Tragic Effects of Poaching Animals

 

You don’t have to be glued to your TV set to realize that poachers are still very active in Africa. Despite all good intentions, anti-poaching laws and pressure placed on the countries like China and others who believe in the myths of aphrodisiacs of ground up rhino horn and magic powers coming from monkey paws… the tragedy and bloodshed in Africa still continues.

Giraffes, several species of apes, elephants, zebras and rhinos continue to be killed every year by poaching. These animals deserve to live just as humans do. The senseless killing of these beautiful animals has to stop.

Often when adult animals are killed, the babies often die soon thereafter as they are vulnerable to lions, tigers, cheetahs and other poachers.

While deforestation of hundreds of acres through “clear cutting” has had an impact on many wildlife species in Africa, poaching still remains the single leading contributor for the decline of many animals in Africa.

According the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) the number of rhinos poached has doubled over the last three years.

122 rhinos poached in 2009
333 rhinos poached in 2010
388 rhinos poached in 2012
Despite the fact there remains no medical proof that ground rhino horn powder offers any health benefits by consuming it, many Asians still believe ground rhino horn powder to be a miracle cure for nosebleeds, cancer, hangover remedies, strokes, convulsions and fever.

Despite the gloomy numbers of rhinos taken through poaching, the good news is the numbers of black and white rhinos have actually been steadily growing.

However some species of rhino are still on the list of critically endangered species.

Organized Crime is to Blame
The only reasons poaching of elephants, apes and rhinos continue is by the demand. Organized gangs and entire criminal syndicates use high technology to coordinate the capture and distribution of African animals. Military night-vision goggles, silenced sniper weapons and helicopters are used to instantly carry out big game kills to villages to cut up and process the animals into containers which are then shipped out of the country. Which sadly means that many of these beautiful animals can be wiped out to dangerous extinction levels.