Anti-Poach-Approach

Every month, 62 rhinos are killed in Africa due to poaching. This problem is expected to worsen in the future. Poaching is the illegal hunting of endangered animals. Rhinos, elephants, and pangolins are the most poached animals in Africa. The rhino's horn is used in Chinese medicine, elephant tusks are part of the illegal ivory trade, and pangolins are hunted for their scales and meat. Strict laws against poaching are not properly enforced, leading to a low arrest rate. Poaching affects the economy as tourists visit Africa to see wildlife. When animals are poached, people living nearby suffer financially and may resort to killing animals for bush meat. Eating poached animals can spread diseases to humans, such as Ebola and bird flu. Global Conservation Force is an organization working to stop poaching by sending rangers to catch poachers. They use proactive and presence control tactics. Spreading awareness and donating to anti-poaching organizations can help stop this issue Did you know in Africa, an average of 62 rhinos are killed every month due to poaching? And that number is only expected to rise in the coming years. To stop that, we need to start our anti-poach approach. Hi, I'm Ashlyn. I'm Gabby. I'm Devon. And I'm Isabella. We need to start our anti-poach approach, but first, we need to talk about what poaching is. Let's begin! Poaching is something that affects our world daily, but what exactly is poaching? Poaching is defined as the illegal killing and hunting of endangered animals, and there are several different animals that are poached for many reasons. Rhinos, elephants, and pangolins tend to be some of the most poached animals in Africa. Rhinos are poached for people to take their horns, elephants are poached for people to take their tusks, and pangolins are taken for both their meat and their scales. They are all killed for a few different reasons. The rhino's horns are taken and used in traditional Chinese medicine that, well, doesn't work. Elephant tusks are taken to be used as part of the illegal ivory trade, and finally, pangolin scales are taken to be used as traditional medicine along with their meat that is consumed as a delicacy. And around an average of three rhinos, ninety-six elephants, and three hundred pangolins are killed daily. That being the average number of these three animals for only a day, there will be a lot more deaths in just one year alone. So why exactly is this a problem, you might be asking? And that's exactly why we are going to talk about our anti-poach approach. Along with poaching to get something from the animal, people also poach to make money. According to savethemwithsound.org, one rhino horn can sell for between two thousand and twenty thousand US dollars, and it can depend on their rank in the group. There are more reasons than just that. One of the reasons is how non-strict the laws against it are. The laws are set in place and are not properly enforced, and because of that, not followed. According to the article, Trafficking Poached Ivory, which is made by National Geographic, it is said that around only one percent of people that poach animals in Africa are caught. Packages are not searched after transport, and none of the laws put in place against them are being followed. This is why people continue to poach, even though it is illegal. So how exactly does poaching affect us, the humans? Particularly in Africa, the main source of money is actually the tourists that come to visit them to see the wildlife. And well, with less wildlife around, less tourists will come, affecting the people living nearby. So the people living around will suffer financially if the animals continue to be poached? Yes, they tend to not have enough money to survive. These people will also at times kill animals and take them for bush meat, taking them to be eaten, essentially. While this type of poaching is not an organized crime, it still affects the wildlife greatly. But wait, that's not the only reason animals are being killed for meat. Panzellens in particular are killed partly for their scales. Their meat is actually eaten as a delicacy in different parts of Asia. Yes, and that leads us into another way that animals being killed affects us. Their meat that is eaten as a delicacy can spread diseases when eaten. Diseases? Like what? Well, there are many diseases, to list a few, Ebola, bird flu, and heart water disease. These are all sicknesses that have spread to people due to eating poached animals. These have spread particularly in parts of Asia, or where the animals are being eaten as bush meat in Africa, and these places are most likely having the animals beaten. So both money and diseases are hurting the humans themselves, and they don't have enough money to turn to bush meat, but the act of eating the animals is spreading these diseases to humans. And in some places, these animals that are being poached are eaten as a delicacy, not just because the people cannot buy food. Penguins are an example of an animal that have been mentioned before in this podcast. Penguins in particular are poached just so people can eat them, because they are seen as a delicacy. All of those things are definitely affecting us. But that leads us to the next question. How can we preserve the biodiversity of Africa? How can we stop poaching? Well, there are a few things that people can and are doing to stop the act of poaching. One organization in particular is currently working towards trying to stop it. That organization is called Global Conservation Force. You might be asking yourself, what exactly is this organization doing to stop poaching? Well, there are a few different things that they are trying. One way that they are helping to stop poaching is sending rangers out to different parts of Africa so that they can stop the poachers, hopefully before they kill any more animals. There are actually a few different types of poachers. Some that are hunting for money, some to get food, and some for some sort of organized crime. These rangers, of course, are not only focused on one type of poacher. If they are only focused on the people killing animals for bushmeat, this problem would never be solved. These people focus a lot on trying to stop the bigger groups of people that are trying to do the poaching. Their goal is to get to the root of some of the problem and hopefully bring some of the poaching numbers down. They have a few different tactics to try to stop the poachers. The first one is called a proactive approach. This method is essentially trying to make the poachers make more mistakes. If they make more mistakes, it will be easier to catch and they will get more poachers out of the game. The other way that they do this is called presence control. By sending rangers to a lot of different traffic spots, the poachers might get scared off. If they are scared away, that is at least one more day that the animals get to live or they might have died before the poacher bailed on the job. It is hard work to become a ranger, but there is a simpler way to be able to help. This organization in particular tends to go on trips to talk to groups of people a lot of times in schools and why not to let the younger generations know something is happening in the world. At these meetings, they spread the word and information about poaching. If more people listen, they will be able to raise up more of a voice. One way that you, their listener, can help with this is simply by donating to different organizations that are actively trying to stop poaching. This will help them be able to better stop the killings that are happening and can help stop this huge issue. Although poaching is currently affecting Africa in many different ways, there are approaches we can take to stop it. We can spread awareness through social media, merch, and in-person interactions. We can also create fundraisers or donate to existing charities that take an anti-poach approach. So, next time you make your eggs, scramble, or fry them, because poaching isn't an option anymore.