The largest tropical rainforest in the world, the Amazon, is being rapidly destroyed. The reasons are many, and little is being done to prevent this. The use of chemical defoliants and the attempt of building a road through the Amazon has done horrific damage to the rainforest. Logging is a part of the reckless destruction of the beautiful rainforest. Cattle ranching contributes greatly to the demise of the amazonian rainforest.
We only have five species remaining in the world today, and all of them are endangered. The Southern white rhinos were once found in large numbers across Southern Africa. They have horns and thick skin to protect themselves against predators like the lion and the hyena. But today, their biggest threat and enemy, is the human. This problem has become more public in the last two years and has drawn a lot of attention, which has resulted in international documentaries trying to raise awareness and support for these majestic creatures.
Geography 101 13 July 2013 The Deforestation of the Amazon The deforestation of the Amazon is going to have catastrophic consequences. The legal and illegal results of chopping down trees in this great wetland, has dire consequences that our generation may not suffer but future generations will. “The Amazon is a vast region that spans across eight rapidly developing countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, an overseas territory of France. The landscape contains: one in ten known species on Earth; 1.4 billion acres of dense forests, half of the planet's remaining tropical forests; 4,100 miles of winding rivers, 2.6 million square miles in the Amazon basin, about 40 percent of South America” (“Amazon”). So you ask, why does it matter if we chop down a few trees?
“Must” is when male elephant is sexually active and extremely violent, so it is dangerous for it to be around people. The elephant does eventually kill a man in the street. The man’s mangled body lay in the mud with his back skinned off. “The friction of the great beast's foot had stripped the skin from his back as neatly as one skins a rabbit.”(Orwell). The danger this elephant brought to the people was evident.
BRIEFING MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY THROUGH: E – Under Secretary Hormats FROM: OES – Assistant Secretary Jones SUBJECT: International Trade in Ivory The primary threats to African elephants as a species are loss of habitat and human predation. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), hunting for ivory and meat historically has had the greatest impact on elephant populations in Africa. However, the IUCN believes that habitat loss and fragmentation may now be a greater threat than predation, as human settlements expand and international trade in ivory has been restricted. The African elephant is listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN’s Red List of endangered species (the third highest level of risk). The IUCN estimates that about two thirds of Africa’s elephant populations are growing and about one third are in decline.
Due to aggressive poaching operations in South Africa over the past five years, the species of the Rhinoceros has radically grown to become threatened to being critically endangered. I am extremely passionate about all animals and the conservation of them on this planet. More specifically the Rhino’s and the threat at which they have come under in the more recent years as poaching continues to become more and more of a problem in the Eastern hemisphere. There are five species of Rhinos, two of which are African and three that are Asian. The African species are the white and black Rhinos and the Asian Rhinos include the Indian, Javan, and the Sumatran Rhino (1).
There is a high demand for many different resources from the Congo Basin, which poses many threats on Gorilla’s and all other wildlife there. By examining the genetic similarities between humans and gorillas, the symbolism associated with them, and the importance of gorilla studies for our gains in evolutionary and biological knowledge, we can appreciate gorillas as a whole and emphasize the importance of putting our utmost efforts into their conservation. The gorilla species is often associated with the aggressive, man-eating “King Kong” stereotype that has been embraced by Hollywood since the 1900’s. This stereotype originated when hunters returned from Africa and fabricated stories of these so-called ferocious beasts (S. Foskett, 2003). In reality, gorillas are gentle, calm species despite
Effects of Poaching in Africa Poaching is a worldwide catastrophe that not only affects the animals being poached but also the environment and the people around them. Poaching is the illegal over-exploitation of animals and the illegal trading and selling of them wither it be killing them for a part or selling them whole. Africa for example is a continent in which its animals and people that have been strongly affected by poaching. Poaching has deeply affected Africa by changing its economy, the biodiversity of its animals and morphed by CITES reaction to help prevent it. All throughout Africa the economy is slowly and rapidly by the effects of poaching.
Leopold II is known for being the sole founder and owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken by him ("Leopold II of Belgium"). He is solely responsible for the killing of thousands of Congolese people, the main point in time in which he did this was that of when he tried to extract rubber and ivory thus requiring forced labour, which is “employment against their will by the threat of destitution, detention, violence (including death), or other extreme hardship to themselves, or to members of their families” ("Forced Labour"). The mineral sources that Leopold found in the Congo were also of great importance in his decision of getting them any way that he could. Leopold would have his men go to cities and hold people hostage until his rubber quota or ivory quotas were met thus giving him what he wanted. He was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people yet his good deeds cover up his bad deeds, which is idiotic.
A movie called Blood Diamond that shows the bloody story behind the “precious stones” in Africa. According to the messy situation in Africa, there are two types of armies due to the anarchy: the one is the Government Army and the other one is the Revolution Army (Campino). For terrorist organizations, diamonds are viewed as an ideal currency, due to the traditional closed nature of the diamond industry. They use diamonds to trade with buyers to get weapons and equipment. The way they get the diamonds is by slaughtering villages and capturing young men to excavate diamonds.