Animal Poaching Research Paper

Words: 435
Pages: 2

Animal Poaching and the Effects Thereof Did you know that from 1979 to 1987 over 700,000 helpless elephants were poached? Poaching is the illegal hunting of animals. Animal poaching is extremely dangerous to the ecosystem. It shifts the balance. Poaching is destructive to the economy because it reduces tourism and legal hunting opportunities. Because elephants have been over-hunted, it is now illegal to hunt them at all.
Regrettably, elephants are becoming increasingly rare. This is mostly due to prohibited poaching. Elephants are poached, among other things, for their tusks, which are made of ivory. Ivory is versatile and unique in that it is easy to carve but can be more durable than some precious metals. Ivory is soft enough to allow for precise details. Yet, durable enough to last thousands of years. No other medium can achieve similar results. Also, elephant tusks have a particular shape that can be effectively carved into trinkets and statues. These are reasons why exquisite ivory is highly desired.
Additionally, people are sometimes attacked by elephants, so they will kill them in perceived self-defense. Elephants are also killed because they
…show more content…
Tourists pay African countries large sums of money to come and observe wild elephants. If elephants were extinctic, Africa would lose the money they would normally gain from the tourists. When elephants are poached, it damages the grassland wildlife balance and affects the ecosystem. Also, elephants find safety in numbers, so when they are poached, they lose that protection. Poachers are naturally drawn to the large matriarch of a herd due to her massive ivory tusks. But when the matriarch is killed, the herd loses the protection, guidance, and order that the matriarch would usually provide. Additionally, elephants are highly social animals and depend on each other for emotional and physical