Have you ever seen a dodo bird? Well if poaching continues the African elephant and African rhino’s may never be seen by our grandchildren. Elephants are continuing to be poached for their horns which are being sold for high prices to people looking to buy ivory. The black and white rhinos that inhabit Africa are already close to extinction with only a couple thousand of each left. If both of these animals end up being removed from their respective environments by poaching, then their environments will also be changed. The poaching of elephants and rhinos is removing two major animals from Africa and is meet with little resistance.
In Africa, poaching is a major danger to wildlife conservation. Poachers ignore laws that protect animals, killing …show more content…
Poaching caused a decline of African elephants from 1.3 million to 600,000 individuals between 1979-1987. Mortality was unusually concentrated among the largest adults with the biggest tusks. Old matriarchs were particularly vulnerable because they were the adult females that would travel in large groups. Their tusks are large and their groups were easier to find than lone adult males. The youngest offspring often perished with their mother. Many older offspring were orphaned, only to range solitarily or in groups of unrelated females. “Highly emotional and completely guileless, elephants mourn their dead—and across Africa, they are grieving daily as demand from China’s “suddenly wealthy” has driven the price of ivory to $700 a pound or more. With tens of thousands of elephants being slaughtered each year for their tusks, raising the specter of an extinction vortex” (Shoumatoff 1). There tusks are fed into the illegal international ivory trade which is controlled by highly organized criminal syndicates. This trade feeds demand for ivory products in Asia, Europe, USA and elsewhere, which continues to increase elephant’s destruction. There is one group who has been tirelessly trying to put an end to the illegal ivory trade and they are known as Born Free. Born Free helped ensure the first international ivory ban in 1989 and since then has campaigned tirelessly …show more content…
The two African rhino’s have both increased in number in recent years thanks to successful conservation efforts. The white rhino has been brought back from the brink of extinction. However, both species are again at risk due to a surge in poaching to meet demand for illegal rhino horn, primarily in Asia. Countries and conservationists are stepping up their efforts but record numbers of rhinos are currently being killed. Just 150 year ago there were over a million White and Black Rhino’s but because of relentless poaching they are on there last leg. The number of rhinos poached in South Africa alone has increased by 9,000% since 2007 from 13 to a record 1,215 in 2014. Rhino’s are being poached for there horn, much like the elephant, the Rhino’s horn can be sold at a very high price. The reason that the horn can be sold for such a high price is because it offers many old traditional benefits. powdered horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a supposed cure for a range of illnesses ranging from hangovers to fevers and even cancer. But the current surge has been primarily driven by demand for horn in Vietnam. As well as its use in medicine, rhino horn is bought and consumed purely as a symbol of wealth. The Black Rhino was once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are now limited to protected areas in the east and south of
In Africa, poaching is a major danger to wildlife conservation. Poachers ignore laws that protect animals, killing …show more content…
Poaching caused a decline of African elephants from 1.3 million to 600,000 individuals between 1979-1987. Mortality was unusually concentrated among the largest adults with the biggest tusks. Old matriarchs were particularly vulnerable because they were the adult females that would travel in large groups. Their tusks are large and their groups were easier to find than lone adult males. The youngest offspring often perished with their mother. Many older offspring were orphaned, only to range solitarily or in groups of unrelated females. “Highly emotional and completely guileless, elephants mourn their dead—and across Africa, they are grieving daily as demand from China’s “suddenly wealthy” has driven the price of ivory to $700 a pound or more. With tens of thousands of elephants being slaughtered each year for their tusks, raising the specter of an extinction vortex” (Shoumatoff 1). There tusks are fed into the illegal international ivory trade which is controlled by highly organized criminal syndicates. This trade feeds demand for ivory products in Asia, Europe, USA and elsewhere, which continues to increase elephant’s destruction. There is one group who has been tirelessly trying to put an end to the illegal ivory trade and they are known as Born Free. Born Free helped ensure the first international ivory ban in 1989 and since then has campaigned tirelessly …show more content…
The two African rhino’s have both increased in number in recent years thanks to successful conservation efforts. The white rhino has been brought back from the brink of extinction. However, both species are again at risk due to a surge in poaching to meet demand for illegal rhino horn, primarily in Asia. Countries and conservationists are stepping up their efforts but record numbers of rhinos are currently being killed. Just 150 year ago there were over a million White and Black Rhino’s but because of relentless poaching they are on there last leg. The number of rhinos poached in South Africa alone has increased by 9,000% since 2007 from 13 to a record 1,215 in 2014. Rhino’s are being poached for there horn, much like the elephant, the Rhino’s horn can be sold at a very high price. The reason that the horn can be sold for such a high price is because it offers many old traditional benefits. powdered horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a supposed cure for a range of illnesses ranging from hangovers to fevers and even cancer. But the current surge has been primarily driven by demand for horn in Vietnam. As well as its use in medicine, rhino horn is bought and consumed purely as a symbol of wealth. The Black Rhino was once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are now limited to protected areas in the east and south of