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JosephJoslinandNathanWhite
Ms.Smith
EnglishII
11May2016
AfricanPoaching
Imagineakidwithouthisparentsinapublicmallnowthinkofanelephantwithouthis
family.ManyanimalsinAfricaarebeingpoachedfortheirvaluables.Leavingtheonesthatlive
behindwithnomeanstodefendthemselves.PoachingisaseriousissueinAfricathatiscausing
animalstogoendangeredorevenextinct,andifpeopledontstophuntingtheseendangered
animals,thenwemayneverseethemagain.
Themainreasonswhypoachersmakethedecisiontokillanimalsfortheirvaluablesis
becausetheycanmakealargeprofitwithaquicksale.Thesepoachersdonotcareaboutthewell
beingoftheseendangeredanimalsbecausetheyhuntwhateverbringsthemthemostmoney(Shea
11).Anotherexampleofwhypoachersareoutfortheanimalsisfortheirmeatwhichcanbeusedto
feedfamilies.Itsnotthateveryoneisoutforendangeredanimalswiththeintenttocausethe
animalstogoextinctbuttobeabletoputfoodonthetable(Shea12).Thisshowsthatsomepeople
needtheseanimalsforthepurposeoflivingandsurviving.
Themainreasonwhypoacherstaketheanimaltusks,pelts,andmeatissotheycanproceed
toselltheseitemsintheblackmarketforhighamountsofmoney.Thisisalsoknownastheivory
trade.ThistradehappensgloballyandissoldillegallyinChinaandThailand.Withthepurposeto
makechopsticks,jewelry,ornaments,hairaccessories,andmanyotheritemsoutofthetuskand
ivoryofAfricanelephantsandrhinos.Withsomanyusesforivoryalsobeingusedforcommercial

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useandinthemodernindustryandbeingawidelyusedproductfordecorationtheresultisthe
poachershavingtokillmoreanimalstokeepupwiththeboomingillegalbusinessbecausetheyare
wantingtomakemoremoneyandbecomingmoregreedyfortheivory.Notcaringabouttheanimals
theyhurt(Ivory).Thisleadstothepunishmentofivorytraders.
Theeffectsofpoachingareveryseriousandshouldnotbetakenlightly.InAfricapoaching
iscausingmanyanimalspeciestodierapidlyduetotheirexpensiveivorytuskandfoodwhichis
oneoftheworsteffectspoachinghasonanimals.
Peoplehavenoticedthattheelephantsarenottheonlyanimalsthatareendangered.Thismay
beshockingtosomeonebecauseelephantsbeingendangeredisaverybigproblem.Happening
becauseofpoaching.However,rhinosarealsobeingkilledbypoachers.TheWesternBlackRhinos
arealreadyextinctduetothepoachingproblemfacedinAfrica.
AstudygroupofscientiststatedWeexaminedlongtermimpactsofpoachingofRhinosof
theMikumiSelousEcosysteminTanzaniaoneofthelargestandmostheavilypoachedRhinos
populationsonthecontinentandthatshowspeoplehowdangerousandwhatpoachingleadsto.
Oftenpoacherspoachforthetuskandfoodofelephantsandsadlyhappenswithrhinocerosaswell
leadingtoabigdeclineintheanimal'spopulation(Effects).Ifthiscontinuestogoon,theeffects
ofpoachingisgoingtogetalotworse.
TherearemanywayspeoplecanpreventpoachinginAfrica.Butithastostartwithsomeone
givingtheseclosetoextinctanimalsaplacetothriveandlive.Tomovetheseanimalstoplaces
wherepoachingisnttotheiraccessishowtheywillbeabletorepopulate(StoppingPoaching).

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Oneofthemainreasonpeoplearepoachingistofeedtheirfamilies,soeducatingthesefamilieson
howtoliveoffthelandwithfarmingandraisingcattlecouldstopfamiliesfromillegallypoaching
animals(Shea13).Thiscouldultimatelystoppeoplefromkillingofftheseanimals.
Poachingisgonnabearoundforawhile,sopeopleshouldbeonitanddealwithitnow
insteadoflaterwhenitstoolate.Sofornowallpeoplecandothatcanthelpistospreadawareness
aboutthePoachinginAfrica.Toletpeopleknowthattheseanimalswillbeseeninthefutureonce
poachinghascometoanend.

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WorksCited
"EffectsofPoachingonAfricanElephants."
CenterofConservationBiology
.Universityof
Washington,2016.Web.28Apr.2016.
IvoryANIMALRIGHTSACTION
.Web.28Apr.2016.
Shea,Nicole.
PoachingandIllegalTrade
.NewYork,NY:GarethStevensPub.,2014.Web.
StoppingPoaching
.5Apr.2011.Web.27Apr.2016.