smugglers. The controversy surrounding the highway and its positive or negative effects on the economy, Tanzania as a whole, and the Serengeti is countless. Despite the debate over its benefits and...
Some may say that the main purpose of this activity is to have fun with family or friends, others affirm that it helps to keep a balance between species or even that it helps to keep a good economy but what about the animals? Did any of them deserve to die so that humans are no longer bored? Were they a hazard to human life? I don’t think so. So in this essay I’m going to present why Animal trophy hunting should be prohibited and removed from our lives.
The second half of the 20th century has seen the continent of Africa in continuous turmoil. Civil wars, the AIDS epidemic, deforestation, and desertification are just a few of the problems facing Africa. A more recent threat to this ancient and fragile environment has emerged and is quickly gaining strength at devouring life – the bush meat trade. “Bush meat” refers to the smoked carcasses of various wild, and often endangered species that are sold illegally at rural markets of undeveloped countries and even at ethnic markets in developed nations. The meat of gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants are considered delicacies and the demand for these endangered species is increasingly high. Countries at the center of this crisis are Botswana, Mozambique, Kenya, Zimbabwe, the Congo, Cameroon, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. Bush meat plays a crucial socio-economic role to many in Africa, and as such epitomizes the need to balance protection against such factors as poverty, health, and food security. Certain key issues are necessary to understand the bush meat trade:
“Many airlines now ban shipments of African “Big Five wildlife trophies. Celebrities around the world, as well as the media, are condemning the illegal killing of animals for sport. The United Nations has also spoken out in a historic resolution on wildlife trafficking by the U.N. General Assembly that “strongly encouraged governments to commit to targeted actions to eradicate supply, transit and demand for illegal wildlife products” (Source 4). Countries, media, and celebrities are now discouraging the illegal killing of large game and urges the governments of many countries to enact laws to stop the black market distribution of these predators. It is important to prohibit illegal trophies and to enforce these laws with punishments and fines to remove species from the endangered species list and stop extinctions. Stricter laws and regulations can protect and save entire species from ceasing to exist. “Just months after the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History accepted a $20 million donation from big-game hunter Kenneth Behring, the Institution sought a FWS permit to import the trophy remains of two endangered wild sheep that Behring shot in Central Asia…After a storm of ugly publicity, the Smithsonian abandoned the permit application” (Source 1). The case of the Smithsonian Museum attempting to import two endangered sheep is just one
First, poaching is a huge game being played. It hurts the animals or species that are being targeted, which causes them to increase their chances of extinction. Orietta C. Estrada, an animal and environmental writer, explains that poaching "is a crime fueled by a lucrative black market trade of animal parts"(onegreenplanet). To these people, it is all about the money. They do not bother to think about how much pain this creature may feel. The only thing they desire to obtain is the big dollars. The animals that are affected by this monstrous act are elephants, tigers, rhinoceros, Tibetan antelopes, gorillas, and great apes(animalpoachers.weebly). The most they have done with dealing with the poachers is give them a cruel punishment for being caught. It does not work because it still happens today and the animals are still dying and becoming
As a great deal is being done to help endangered wildlife as well as animals in general, there is still a considerable amount of improvements to make. “The exterminating of predators by governments or individuals is wrong-headed, extremely selfish, cruel and the very worst example of wildlife management. It is failed management. In today's backwards and upside-down world, our wildlife needs our protection, not extermination” (Pitt). We need to instill the good values of animals in today’s society so that we may work towards better maintenance of the future lives of these animals. Instead of mounting an animal’s head on the wall as a prize and reducing wildlife population, we should be proud of the variety of species we have on earth and leave them to live free.
Ives, Mike. "Rhino Horn Craze Threatens Species." Los Angeles Times 8 Apr. 2012, sec. A: 3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Elephants are an endangered species and they should not be killed for their ivory or they will become extinct. In the article The Poaching Problem the author writes” elephant populations have declined to dangerously low levels.” At the rate that poachers are killing these innocent animal the entire species of elephants will be extinct in the year 2030! That is only twenty five years, I know that does not seem like a long time but it is going to go by fast and every one will regret killing all those poor innocent gentle creatures. In case study 483 they author writes “ During the 1970s and 1980s elephant poaching had included about 1.3 million elephants killed for their tusks.” It is hard to distinguish between legal and illegal ivory so it is sold easily.
The African elephant’s range has declined by over 50 percent since 1979 – and their populations are breaking up
This has been an ongoing problem for many years now and there have been many efforts to stop or catch poachers. There are various solutions that have been tried and tested, but the latest and most effective solutions have yet to be explained. The first and most general solution to this problem and many problems like it is to enforce more severe consequences for this crime. The largest fine ever given to a man for poaching a white-tailed deer was $24,000 for the three laws he broke while he killed the deer. This is not a usual case, but some poachers make good money selling animal organs on the black market, which makes fines an ineffective way to stop poaching.
In the world where people live in is an enormous responsibility but also the greatest gift that people need to cherish and protect. The human race needs to step up and voice not only their concerns, but the concerns of all the animals endangered or not. Any species which fall into the categories vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered are considered to be at risk of extinction. {Robert Redford} said “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security defense of our resource’s because it’s just as important as defense abroad otherwise what is there to defend?”
The dynamic natural environment and abundant wildlife are the most prominent features of the African continent. Due to its wide variety of biomes ranging from tropical forests to arid deserts, Africa consists of bountiful wildlife diversity. However, because of environmentally harmful human interactions, the variety of biomes is shrinking to all-time lows, which causes wildlife to die out. These detrimental human interactions, particularly livestock overgrazing and desertification, occur partly because the native people who depend on the land for daily life do not realize the potential benefits of wildlife and the unsustainability of their current ways. Poaching for horns and other valuable animal parts has also contributed to the decreasing amount of species present in the wild. However, the methods for conserving the wildlife environment differ in how they address the issue of the dwindling wildlife populations. The conventional method of conservation created in the mold of the Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State (also known as the London Convention) involves the complete centralization of wildlife resources to the government. The newer, more effective method called the Sustainable Use Approach makes drastic changes to the London Convention principles by decentralizing ownership of wildlife and allowing small communities and villages to manage it themselves.
The West african black rhinoceros are an example of endangerment and extinction. These animals were declared extinct in 2011. This has happened because of poaching and major demand for rhino horns. The Pyrenean ibex is another example. This wild goat became extinct in 2000. This population was thinned by hunting. In 2009, scientists were able to clone a female using DNA they had earlier gathered from its skin, but due to lung defects, the pyrenean ibex died shortly after