Ncsi 280 - the Black Rhino

Endangered Species

Christina Pankiw

Bryant & Stratton College

NCSI 280 Ecology

Julie Zhu

March 2, 2013

Abstract

When an oil spill occurs, it is more than just a financial loss for a company. The ecological and environmental damages are so vast, that years from now, the damage may still be seen. The BP Oil Spill of 2010 affected different ecosystems, food chains, and habitats. Although efforts have been made to clean up the spill, more still needs to be done. Holding companies financially responsible may not be enough to heal the environment, as the spills could be causing permanent damage to the fragile marine ecosystem as well as our environment.

The study of Ecology delves into the vast array of relationships that living organisms have with each other. At the forefront of this interdisciplinary field is the endangered species dilemma, primarily as it concerns the animal kingdom. Endangered species are those that have such small numbers that they are in immediate jeopardy of becoming extinct (Engler & Smith, 2013, p. 255). This paper seeks to provide insight into some of the overarching issues that contribute to the endangerment of animal species such as the Rhino. The primary problems that will be addressed are; loss of habitat, species exploitation, species disturbance and the lack of unified recovery efforts.

The simplicity of the problem can be explained by the most fundamental example that nearly any child could explain, Dinosaurs. As children we were mesmerized by the almost majestic, even dreamlike qualities of these once living, now extinct creatures. The startling reality is that many of the magnificent creatures of our animal kingdom that we have grown to know and love face the same grave misfortune of becoming a mythical creature that we only hear of but never see. Countless animal species are bombarded with a plethora of problems that contribute to their foreseeable demise, many of which are topics that are of primary importance to the ecology curriculum such as global warming, loss of habitat population control. Each of these concerns will be addressed with individual solutions that when viewed collectively provide a feasible proposition for combating societies endangered species dilemma.

The exploitation of endangered species is on the forefront of what threatens inevitable extinction of particular group. One of the most tragic and frankly horrific contributing factors to the endangerment of particular species is the illegal exploitation of animals for monetary gain. For instance, the recent revival of the rhino horn demand on the black market has caused a devastating drop in the population of rhinos. Statistics demonstrate that at the beginning of the 20th century there were 500,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia; in 1970 there were 70,000; today, there are fewer than 29,000 rhinos surviving in the wild (Rhino Population Figures, 2013, ¶ 2). At the peak of Rhino poaching, between 1970 and 1992 the population of black rhinos collapsed 96%. Statistics in this matter state that now 95% of all the rhinos in the world have now been killed (Rhino Population Figures, 2013, ¶ 3). The problem continues to ensue as it becomes a criminal enterprise much like that of the drug trade as many poachers, "exploit loopholes in big-game hunting rules" and get their hands on as many rhino horns as possible.

(http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/black-rhinoceros/)

Figure 1

The horn of the black Rhino can grow up to five feet long (Black Rhino, 2013, ¶ 5). Males use their horns to battle attackers while females use their horn to protect their young. The prominent horn for which rhinos are so well known are now worth more than gold (Gettleman, 2012, ¶ 3). Unlike society's war on drugs, the excessive poaching of animals that pushes the species to the edge of extinction is not a mainstream issue and thus lacks the necessary attention it deserves. In fact, the demand on the black market for endangered animal goods like the horn of a black rhino is higher than the demand for many illegal drugs. Ed Grace, a deputy chief with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service stated, "Get caught smuggling a kilo of cocaine, you will receive a very significant prison sentence, but with a kilogram of rhino horn, you may only get a fine (Gettleman, 2012, ¶ 7)." This statement is horrifying and something more needs to be done to help this endangered species.

The solution proposed to prevent the illegal exploitation of animals is to create a harsher and more uniform set of laws for these heinous crimes. Legislation is a vital way to control wildlife trade, but to be successful, laws need to be widely understood, accepted and practical to apply (Traffic, 2008, ¶ 18). This can be done with the help of organizations like the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network known as TRAFFIC. Organizations like TRAFFIC assist important decision makers, traders and others involved in wildlife trade in obtaining the necessary information about the environmental harm irresponsible trade can cause. (Traffic, 2008, ¶18). This