Endangered Rare Antelope Facing Extinction Due To Poaching & Bushmeat

Summary:

Residents of small towns in Kenya suffering from starvation have resorted to illegally poaching from national parks. The animal that is inmost danger in this circumstance however is not the elephant or rhino. It is actually the very rare semi-aquatic sitatunga antelope that lives in the swamps of Kenya. Unfortunately because of their small size they are a huge target for desperate villagers. Four are killed everyday and activists report there are only a few hundred sitatunga left in a few small secluded groups in the deep swamps. If the poaching of these very rare creatures does not stop soon they will be extinct within a few years tops. The true conflict here is what we will let happen, will we let the people starve or will we let these rare innocent creatures be annihilated?

Reflection:

I was very sad to hear about the situation in Kenya. It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch these adorable little antelope be hunted into extinction, but on the other hand I can't say what I would do if I was in the situation of some of these starving people.


Evidence:

"In Kenya, as hunger gradually continues to be a problem, locals are turning to any options they have available to feed them and their families. Recently with a prevailing drought which has dried out much of the Yala swamp in Lake Victoria, the semi-aquatic Sitatunga is forced out of its natural habitat. Due to this they have become very vulnerable to poaching and residents are quoted with saying, ‘We can’t die of hunger when we have a lot of food provided by God in this swamp."

"The Standard Newspaper reported that locals are now invading the wetland and killing the rare Sitatunga and Waterbuck. The newspaper stated that about 4 of these animals are killed daily and sold as bushmeat in the marketplace. Another report by Saiwa Swamp National Park states that there are only a few hundred Sitatungas remaining in isolated populations, all of which face extinction from local threats."

Questions:

1.) Is there a way to bring in some other food source for these people?
2.) What are the exact number of sitatunga left?

Work Cited:

Username: epicuriousskier "Endangered Rare Antelope Facing Extinction Due To Poaching & Bushmeat." Bushwarriors. 5, February 2010. 7, February 2010.

Bushmeat Project; Save the Great Apes; Chimps and Gorillas

Summary:

This article reveals the sad truth of exactly how many apes are being destroyed yearly along with their jungle habitat. Poachers kill as many as 8,000 apes every year, which earns poachers around 2 billion dollars. These statistics mean that the entire central and western African population of great apes and their habitat will be completely demolished within 15 to 50 years depending on the whether the poaching rates increases. However thanks to a few devoted individuals organizations like The Bushmeat Project are working to hopefully save these animals before it is too late.

Reflection:

I was appalled at the numbers of apes that are being murdered each year and even more surprised to learn how much poachers are making off of this cruel and very illegal trade. Wealthy people across the world are paying to have gorillas and chimpanzees slaughtered for their own selfish likes. In many ways the ever closer future of great ape extinction is caused by the people who buy the meat. If not for them poaching wouldn't be such a successful money maker and thousands of animals would still be alive.

Evidence:

"A ragged far flung army of a few thousand commercial bushmeat hunters supported by the timber industry infrastructure will illegally shoot and butcher more than two billion dollars worth of wildlife this year, including as many as 8,000 endangered great apes. People pay a premium to eat more great apes each year than are now kept in all the zoos and laboratories of the world."

"If the slaughter continues at its current pace, the remaining wild apes in Africa will be gone within the next fifteen to fifty years. With them will vanish most of the equatorial rain forest, and the cultures of indigenous people who have lived there for millennia."



Questions:

1.) Who exactly is paying millions of dollars for gorilla and chimpanzee meat?
2.) What is The Bushmeat Project doing to stop poachers?

Work Cited:


"Bushmeat Project; Save the Great Apes; Chimps and Gorillas." Bushmeat. Project 7, February 2010.

How Global Financial Crisis is Escalating Bushmeat Poaching in Africa

Summary:

Due to the world financial crisis many jobs were lost causing families in Africa to have no choice, but to illegally poach wildlife for food. There are strict laws about not stealing from a neighbors herd of livestock, but unfortunately laws about hunting unprotected wildlife are practically nonexistent. With so many people needing food and only a limited number of animals left in the wild, the probability of extinction creeps closer everyday for many species.

Reflection:

I was shocked to read this article and find out how many people have been so critically affected by the worldwide recession to have to hunt the local wildlife of their region to survive.

Questions:

1.) Are these people running out of animals to hunt?
2.) What are they planning to do when there are no more animals left?
3.) Are organizations like the red cross aware of this issue?

Work Cited:

Username: Bushmeat. "How global financial crisis is escalating bushmeat poaching in Africa." Beta Wildlife Direct. 9, January 2009. 7, February 2010

Poachers Killing Gorillas, Chimps for Bush Meat Delicacy

Summary:

This article speaks about the growing problem in Central Africa's jungles, the slaughtering of chimpanzees and gorillas for the luxury food trade. Since the arrival of logging companies to the forests the number of endangered species being murdered daily has escalated. As the loggers cut down more and more trees and create more and more pathways into the deep jungle poachers only gain better access to the last places endangered species are left to hide. Recently and entire family of 6 gorillas, which included two babies was killed in two days. Although according to the government logging companies have every right to refuse poachers access to their properties, some loggers say that it is too dangerous for them to contradict armed poachers. Many companies not only don't stop poachers from trespassing they actually help them by driving them back and forth from the city to the forest sites where wildlife was last spotted. If this trend continues gorillas and chimpanzees will soon go extinct.

Reflection:

I was very, very sad to hear that American and European loggers are being bribed into helping to bring about the extinction of these innocent animals. Personally I just can't imagine sitting there and saying " Oh ya there are some gorillas over there, go ahead and shoot them as long as i get 10%!" If gorillas or chimpanzees go extinct because of this I will be really upset.

Evidence:

"Here, in the space of two days, an entire family of gorillas was shot and killed -- three adult females, two babies and the father, a big silverback."

"The slaughter of chimpanzees and gorillas, our closest relatives, is absolutely diabolical. I can't imagine that this can go on much longer before these animals are extinct," warns Richard Leakey with the Kenya Wildlife Service."

"But in Central Africa, the commercial trade in bush meat continues to grow. Markets teem with meat from many forest animals, including endangered chimpanzees, gorillas and elephants -- not as necessary protein sources but as delicacies."

"Unrestrained logging, mostly by European companies driving new access roads into old-growth forests, makes the proliferation possible. Roads now penetrate deep into areas once inaccessible to hunters."

Questions:

1.) Why isn't the government realizing the problem and doing something to stop it?
2.) Is there a way to stop loggers from cutting down more trees and helping poachers/

Work Cited:

"Poachers killing gorillas, chimps for bush meat delicacy." CNN. 30, December 1998. 7, February 2010.

Africa's Deadliest Conservationist

Summary:

This article told the story of a hiker/tourist in Sudan who after witnessing the slaughter of dozens of animals in the national park in Sudan he was visiting in 1999. Since then he has become a strong activist worked to develop an organization to safeguard the world's national parks and rain-forests. In 2001 his non profit fund was established and given approval by the then president of the Central African Republic, Ange-Félix Patassé. His group now provides armed rangers that guard around 100,000 miles of Central Africa's savannas and rain-forests.

Reflection:

I was pleasantly surprised to read about someone who is dedicating their life to finding ways to "safeguard" Africa's precious endangered species population from the otherwise sheer annihilation they would be facing. While reading other articles about the poaching problem I had been wondering why nobody had thought of this idea before. The "new age" poachers that are working nowadays are armed with deadly weapons and a park ranger that may or may not be trained in using the old rifle they are given can't be all that much help against anti-tank weapons and military trained hunters.

Evidence:

"In November 1999, while making a tsetse-filled and malaria-plagued first descent of the Central African Republic's Chinko River [see photo gallery], conservationist Bruce Hayse observed something he didn't like: elephant, buffalo, and hippo populations annihilated by Sudanese poachers."

"After witnessing the devastation, Hayse developed a program to protect the animals of the Chinko Basin. And in 2001, Ange-Félix Patassé, president of the Central African Republic (CAR), authorized Hayse's nonprofit group, African Rain-forest and Rivers Conservation, to run an armed, independent defense operation to safeguard 100,000 square miles [260,000 square kilometers] of eastern CAR rain forest and savanna from the slaughter."

Questions:

1.) Has this program been working?
2.) Why wasn't this more publicised?

Work Cited:

"Africa's Deadliest Conservationist" National Geographic. January/February 2002. 2 February 2010.

South Africa, Zimbabwe epicenter of rhino poaching crisis, data show

Summary:

This article is yet another report on the ever decreasing population of black rhinos in Africa. There are so few of these rhinos left in the wild that scientists have had many scares that the species was completely extinct on the savannahs. For example in 1997 there were only maybe 30 back rhinos left in Zimbabwe's Matusadona National Park. Each animal had to b guarded 24/7 by an armed park ranger to be kept safe from poachers. Poachers hunt rhinoceros for their horns which are used in certain medicines and the like. They are sold in exotic or black markets in Africa, but for the most part much of the poached merchandise is shipped over to Asia wher the market for things of that sort is reportedly very high.

Refection:

This article started off giving pretty much the same information as most other articles on the subject, however it gave specific numbers of the black rhinoceros population on certain years which was very hepful and interesting. I was surprised that the park in Zimbawe posted guards on the rhinos who were in most danger, I had never heard of that happening before and I was very happy to hear that.

Evidence:

"Asian demand for horns is driving a surge in rhino poaching, especially in South Africa and Zimbabwe, according to data analyzed by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)"

"Since 2006 95 percent of the poaching in Africa has occurred in Zimbabwe and South Africa, according to the report."

"A game warden guards one of perhaps 30 black rhinos left in Zimbabwe's Matusadona National Park from poachers--in 1997."

Questions:

1.) Why aren't more national parks keeping a closer eye on their animals?
2.) Are there more park rangers stationed at the national parks in Zimbawe than other regions?
3.) An if so why is Zimbawe consistently remaining the worst poaching area in Africa and maybe the world?

Works Cited:

"South Africa, Zimbabwe epicenter of rhino poaching crisis, data show." National Geographic. 1 December 2009. 2 February 2010

Poachers Still Killing 100 Elephants Daily in Africa

Summary:

This article touched on the issue of the now very, very endangered African elephants. Twenty years ago the U.N. passed a blanket ban on ivory trading. At the time 200 elephants were being killed everyday, after the new law and for a few years poaching became practically nonexistent. However because of the more relaxed national park security and global economy poaching groups are only getting larger and more powerful. Before the poaching ban the elephant population had gone from 1.2 million to 600,000 now even though the ban is still active the population is 470,000! The International Fund for Animal Warfare announced that on average the number of elephant killings per day is now 104. The U.N. admits that poaching numbers climbed severely after they allowed a "one-of" ivory trade opportunity where the ivory being sold was all from elephants who died from old age or sickness. Poachers took this opportunity to open up the black market ivory trade once more which is the true reason at the hear of why so many elephants are dying once again.

Reflection:

I was appalled to learn how many elephants are in fact dying daily and that the numbers are doing nothing but climbing by the week. I was surprised that the U.N. had not been more careful about their allowance of a "one-of" sale of ivory. Didn't someone see this coming and why has this blanket ban that has been effective before failing so completely now? Why is nobody realizing what this means for our earth's the elephant population? After elephants are extinct, which they will be soon if nothing continues to be done, what do they think will stop poachers from slowly, but surely taking out the entire population of critically endangered species living in Africa?

Evidence:

"The ban on ivory trade, established by the U.N.'s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), took effect on October 17, 1989."

"At the time an average of 200 elephants were killed every day in Africa. Poaching almost ceased after the ban, but it is now on the increase once again, felling an average of 104 elephants per day, the IFAW has found."

"In the 10 years before the ban, African elephant populations had dropped from 1.2 million to 600,000. Twenty years later, that number now stands at around 470,000."

"Over the last few years, CITES has allowed several one-off sales of ivory stockpiles, mostly from elephants that died of natural causes. But according to IFAW, this has fed consumer demand and created opportunities for the black market to mask its operations. The world financial crisis has made things even worse: Many African nations have had to cut back on their anti-poaching operations, giving illegal wildlife traders even more incentive to profit from their operations."

"The next CITES meeting about elephants won't be held until March. Unfortunately, at current rates, that means at least 12,000 African elephants could die in the interim."

Questions:

1.) Why did the U.N. allow ivory sales?
2.) How can the bans on elephant poaching be reinforced to stop the slaughter?

Work Cited:

Platt, John "Poachers still killing 100 elephants daily in Africa" Scientific American Febauary 1, 2010

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=poachers-still-killing-100-elephant-2009-10-19