More than 52% of the worlds wildlife has been wiped out of existence in only the last 40 years.

The extinction of animals happens because of different reasons. Some of these reasons are; deforestation, pollution, climate change & poaching which includes Illegal hunting, capturing, and killing of wildlife animals.

One of main reasons is wildlife trade. But what is wildlife trade?

There is a legal practice of trading animals to conserve and repopulate the species and the selling of plants. But there is also illegal wildlife trade. This is an illegal practice of trading animals in order to make personal profit out of it. Sadly in most cases the animals are harmed and even killed for their body parts. Not to mention did you know there are only 2 female white rhinos left on earth? Rhinos are going extinct because of poaching for their horns. Their horns are being cut off of them while they are still alive.

This also happens with elephants and their tusks. Poachers cut the whole head off only for their tusks. Elephants are very intelligent animals and are also considered the be the one of the world’s most empathetic species. They even mourn their death family members and go back to where they have died. Baby elephants that lose their mother also have a really high chance to die of depression or loneliness. Did you know that it is believed that 95% of the elephant population have been killed in the last 100 years.

You may think how is this still happening even when its illegal? A few reasons are; that the laws are not strict enough to prohibit the wildlife trade. A lot of illegal traders and poachers get away with what they do. Also has the wildlife trade become very complicated. Illegal items can further end up in legal markets. Other reasons are money and medicine  that don’t have any scientific evidence of working. About 23 billion dollars are made from wildlife trade per year.

Wildlife animals are as well used for entertainment like; lion cub petting, dolphin shows, circuses or swimming with elephants. I am not going to lie, swimming with elephants or riding one was on my bucket list and probably also on yours. What you don’t know is what happens behind the scenes. When taming the baby they call this phajaan. This means crushing the spirit. Baby elephants are taken away from their mothers at a very young age. The elephants are tied to a tree with chains or put in a small cage where they can’t move. They are beaten into submission with pierced hooks, while starved and deprived of sleep for many days. When they become older the torture doesn’t stop. To motivate the animals to work and obey the humans they still get stabbed with the hooks. And did you know that their spines can’t handle the weight of a human being. This causes the elephant even more harm.

Wildlife poaching and wildlife trade is also really bad for the ecosystem which is indirectly bad for us. The natural ecosystem can’t be replaced in any way by the humans. If some wild animals are absent from between, the ecosystem could collapse and so will the earth. Further can diseases be transmitted from animals to humans which can be deadly. Some examples are HIV, SARS, Ebola and now also Covid-19. In july 2020 came a ban for wildlife trade in Vietnam to reduce the risk of new pandemics, but this is not enough.

I know I know, these are just many more sad stories. You probably want to know what we need to do to stop this awful wildlife trade and how to protect the animals at all cost. These animals are beautiful and deserve more love.

You can help by for example only buying organic clothes or only adopting eco-friendly animals like dogs and cats. Before you buy make up or other products, look if this product was tested on an animal. Eat only sustainable seafood and if you can; try to include vegan recipes in your diet. Also sign wildlife friendly petitions. there is for example a petition that goes to G20. The 'Group of 20' is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European union. They seek to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any organization. They could make wildlife trade 100% illegal and make the laws more strict for people that don’t abide by the laws of illegal wildlife trade.

Do your part and make the world better again.