Poaching Human Impact Project

Poaching is when people kill animals to sell them on a black market or a local market. Some animals like monkeys, birds, and reptiles are caught and sold.  Most of the animals killed are only killed for a certain part of their body like a horn or tusk. This issue started when people realized how much money that these animals were worth. This is an issue because it is leading to the endangerment and extinction of some species. Most of the poaching is in Africa and North America where the animals are poached in their own habitat.

 The main organisms being affected are lions, rhinos, and elephants because they are the ones that are getting killed for their horns and tusks. It really affects the baby animals whose parents are killed because of poaching, leaving them alone in the wild. Poaching has gotten worse over time as poachers today make thousands of dollars off of one animal. Poaching has been illegal for hundreds of years, but during the late middle ages is when you could get arrested for poaching. 

A solution to this problem is to enforce the laws already in place or make new ones make poaching more difficult. Also, have people patrol the most popular places where poaching happens.  With more laws in place, it will make poaching even more difficult and some would give up instead of cheating through all the rules. With patrols on-site, poachers would be caught more and could be arrested. A group that already exists that is against poaching is the International Anti-Poaching Foundation. The IAPF is a non-profit organization that focuses on forming strategies to prevent poaching. They engage with communities and encourage research and development for new technologies in managing wildlife biodiversity.

This is the best solution because it will stop many poachers from continuing the deed of killing innocent animals. If everyone would help prevent poaching, poaching wouldn’t be a thing anymore. Poachers would be caught and many species wouldn’t be endangered or extinct. Although prevention would be painful at first, the hard work and dedication given would pay off and stop poaching forever. 3 simple ways that you can help are; Purchase only certified goods, buy eco-friendly products, and report unlawful trading of wildlife. If YOU do these things, you have done your part in saving species around the world.