Causes
Our ancestors have been hunting for around 400,000 years. In the past, hunting has played an important role in leadership and community formation. Before the agricultural revolution (around 10,000 years ago), primitive humans relied on the hunting of food for survival, however since the agricultural revolution, the need for hunting has reduced majorly in most parts of the world.
Despite this, poaching and hunting still both remain an important part of culture and the economy, where ever in the world they occur. For example: animal products like, horn, ivory, bone, and teeth, are sold to people who use these materials to produce/make jewelry, and clothes. In some societies, such as Latin American and African, wildlife is poached for game meat. Another example of wildlife hunting/ poaching could be that among the Banyoro, Baganda and Batooro of West and Central Uganda, the King traditionally sits on a leopard skin, the associated beliefs with this custom include that many tribes in Congo believe that leopard skin is a symbol of magic. Some people also believe that animals also have medicinal values. For example, some Lendu in Eastern Congo believe that the lion’s liver cures skin diseases, and it is also can be used as a poison. Some animals are poached because people want to stop them from encroaching on farms, and poaching is also a sport for some people. Although poaching is mostly under control, the illegal poaching of many of animals is leading to mass extinction of some species of animals. One of the causes of the recent rise in poaching is the impact of China's economic boom. A report into the study of the ivory trade found that the number of ivory items on sale in key centers in southern China has more than doubled since 2004, with most traded illegally. These findings come amid reports of a dramatic rise in rhino poaching across Africa; there has been a drastic rise in the Rhino poaching across Africa. The price of rhino horn has soared in the Far East where it is used in alternative medicine as a cure for everything from nightmares to dysentery. In South Africa alone, where horn is worth more per gram than cocaine, the monitoring network "Traffic" reported that 333 rhinos were killed last year, and 193 in the first six months of this year. In 2007, only 13 rhinos were poached. |
Effects
Poaching has negative side effects that can have an effect on local communities, wildlife populations and the environment. There are many devastating effects on animals, with extinction the greatest threat to animals that are victims to poaching. In 2011 the IUNC (international Union for the Conservation of Nature) declared that the Western Black Rhinos were extinct, since that specific species is extinct the sub species of the black Rhino was poached instead. Poaching is more lucrative than other jobs available in the region; this is a tough reality faced by many people in these communities. There are also many effects that occur in local communities due to wildlife poaching. The poaching of animals can have a negative economic effect on the community's tourism industry, this can be a devastating effect for a community that relies on wildlife to attract tourists. Furthermore, poaching also has effects on the environment. An example is when the Northern American grey wolf was on the brink of extinction, which meant (since the elk had no natural predator) the elk population grew, and almost ate the aspen tree to extinction. Our ecosystems are extremely sensitive, and when a local community has economic challenges it can lead to poaching, which can then lead to the endangerment or even the extinction of another species.
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