This Is Why Animals Need Our Help

 

The BBC has reported today that a record number of ivory has been seized this year, over 23 tons worth. The article states that represents 2,500 dead elephants. Apparently, several Asian countries have become enamored with products made with ivory and so the poaching of these giant mammals has increased. This is a blow to an animal genus already struggling to avoid extinction.

Someone needs to educate the offending countries. Now they are after an elephants' ivory tusks. They also love shark fins and whale oil. They don't use the whole animal, just one part. Many of these animals (elephants and whales definitely) are protected by international law. Yet the poaching continues. If it weren't for the likes of people such as Paul Watson, many of these animals that are protected would not have any advocates or real, physical protection. There are laws, but the enforcement is left up to individual nations, many of which do not want to fund such things.

Biodiversity is one of Earth's greatest assets. However, human activities continue to lower that biodiversity. Imagine a world without the mighty elephant or the magnificent whale. What would your children look at awe in when they went to the zoo? If there were no lions, or tigers, or bears (oh my!) how do you think future generations would look at us? All of these animals are considered threatened or endangered species. We would be appalled at our grandparents had they exterminated the last of the lions or the elephants. We would also have to deal with the problems (such as too many grazing animals) that would accompany such a loss. These animals we think of because they are big, on TV, and cause such amazement and fascination. Many more plants and animals are being driven to extinction every year and we don't even care to notice.

International law designed to protect Earth's biodiversity needs more teeth in it. A fund needs to be created to give each nation the money it needs to enforce such laws. Nations also must be held accountable if they are not doing their part in helping to curb the loss of plant and animal species. If they are turning a blind eye, or even encouraging such activities, they should lose all funding from the U.N. Most of all, we need to work on educating the whole world on what the loss of species means. It must be a program that has no borders and specializes in helping those from developing and underdeveloped nations understand the importance in protecting and the biological consequences that will arise if poaching a threatened or endangered species continues. We also need more people like Paul Watson, who are willing to stand up against those who hold no regard for nature. Until nations step up to the plate to do their part, these ecological vigilantes are the last stand between death and survival for many animal species. We will be awfully angry with ourselves if we allow the elephant to go extinct, so let's band together to prevent that.