It’s Not Just Cecil: Here Are 3 Other Vulnerable Species Threatened By Poaching

The internet is awash with heartbreak after learning that Cecil, one of Zimbabwe’s most well-known and well-loved lions, was shot and killed by an American hunter this month.

The 13-year old African lion, who sported an iconic black mane and a GPS collar, was reportedly lured out of his sanctuary in Hwange National Park, a protected area where visitors ofter gathered to observe him. After team of hunters tracked Cecil for two days, he was allegedly shot by a man from Minnesota — a dentist named Walter J. Palmer, who reportedly paid $54,000 for the hunt, which he believed to be legal. Cecil was then beheaded, and “his corpse was left to rot in the sun.”

Cecil’s death and the resulting outrage appear unprecedented. But the circumstances of his death are far from unique. Across Africa and Asia, endangered and vulnerable animals are illegally hunted — either for the goods their bodies provide, or, like Cecil, purely for sport.

In all these cases, the impacts stretch beyond the killing of one animal. In Cecil’s case, the International Fund for Animal Welfare noted that was the dominant male in his pride. That may cause a ripple effect, the organization said, “Because he no longer can protect his pride from rogue lions … meaning, in all reality, these hunters’ actions may lead to the deaths of many African lions, which are a species threatened with extinction.”

So, with Cecil and African lions in mind, here are three vulnerable species threatened further by poaching.

African Rhinos
[image error]

In this photo taken Monday, Oct. 13, 2014, a white Rhino from Kube Yini Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal is captured and moved to a truck after its partner was killed by poachers near the town of Hluhluwe, South Africa.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Robin Clark

African rhinos, both black and white, are hunted prolifically both for their horns and for the thrill. Some of this hunting is legal, with proceeds going back to conservation efforts. In fact, the U.S. government recently approved two American citizens’ requests to bring home the black rhinos they killed in Namibia.

Still, much of the hunting of white and black African rhinos is not legal. “The African rhino is under serious threat from poachers who have intensified their search of rhino for their horns since 2007, driven by growing market demands in Asia,” says Joseph Okori, the head of the World Wildlife Fund’s African Rhino Program, on the WWF website.

According to National Geographic, there are about 4,000 to 5,000 black rhinos left in the world, a huge decrease from the approximate 70,000 in the 1960s. The WWF says that even though recent conservation efforts have been successful, the continent is still losing hundreds of rhinos each year to poaching. “Continued poaching could see Africa’s rhinos slide over the brink, into extinction,” the organization states.

African Elephants
[image error]

In this Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 photo, an activist inspects one of two dead Sumatran elephants allegedly snared and killed by poachers for their tusks, in Tebo district of Jambi province on Sumatra island, Indonesia.

CREDIT: AP Photo

Illegal poaching is a “crisis” for African elephants, according to a recent report in the Guardian. Despite a 46-country treaty to control imports of illegal ivory, poachers have killed 100,000 African elephants in just three years, according to a recent study. Poaching is also problem for Asian elephants, though less so, as only the male species have tusks.

Though illegal poaching is one of the largest problems facing the African elephant, the species is also subject to trophy hunting by wealthy people. Like African lions and white rhinos, African elephants are allowed to be hunted for a price, a portion of which is supposed to go to conservation efforts. But as National Geographic has pointed out, some critics say that the legally hunted animals can find their way into the black market, and that the funds that are supposed to be used for conservation sometimes are co-opted by corruption.

The WWF estimates that if conservation action “is not forthcoming, elephants may become locally extinct in some parts of Africa within 50 years.” The Obama administration recently restricted ivory trade into the U.S. to combat the problem.

Pangolins
[image error]

Two rescued pangolins sit in a basket during a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, June 7, 2012. Thai customs rescued 110 pangolins worth about $35,500 that they say were to be sold outside the country as exotic food.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

IFL Science has called the pangolin “The world’s most-traded, least-known mammal … poached 82 times more than rhinos and a whopping 1,000 times more than tigers.” Indeed, the armadillo-like animal is is believed to be the most trafficked animal in the world. As ThinkProgress has pointed out in the past, they are killed because of the widespread belief that they have powerful medical benefits in Traditional Chinese Medicine, though there exists no medical evidence supporting these beliefs.

It’s unknown how many pangolins are left in the world, but scientists say they are shrinking fast due to intense illegal poaching. As CNN reported, the most conservative estimates are that 10,000 pangolins are trafficked illegally each year — though one advocacy group estimates those numbers could be anywhere from 116,990 to 233,980 per year.

Tags

CecilCecil The LionelephantsEndangered SpeciesIllegal HuntingPoachingRhinos

The post It’s Not Just Cecil: Here Are 3 Other Vulnerable Species Threatened By Poaching appeared first on ThinkProgress.