Poachers Kill Magnificent Animals for Profit

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“Lions and tigers, oh my!” Some know animals such as these to be scary; other people understand these animals to be a beautiful creation of Earth. Whether you are afraid of mighty beasts or simply in awe of them, it astonishes many people when they realize how few of them are still alive. Rhinoceroses, elephants, leopards, tigers, African lions, and many more creatures are all considered an endangered species, and we are the reason they are deemed that way. The one element all of those animals have in common is that they are valuable. Rhinoceroses are treasured for their horns; Elephants for their tusks. Lions, tigers, and leopards are all wanted for their skins. These magnificent beings are some of the main sources for poachers.

Before diving head-first into the many cruelties of poaching itself, there is a question to be answered: Why would anyone wish to become involved in this practice of illegally hunting animals? Believe it or not, some see benefits in joining in this ‘profession’. To explain these possible benefits, elephants and rhinoceroses will be the main animals used while on the subject of poaching. Referring back to previously stated details, elephants are hunted for the ivory inside their tusks. The cost of ivory has skyrocketed, and the price of ivory has risen to an exorbitant high of $1,000 per pound on the streets of Beijing, China where ivory trade activity is more than twice the activity in Europe and North America combined. The price of rhinoceroses horns have also dramatically increased to nearly $30,000 a pound because many residents of Asia believe ground rhinoceros horn is a cure for several fatal illnesses such as cancer. These high prices that people are willing to pay creates a large incentive for p...

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...le in the world willing to fight and act out against these actions, hope will always remain. The hope that all animals can live without fear of becoming obsolete due to humans.

Works Cited

Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Sept. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .

Underwood, Fiona M., Robert W. Burn, and Tom Milliken. "Dissecting the Illegal Ivory Trade: An Analysis of Ivory Seizures Data." Ed. Alejandro Raul Hernandez Montoya. PLoS ONE 8.10 (2013): E76539. Print.

"The International." Continued Poaching Will Result in the Degradation of Fragile Ecosystems —. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .

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