Beautiful African Animals Safaris: Wildlife of Africa: Poaching Endangered animals under the satellite

Thursday, 26 July 2012

Wildlife of Africa: Poaching Endangered animals under the satellite

Elephants are poached for their beautiful horns. Protection is
always needed to help baby elephants Pic by Imaginative Traveller

Throughout the beautiful African countries with its amazing wildlife, poaching of animals is not something new. If poachers were killing or hunting animals for trade, there would be no single animal left in the beautiful African continent apart from its rich culture. Despite the end of slave trade and the need for raw material for the European industries the legacy still remains for the need of these once precious animals in different parts of the world and hence the destruction of many wildlife habitat just to fulfill the needs and wants of the animal and body parts enthusiast.

Norman Carr devoted his years of his life to the ‘Save the Rhino’
campaign aimed at eradicating the rampant poaching of the
Valley’s rhinoceros population.

How do people talk of animal rights and the protection of endangered animal species in their backyard when the plight of the local people is already at stake after endless civil wars in many of the countries of Africa where all the beautiful wildlife come into contact with people running away from the onslaught of a civil war? What is the current protection of wildlife all over Africa? Just a few amazing facts about elephant ivory is that 23 tones of elephant ivory as far as the number of elephants poached lingers to around 2,500 elephants.

While some countries have made headways in the animal protection and survival of the African elephant, the white and black rhino and many other endangered animal species of Africa the inadequate wildlife and animal protection efforts by many of these beautiful African countries where tourism is or could be a source of foreign exchange is not good enough and thereby making the chances for porches to parch elephants, lions, hippopotamus, small animals apes and any animals which is of value with little deterrence.

Do you blame the civil wars for the endless wave of poaching, deforestation and destruction of the beautiful natural habitat with all its animal diversity in many of the African rainforest and the beautiful African deserts where the few pockets of animals existing are on the verge of being parched to extinction? Are all the resources being pumped up to these forsaken animal sanctuaries really prepared to be what they need to portray as safe heavens for all the beautiful flora and fauna found in these habitats. Is the local person who has been living with these animals deterred from entering these forest day and day out as far as his tradition tells him? People get puzzled due to proper information and communication which becomes had to come by as far as conservation and protection of endangered animal species is concerned.

If parching was a way of life according to the natives for the sake of food shelter and clothing, whey doesn’t it ring a bell that the animals in the different protected animal habitat are protected by law and people who parch these animals are liable to prosecution. Why not assume that the “hand the law” can not penetrate the thick rich rainforest, the beautiful vast Savannah lands and the amazing African deserts on time to catch the poachers who might be far gone and resting on the beach in a different continent awaiting to hear on the news statements like these:

“February 17, 2012. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cameroon: 200 Elephants Killed in Park”

“Feb 17, 2012. By Tansa Musa. YAOUNDE. Poachers kill 200 elephants in Cameroon killing spree. (Reuters) - Poachers have killed more than 200 elephants in Cameroon in just six weeks, in a "massacre" fuelled by Asian demand for ivory.”

“July 05, 2012. Jeremy Hance. mongabay.com Poacher known as 'Morgan' behind devastating massacre at Okapi Wildlife Reserve”

“July 23, 2012. Jerome Starkey, Africa Correspondent. The Times

Six people killed as poachers raid okapi refuge”

“April 21, 2012. BBC News Africa. Kenya rangers shoot dead five suspected poachers. Wildlife rangers have shot dead five suspected ivory poachers during a gun battle in western Kenya.”

“July 10, 2012 By Rashme Sehgal Poachers active in flood-hit parks”

“April 21, 2012. By PETER MWAI. Daily Nation. Five suspected poachers gunned down in Pokot”

“July 26, 2012. Sohrab Hossain, Patuakhali . Bangladesh. The Daily Star

Ten thousand deer poached every year: Survey”

“17 JULY 2012. FRANCE 24. 281 rhinos killed by poachers in S. Africa this year. AFP - Poachers in South Africa have killed 281 rhinos so far this year, with the world-famous Kruger National Park accounting for over half the killings, authorities said Tuesday.”

“JULY 14, 2012. RAPHAEL MWADIME, THE STAR (NAIROBI), Kenya: Poachers Kill an Elephant in Tsavo”

While poachers are killing around 100 elephants a year in Kenya and at the same time, and you hear on the news that poachers kill 200 elephants in Cameroon killing spree you definitely come to know that something is being done about poaching. Its either the culprits are being brought into books or vanish in thin air. For the poachers who meet with the law enforcement agencies, lives are always lost while fighting these poachers and as most of these poaching activities are always operating in increasingly sophisticated gangs.

While some poachers are just the common people who use the primitive weapons to hunt these beautiful animals, the diet of bush meat in many of the West African countries has a lot to do with the increased poaching as well.

Beautiful african animals of

African savannah pic by Jane Lurie

If people blame the East for the increased use and consumption of many animal body parts the African culture of bush meat is a widespread practice which is and has been threatening many endangered and rare animal species of the rainforest including chimpanzees, gorillas, forest elephants, antelopes, deer, monkeys and birds.

Bush meat is one of the biggest threats to many animals not only in West Africa but in central Africa and some parts of South Africa as well. The poaching of wild animals for the sake of meat is not only a common act in Africa. According to The Daily Star of Bangladesh “Ten thousand deer are poached every year. When we go back to basics the protein content which is needed to feed the growing population with little buying power creates a lucrative market for those who can have access to these beautiful forests where these African animals large and medium-sized animals are vanishing from regions in a trend dubbed by biologists the 'empty forest syndrome'. Whether it’s the ground pangolin or the beautiful okapi in Africa or the tasty frogs and snails in Europe, a big number of these popularly consumed animal species are also becoming threatened.

Roads established and maintained by logging concessions have intensified hunting by providing hunters greater access to relatively unexploited populations of forest wildlife and by lowering hunters' costs to transport bush meat to market

The ivory trade and other animal body parts is one of the world’s largest wildlife trade, you can blame the Pygmies, the Maasai morans, the local medicine men or the bush men who live in these animal habitat as they have a good of knowledge about the beautiful wildlife found in many of these unprotected animal habitats for killing or hunting these animals for food but at the same time when their lives it as stake these local people are victims of circumstances and are sometimes hired as hunting guides and the results are as good as a few dollars worth in the pocket and for the rest of the world, its another endangered animal becoming extinct.

At the same time these tribes or local people who have been living in these animal habitat while adopting to chance as a result of overgrazing or the general development and needs of the locals, when it comes to farming as a new way of life, deforestation and clearing of these animal habitat and breeding grounds always close the migratory routs thereby making these wild animals even prone to attacks and to be a danger to the local as well. While in may African countries the chances of being compensated for a loss of life or property due to a dangerous wild animal attack are pain staking the local man to look for alternatives with many uncertainties from a place where he had been there from his great grand fathers.

Even if poaching of wild animals is to be stopped just like any other crime or organized crime in the society efforts have to be made whether engaging the African countries and the Asian countries which face the same fate in terms of poaching but at the same time man being a social animal, whether in a civil society or in the west, circumstances such as natural calamities and unwanted civil wars many animals both endangered and near endangered animals are either looted from zoos, animal sanctuaries and animal reserves as well. People tend to take opportunities like these and for those who are trigger happy end up killing elephants, hippos, apes, primates the big cats and other crawling and moving animals or wildlife in these habitats.

Why was there a big outcry during the proposed construction of the Serengeti highway? Some of the basic reasons as many of the African countries face and the world at large are that when people construct many of these roads which pass through forests or national parks, the onset of construction of logging roads, whether in the Mountains of the Moon or the slopes of Mount Kenya always open these interior wildlife rich forest areas to exploitation by poachers. The cheap and local poaching weapons with abundant wildlife are just the perfect conditions for poaching. With no one to man these protected forests and animal heavens poachers have no problems crossing national boundaries so long as the demand for wildlife meat or animal parts is there.

As the world is increasingly becoming aware about poaching and the devastation it does to the environment, the animals left behind and to the general outlook of the country, there are a few good men and women who have managed to bring this to the world community.

Despite the fact that something is being done about the ivory poaching in Africa, other animals which face the same fate are also included in many of these grants that have been provided technical and financial assistance. On the other hand the effort being made always face obstacles in the implementation of the real protection of animals. With vested interest in many of the funds being given with little ongoing support for implementation some of these projects just stagnate and do not prove to be fruitful. On the other hand well wishers make symbolic animal adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support a trend which has been inspiring many people ranging from movie stars and other prominent people in many parts of the world. Many people have visited these animal sanctuaries in their natural habitat and have felt in love with them. Because they are not able to take the animals away from their natural habitat, the money they put helps in the protection of these animals while at the same time other animals can also be take care of.

In Africa and the world at large, the poaching of endangered species whether in the protected animal habitat, in the zoo or in your backyard is a serious threat to the world’s biodiversity. In order to help save the wildlife of Africa and the rest of the world, good communication education and information has to be shared. The locals have to be involved in many of these grassroots projects. Whether is a national park or protected animal areas, improved management of these protected areas is just a milestone to this fight of wildlife of Africa: Poaching Endangered animals under the satellite with the latest anti-poaching technology to catch those responsible local and international levels of cooperation with law enforcement agencies, such as the police, customs and the judiciary, to tackle the taming of the worlds forest with all its beautiful animals flora and fauna.

"What do you think should be the headlines in the newspaper in the near distant future?"

“December 20, 2012. Africa. Bush meat banned in countries of Africa”

“November 19, 2013. Asian. Scientist discover that elephant ivory and rhino horns do not cure cancer”

“October 18, 2014. World News. All locals have been given the power to protect and give full rights to all animals”

Would this be good news or one’s man meat is another mans poison? Let’s make this earth a better place. Animals are part of us as we are part of them and we all need to share this earth in peace.

The killing of these animals will only stop if we stop buying their products

Let’s love all animals in order to save all