BlocherandMcCachern1

SethMcCachernandIainBlocher
Agar
EnglishIIHonors
1December2015
PoachinginAfrica
Everyday100elephantsdie,whatcanbedoneaboutit?Learningnewwaystolivewith
animalsinpeace,likeleavingtheirhomesaloneandnotbuildingonthem.Tryingtoputthemin
enclosedareastoprotectthem.Thereisnoclearwaytostoppoachingasofnowbecausethe
poachersalwaysseemtofindnewwaystogetaroundthesenewideas.Thepoachersdontcare
iftheanimalsgoextinctthatiswhytheydonotstop.Theyarepaidtokillcertainanimalsand
taketheirvaluableparts.IfsomethingisntdonesoonmultiplespeciesinAfricacouldgo
extinct.
Mostpeoplehirepoachersforelephantsbecausetheyaresteppingontheircropsand
destroyingtheirfences.Ifnewwayswerelearnedtolivewithelephantsinpeace,thenmaybethe
poachingofelephantscanbecompletelystopped.SomefarmersinIndiahavelearnedwaysto
keepfarmanimalswithoutfences.Then,theelephantswillnotwreckthefarmwhentheywalk
through(Shea43).Whileitisanidea,poacherswillstillexist,theyonlyhunttheelephantsfor
theirtusks.Poacherscansellelephantstuskstodifferentcountriestomakejewelry.Many
peoplearoundtheworldhavestoppedbuyingivoryjewelry.Butincertaincountries,especially
inAsia,ivoryisstillindemand.Sopoacherscontinuetoslaughterthousandsofelephantseach
yearjustfortheivory(Shea28).Countriesneedtostopdemandingivoryiftheelephantsare

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goingtostopbeingkilled.Manyotheranimalsarepoachedforvariousreasons,buttheelephant
isthemostpopular,althoughrhinosarealsoclosetogoingextinctthankstopoaching.
Rhinoshavealmostbeenhuntedtoextinction,andin2014arecordwassetinSouth
Africaofthemostrhinoskilledinoneyear.ArecordnumberofrhinoswerepoachedinSouth
Africaduring2014.AccordingtoaBBCreport1,215rhinosa21percentincreaseoverthe
previousyearwereslaughtered,twothirdsofthemintheKrugerNationalPark(Gajewski).
Thatnumbershouldbegoingdown21percentnotgoingup21percent.Peopleneedtostop
poachingrhinossoonorelserhinoswillgoextinct.Rhinosarepoachedfortheirhorns,but
peopledontrealizethattheirhornisnothingspecial.Sadly,peopledontrealizethatarhino's
hornisnothingspecial.Infact,itismadeofthesamematerialasyourfingernails(Shea31).
Peopleneedtostoppoachingrhinosfortheirhorns.Theycouldjustcuttheirfingernailsandsave
thoseuntiltheyhaveenoughtosell,somethingotherthankillingrhinos.Poacherswilloften
justcutoffthehorn.Therhinocanbleedtodeath,oritdiesfromgermsaroundtheworld(Shea
31).Poachersdontrealizethatwhentheykilloneelephanttheyareaffectinganentire
ecosystem.
Zebras,gorillas,wolves,tigerthelistgoeson.Thepoachingofalltheseanimalsmustbe
stopped.Itaffectstheentireecosystemaswellastheanimalspoached.Sopoacherswhohunt
onekindofplantoranimal,includingtinyanimalslikecoral,aretakingfoodandhomesfrom
otheranimals(Shea34).Whensomeonepoachedthatoneelephant,theycouldhavejusttaken
thehomeofmillionsofbacteriathatcouldvebeenthefoodforatypeofbug,whichinturn
couldkilltonsofotheranimalsinthatecosystem.Whenonetypeofanimalispoached,itaffects
tonsofotheranimalslives.Scientistssaythatpoachingonewalleye,atypeoffish,inthewrong

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seasontherewillbe2,000fewerfishalivelaterthatyear.Iftherearefewerwalleye,theanimals
thatfeedonthemwillhavefewertoeat(Shea37).Thelawhastobeenforcedmorebut
countriescantaffordtostoppoachers.Thesecountriesoftendonothavethemoneytohire
peopletoprotecttheanimals.Thismakesiteveneasierforthepoacherstohuntandkillanimals
(Shea23).
BushmeattradeisalsoaproblemformanyAfricannations.Beforethe1990sthe
huntingofwildlifeforfood,orbushmeat,waspracticedmainlybylocalpeoplesuchasthe
BaakaoftheCongorainforest.Usingtraditionalsnaresandtraps,theykilledonlyasmuchas
theyneededtosurvive(Gelletly44).BushmeatusedtobeusedasfoodforAfricantribes,they
onlykilledwhattheyneededtosurvivethenlefttherestalone.Nowitsgrowntoamuchlarger
scale.In2012theWildlifeConservationSocietyreportedthatmorethanamillionmetrictons
ofbushmeat(equivalentto4millioncattle)wasbeingtakenfromtheCongoforesteveryyear
(Gelletly45).Itneedstobestoppedbeforetheseanimalsgoextinct,butsomepeopledonotsee
itstoppinganytimesoon.
IfsomethingisntdonesoonmultiplespeciesinAfricacouldgoextinct.Theproblemis
thatpeopleareignorantanddontcareenoughtohelpoutabouttheproblem.Somepeopledont
evenknowitisaproblem.Poachingneedstocometoastopassoonaspossible,butifeveryone
doesntknowaboutit,itwontcometoastop.Somethingbigneedstobedonesoon,anditisnt
goingtohappenwithouthelp.

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WorksCited
Gajewski,KarenAnn."ArecordnumberofrhinoswerepoachedinSouthAfricaduring
2014."
TheHumanist
Mar.Apr.2015:48.
StudentEdition
.Web.19Nov.2015.
Gelletly,LeeAnne.
EcologicalIssues.
Philadelphia:MasonCrest,2014.PDF.
Shea,Nicole.
PoachingandIllegalTrade.
NewYork,NY:GarethStevensPub.,2014.PDF