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MiaChung
Ms.Agar
EnglishIIHonors
22March2016
HereToday,GoneTomorrow
A baby elephant lays in the hot scorching sun of Tanzania next to his mother where
oozing blood travels its way out from where her tusks once were. Many animals, not only
elephants, experience this epidemic issue known as poaching. In this scenario, animals are
brutally murdered for food and medicine, however themainreasonisfor money.Despiteefforts
being made to reduce poaching around the world, specifically in Africa, it is still an
exponentiallygrowingproblemthataffectstheenvironmentandmanypeoplearoundtheworld.
There are many different types of poaching, as well as many different countries it takes
place in. Many of the animals in Africa are on the endangered species list and are killed for
money, although it is also important to know not all poachers kill for profit. Doris Lin defines
poaching as the illegal taking of wildlife, in violation of local, state, federal or international
law (Lin). Some countries, like Africa, have specific laws against poaching, while other
countries, like the United States, have hunting seasons for particular animals. Depending on
where people live, there are restricted huntingseasonsthatmakeitlegalor illegaltokillspecific
animals. A prime example of poaching is whendeerarehuntedoutofseason.There isadefinite
difference between poaching and hunting. Hunting is whensomeonekillsduringseasonwithout
any laws to abide by, while poaching is when people illegally killanddisregardthelaw.People
dont understand overruling a law that tells when or when it isnt acceptable to huntcanleadto

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fines, charges, or even arrests. Many of these people are classified as subsistence poachers.
Subsistence poachers target with low technology to kill directly for food or for money to buy
food (Wardlow). The majority of these poachers are in poverty andareinneedoffoodforbasic
survival. Although there is no acceptable reason for poaching, subsistence poaching is more
understandable. On the other hand, commercial poachers operatethroughorganizedgroupswith
advancedtechnology forrareanimalstomakemoney(Wardlow).Commercialpoachingisaway
for businesses to make a profit instead ofkillingtofeedtheirfamilieslikesubsistencepoaching.
Most commercial poachers sell their goods, such as the animals fur, or keep them as trophies.
People in Africa demand animals such as tigers, elephants, and rhinos, for medical reasons,
causing thecommercialpoachingbusinesstoskyrocket.Aslongaspoacherscontinuetogetpaid
tokilltheseanimals,theywontcarewhethertheanimalgoesextinctornot.
Poaching in places like Africa have the highest effect on the animals themselves. As
many as 100 million animals are illegally killed each year (Koons). These animals didnt start
out on the endangered list, but because of the poaching business, they begin to fall under that
category. The two most common animals poached are located in Africa and are their native
elephant and rhino. Many species such as thetiger,rhino,andelephantdontprocreateasfastas
they are killed causing them to become endangeredandeventuallyextinct.Therhinogivesbirth
only every two to three years(Shea11).Elephantsandrhinosaremurderedfortheirtuskswhich
is made of ivory. Ivory is a very valuable resource and can be used for traditional medicines.
Elephants need their tusks. They use them to dig into the ground for roots to eat and dig for
water. They also use them to defend themselves or their families (Shea 28). Poachers dont
realize that by leaving theanimalsalivecanactuallyharmtheanimalmorethanjustkillingitoff

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with one shot. Poachers dont waste money on ammunitionto killananimal,butinsteadjustcut
off their horn or tusks. This leaves the animal to bleed to death or die from an infected wound.
Withoutessentialbodyparts,thesespecieslivesaremadeevenharder.
Catching commercial poachers is like tryingtofindaneedleinahaystack.Thesealready
wealthy poachers travel to faraway places, making them difficult to catch as they travelquickly
and swiftly to complete their job (Shea). Countries are making attempts to put an end to
poaching by making laws that limit the number of animals that can be hunted or killed, but
making laws isnt the only solution to prevent poaching. If people stop buying inventory from
poachers, the poachers will gradually learn that this method of making money isineffective.To
help subsistence poachers, alternative ways of retrieving food can be made aware to these
poachers. One of these alternatives, Stop Hunger Now, is comprised of people who come
together to help package meals from around the globe, even at Mooresville High School, North
Carolina. Every year Mooresville holds a day where the students and staff, who helped raise
money, package meals for the people in need. There are a variety of different solutionsthatcan
help put an end to poaching, which will protect the existence of species around the globe, and
insureabetterfuturefortheecosystemsoftheEarth.
Poaching is a horrific matter that has had a significant impact on countries and the
animals themselves. Animals are brutally murdered and left to die for the basic survival or
businesses of other people. No matter what the cause, poaching will continue to haveanimpact
on the world. Everyone needs to learn about this issue because it continues to affect the
environment and animals around the world. Without the intervention of organizations and

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involvement of other people, this problem will continue to grow, eventually puttingendangered
animalsontheextinctionlist.

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WorksCited
Koons,RobertW."WildlifeLandTrust:AsManyasOnehundredMillionAnimalsAreIllegally
KilledEachYear."PSALibrary.NewBroadcastNetwork,n.d.Web.15Mar.2016.
Lin,Doris."WhatIsPoaching?"About.comNews&Issues.N.p.,24Nov.2014.Web.15Mar.
2016.
Shea,Nicole.
PoachingandIllegalTrade
.NewYork,NY:GarethStevensPub.,2014.Web.
Wardlow,Tisha."TheManyFacesofPoaching."FightforRhinos.N.p.,11Mar.2014.Web.15
Mar.2016.

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MiaChung
KelseyAgar
EnglishII
22March2016
HereToday,GoneTomorrow

Thesis:Despiteeffortsbeingmadetoreducepoachingaroundtheworld,specificallyAfrica,its
stillanexponentiallygrowingproblemthataffectstheenvironmentandmanypeoplearoundthe
world.

I.

Poaching
A. Definition,Types,Description
B. Statistics
C. Cause

II.WhosAffected
A. Statistics
B. Countries/Endangered
C. Laws
IV.Help
A. Community