Freedom to survive

The Hindu , Friday, June 03, 2016
Correspondent : VARSHA RAMANI
This World Environment Day, let’s spread the word on bringing an end to illegal wildlife trade. How and where do we start?

World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 to raise awareness about environmental issues. This year’s theme is ‘Zero Tolerance for Illegal Wildlife Trade’. What does wildlife trade mean?

Whenever people sell or exchange wild animals and plant resources, it is called wildlife trade. International trade of wildlife that does not threaten their survival is legal, and is protected by the United Nations Convention called CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Timber and seafood are the most important categories of wildlife trade. This is usually done to provide food, fuel, fodder, building materials and so on. But when done stealthily against local and international laws, it is termed as illegal wildlife trade. This is unsustainable and uncontrolled, and affects local ecosystems, often leading to the extinction of animals and plants.

Did you know that between 1970 and 2000, wildlife species declined by 40 per cent? The main reasons for this are habitat destruction and illegal wildlife trade.

Alarming growth

Illegal wildlife trade is big business and estimated to be worth millions of dollars and is increasing. For example, rhino poaching in South Africa alone has gone up from 13 in 2007 to 1,004 in 2013 — that is a rise of 7700 per cent!

You must have heard about the poaching of elephants for their ivory tusks, rhinos for their horns and tigers for their skins and bones — all of these are part of the illegal wildlife trade. Additional reasons include exotic pet trade, use in traditional medicines, exotic food meat such as shark fin etc.

Some of the illegal wildlife trade hotspots include China’s international borders, East/Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and eastern borders of the European Union. Corruption, weak laws and judicial systems and inadequate awareness compound this problem.

Calling attention

The UN declared June 5 as World Environment Day in 1972, and it was first celebrated in 1974 with the slogan ‘Only One Earth’.

The slogan this year is ‘Go Wild For Life’

It has a different global host country every year, and in 2016, the host is Angola.

The Giant Sable antelope, a critically endangered species, is found only in Angola. The image of its sweeping horns — the longest of any sable antelope — can be found on banknotes, stamps and even on football shirts of the national team.

India hosted the 2011 World Environment Day with the theme ‘Forests: Nature at Your Service’.

Pingu’s problems

Hello! I am Pingu the Indian pangolin. Never heard of a pangolin before? We are the only mammals with scales and are so unique that we have a mammal order all to ourselves called the Pholidata. We often roll ourselves into a tight ball when we are startled and that’s how we got our name from the Malay word penggulung meaning roller! Because of this, we have saved ourselves from predators like lions and leopards, but not from humans who simply pick us up! Today, we are known for being the most illegally-hunted mammals in the world.

Did you know that the Indian pangolin, an endangered species, is widely distributed in the plains and lower hills south of the Himalayas all the way to Kerala and Kanyakumari in south India? There are eight species of pangolins found in Asia and Africa, and all of us are in danger. Our meat is considered to be a delicacy and our scales are used in traditional medicines and even in fashion and jewellery! We hope that on this World Environment Day, our story will be heard.

Tiny’s Tales

Hello everybody, I am Tiny the Turtle. Did you know that turtles walked on earth more than 220 million years ago! But today, more than 62 per cent of us turtles and tortoises are listed as endangered. We might not last the next 50 years!

Do you know the difference between a turtle and tortoise? Turtles and tortoises are reptiles, but the main difference is habitat-based. Turtles spend most of their lives in water — either the ocean or freshwater. We rarely leave it except to come ashore to lay our eggs or bask in the sun. Tortoises mainly live on land and they are terrible swimmers. So, if you don’t know your turtle from your tortoise and accidentally put a tortoise in a lake, it might drown!

We are being killed for food, used in traditional medicines, and our homes are being destroyed or polluted with plastic bags. And unfortunately, we are being sold as exotic pets. Don’t you think it is unethical to keep us as pets? We are wild animals and need a variety of food and climatic conditions to survive. We are beneficial to the environment as we clean up water resources and purify the ecosystem, which will be threatened when you take us away from our natural habitats.

 
SOURCE : http://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/lets-spread-the-word-on-bringing-an-end-to-illegal-wildlife-trade/article8681453.ece
 


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