Running head: SHOULD POACHING ANIMALS BE ALOUD 1

Are We Slowly Killing off The World’s

Population of Ecxotic Animals

Hannah Uppole- ledford

Honors English 11
Running head: SHOULD POACHING ANIMALS BE ALOUD 2

Should Poaching Animals Be Aloud or

Are We Slowly Killing off The World’s

Population of Exotic Animals

The founder Paul Oxton of Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation states “Humanity can no

longer stand by in silence while our wildlife are being used, abused and exploited.

It is time we all stand together, to be the voice of the voiceless before it's too late. Extinction

means forever.” Certain scientist like zoologists are warning us if we keep killing these exotic

animals at the rate we are now in the next two decades we will not have many species left like

rhinos, tigers, elephants, sea turtles, lemurs, and gorillas. There are many other animals that are

in danger of completely disappearing from our planet, the ones I listed above are the ones in the

most serious danger of disappearing all together. I will be exploring two of the endangered

species, elephants and rhinos. This information is for the wealthy poachers who think killing

animals is a sport and think its ok to kill animals in cold blood. This is also for people who push

aside animal poaching and its consequences, Which is most of us we all push aside the killing of

these animals but we pretend that we fight for them but do we really?

Elephants are extremely beautiful creatures with very distinctive valuable features. An

elephants tusks are worth a lot of money nowadays. According to author Phelan who wrote an

article in USA TODAY states “ in China 2,100 per 2.2 pounds on average last year.” (Phelan,

2015) With this amount of money being suggested as a reward for killing these animals it makes

it much more appealing to kill them. Ivory is used for piano keys, billiard balls, bowling pins,

mantle fixtures, and various other home items. Mathewson of Nature World News states “

Elephants were a species that once populated Africa in the millions. However after 200 to 300

years of elephant slaughter for their ivory tusks has caused the population to drop dramatically.”
Running head: SHOULD POACHING ANIMALS BE ALOUD 3

(Mathewson, 2016) The male Asian elephant has the bigger more valuable tusk. Female Asian

elephants have smaller tusks that are not worth very much money because they do not have pulp

inside of their tusks. According to author Phelan who wrote an article in USA TODAY states

“Since the selective killings of bulls creates a gender imbalance and thereby reduces

reproduction in the remaining population.” ( Phelan,2015) With human populations growing they

are growing into the elephants protected areas and coming into conflict with each other. With

humans pushing elephants out of their protected areas it gets easier and easier to kill them and

not face any consequences.

Rhino horns are being taken off their bodies for medical purposes and statis reasons.

Their horns are used for medicine and are a sign of wealth. In the Chinese culture they believe

that rhino horns can cure all sorts of medical issues. The Save the rhinos article states “ Used to

treat fevers, rheumatism, gout, and other disorders. Also the horns can be used to cure snake

bites, hallucinations, typhoid, headaches, carbuncles, vomiting, food poisoning, and the devil

possessioning.” ( Save the rhino, 2018) Medically we know that rhino horns have no actual

benefit to the health of people. Superstition still controls the thought that it does in the Chinese

culture. The Asian government has used rhino horns as a way to cure cancer. Mathewson of

Nature World News states “ Surprisingly, however, biting one's fingernails, which are made of

the same keratin material, could employ the same cancer treatment.” (Mathewson,2016) Higher

class people tend to buy rhino horns for the sole purpose of showing off their status in society.

To add on to show how much wealth they have. According to author Phelan who wrote an article

in USA TODAY states “ 65,000 per 2.2 pounds making it more expensive by weight than gold,

diamonds, and cocaine.” ( Phelan,2015) This is showing us that we are killing off rhinos for no

legitimate reason and just using them as a poor excuse.

Running head: SHOULD POACHING ANIMALS BE ALOUD 4

This is just the tip of the iceberg on how damaging animal poaching is to the animals. We

tend not to think about the animals point of view and how deadly it can be for them, we only

think about ourselves and the priorities we have. Killing off these animals can also cause issues

for where they live. That area is use to having these animals around “predators and prey”. That’s

how that ecosystem thrives and killing off so many animals is going to disturb the food chain.

Society seems to have become blind to how serious animal poaching is to the species. Even

putting them into captivity for long periods of time can be damaging to the species. We need to

respect how the animals feel, no they can’t talk us but through their body language we can try

and figure out what they need. There are more than 19 animals that are on the endangered list

now in 2018. That’s many more that what it was in 2015, only 10 were on the list.Yes killing

animals is going to happen, but killing animals to the point where they are almost extinct is not

ok and need to be stopped. Killing one of these animals is like killing a human. They may be the

same species but each individual animal is different. It’s murder there is no excuse. killing an

animal out of greed is and should be consider a murder claiming that most of the animals that

people kill are going extinct anyway from the massive amount we kill a year. It’s wrong and

such a dirty thing to do to someone/ something that can’t and doesn't understand what's going on.
Running head: SHOULD POACHING ANIMALS BE ALOUD 5

Charlotte Allen. “Why Allowing Trophy Hunting Is Good for Endangered Species.” Los Angeles
Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2015,
www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-oe-allen-trophy-hunting-endangered-species-
20150808-story.html.

The article talked about positives of poaching and how we should pride people in killing
these huge animals.

Elephant Tusks - Elephant Facts and Information. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2018, from
http://www.eleaid.com/elephant-information/elephant-tusks/
This site I found out more information on what makes tusks so valuable.

Gina Kolata. “How a Poaching Scene Is a Crime Scene.” The Independent , 19 Feb. 2018, 14:43,

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/how-a-poaching-scene-is-a-crime-
scene- a8150006.html

This website is talking about how rangers are using forensic science to help find the

criminals who killed the animals and with what weapon.

Phelan, J. (2015, July 31). 6 endangered animals poachers are hunting into extinction.

Retrieved March 20, 2018, from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/07/31/globalpost-6-endangered-

animals-poachers-hunting-into-extinction/30932385/
Running head: SHOULD POACHING ANIMALS BE ALOUD 6

This site explained to me how much each parts of elephants and rhinos cost and why

they are worth so much.

Poaching for rhino horn. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2018, from

https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/threats_to_rhino/poaching_for_rhino_horn

This sight gave me more information and went more in depth on why people kill rhinos.

Samantha Mathewson. NatureWorldNews. “Poaching and Trafficking: Strategic Steps to Save

Animals.” Nature World News, 8 Feb. 2016,

www.natureworldnews.com/articles/19764/20160208/trading-extinction-reducing-illegal-

animal-poaching-trafficking.htm.

This website is about how many of the animals are killed per year. Also if we keep going

in that direction of killing as many animals as we do now, It tells us how long before they

all die out.

Giangaspero, Massimo, and Metab Khalaf Salim Al Ghafri. “Poaching: A Threat for Vulnerable

Wild Animal Species in Oman.” OMICS International, OMICS International, 6 Oct. 2014,

www.omicsonline.org/open-access/poaching-a-threat-for-vulnerable-wild-animal-species-in-

oman-2329-9088.1000e121.php?aid=34964.

This article was about all the different kinds of animals that have been and are being

poached.
Running head: SHOULD POACHING ANIMALS BE ALOUD 7

Merry, Mitch. “The War against Poaching In 2016.” Endangered Species Coalition, 21 Sept.

2016,

www.endangered.org/the-war-against-poaching-in-2016/.

This article talks about how most people in the human race owns something made out of

ivory. It also talks about how many pounds of ivory are poached a year.

Daniel Santa. “Human Impact on Ecosystems: Poaching.” Prezi , 26 Sept. 2013,

https://prezi.com/aeztbpbuewlc/human-impact-on-ecosystems-poaching/

This presentation talks about all the different kinds of poaching there are. Also this gives
you websites and links to give money to organizations to help.

Photograph by Brent Stapelkamp, Anastasia Photo, et al. “Should We Kill Animals to Save
Them?” Poaching and Conservation, 20 Sept. 2017,
www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/10/trophy-hunting-killing-saving-animals/.

The article talked about positives of poaching. Was only able to read a preview.

unknown. “Illegal Wildlife Trade .” World Wildlife Federation ,

www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade+.

This article is about all the different causes that comes animal poaching.

lowermiddleclassy. “Rhino Terribly Maimed: Poaching in Africa.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 July

2013,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ATMX_YeQPI.
This video is about a rhino that has gotten his/her horn cut off and is left to die in pain
and sorrow.