The Pros And Cons Of Poaching

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When most people think of environmental problems, pollution, global warming, and climate change usually come to mind. One environmental issue that Americans do not really pay attention to is the poaching of innocent wild animals. Poaching is illegal and performed for commercial profit, meaning that hunters in spite of the law, kill the animals and sell their body parts and their hides for large amounts of money. This horrible act has afflicted many environmentalists for years and in spite of laws, this sickening crime has yet to be stopped. Poaching is not only unethical, but wrong and inhumane and this generation can put an end to it by taking action. Elephants, rhinos, and tigers are the top animals that poachers usually target, but those are not the only animals hunted; whales, sharks, sea turtles, and pangolins are hunted for their parts as well. Poachers usually only hunt the animals for one major reason which might be worth the most money. For example, elephants are killed for their ivory tusks, tigers for their beautiful striped fur, and rhinos for their horns. Poaching has been a serious problem and at an all-time high in Asia and Africa for many years. In 2017 …show more content…

Approximately 25,000 elephants were killed for ivory in 2011. Orenstein (Turtles, Tortoises and Terrapins), a wildlife conservationist, tells an appalling story of how persistent greed for ivory and rhino horn has drastically reduced African elephant and rhino populations. Crime syndicates meet the unrelenting demand by using heavily armed poaching gangs to raid Africa's wildlife preserves and national parks

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