A Stop to Poaching

If the killing of wild animals isn't because of survival then it shouldn't be done.  Approximately 35,000 wild animals are killed annually due to poaching. Poaching is  the illegal hunting of wild animals usually associated with land use rights. Africa has seen the unprecedented annihilation of wild animals as a result of poaching and it is being fuelled by the profits that are made by commercial wildlife traffickers and  uncontrolled commercial exploitation. Many of the reserves in southern Africa are heavily targeted by armed poachers.

Elephants are one of the animals that are being affected by poaching. If we don't take action against poaching, elephants will be extinct by 11 years. In an article by WWF Panda it states Tens of thousands of elephants are being killed every year for their ivory tusks.The mother elephants are killed for their tusks which leaves the babies to be unprotected. The babies are not going to be able to survive without any support. The hunters also end up killing the babies a couple days after. The tusks are used for ivory. Ivory is used to make piano and organ keys, billiard balls,and  handles.

There are several ways to make all of these things that do not involve killing animals. Botswana has 135,000,the largest elephant population in Africa. 135,000 might seem like a big number but the number of African elephants has fallen by around 111,000 to 415,000 in the past decade. There are ways to help save the lives of thousands of elephants. We need to either donate money to organizations that help protect wildlife animals, or fight with things like petitions to make things safer for them.

Another animal that is being affected by poaching may be a bit surprising but it's tigers. There are only around 3000-3200 tigers living right now because of poaching. About 1,800 of the remaining tigers live in India and  the rest are spread out in places like Siberia.  Due to the poaching of tigers, overall populations have dropped from 100,000 a hundred years ago. Tigers are poached because their pelts are valuable on the black market.  In an article by Poaching Facts it states from 2004 indicated that tiger skins were being sold for up to $10,000. Poachers also use poisoned dead bodies of animals of a tiger's prey to kill them. In the summer they dig shallow pools and fill them with poisoned water for the tigers to drink and eventually die. We need to put as many tigers into zoos as possible, for their safety. We need to hear more people talking about tiger poaching and trying to do all that they can to help stop it.

    However, The illegal trade in ivory could possibly be worth as much as $1 billion a year and the elephants biggest threat is ever-expanding human civilization, roads and agriculture that eats away at their habitat. In an article by Wes Siler it states  People who rely on farming and cattle ranching value the land and the crops that grow on it. Which means that the elephants that graze on that land are a threat to business. 

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