The Decline of the worlds animals

Too many people in the world, not enough room for animals.

We are killing them slowly.

eddie wrote:

If just with the example of the Asian & African Elephants:

Conservation status
According to the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Asian elephant is endangered. Though it is not known exactly how many Asian elephants remain, it is believed that the population is decreasing. The African elephant is considered vulnerable. Overall, its populations are increasing. According to the African Wildlife Foundation, there are around 470,000 African elephants roaming the globe.

And then there's the plight of: Rhinoceroses that lived 30 million years ago, as well as the evolution of today's five species.

White rhino

The white rhino recovered from near extinction as a species thanks to intensive conservation efforts. The latest population estimate is between 19,682 and 21,077 individuals; the vast majority live in a single country South Africa, which is currently expe

Black rhino

The smaller of the two African species, the black rhino is now critically endangered, with only between 5,042 and 5,455 individuals remaining in the wild. They are 'browsers' (eating trees, bushes and shrubs) with a specially-adapted upper lip that helps

Greater one-horned rhino

Greater one-horned rhinos are adapted to living close to bodies of water, in the floodplains and forests of India and Nepal. Don't be deceived by the armour plates: they are actually folds of skin

Sumatran rhino

The Sumatran rhino is the closest relative alive of the famous woolly rhinoceros that lived during the ice-ages. It is thought of as the most 'primitive' because of its hairy skin and other ancient characteristics
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It's sad and I'm well aware the we can't save every mammoth sized animal or even the teeny-tiniest that we might not be aware of right this minute...but to allow the continued poaching for their 'IVORY' and slaughter because the Japanese have always 'WHALED'...just seems ludicrous to me!

But - BUT...because there are organizations that are trying to help the local tribes live cohesively with their marauding elephants; and the methods to keep them out of their planted fields have varied and often put both mankind & the elephants in extreme danger and often death from either or occurs. 
But on the upshot;

The human – wildlife conflict in communities near wildlife parks and reserve is an ever-present reality in the case of Elephants – both Savannah and Forest species can do a lot of damage  to nearby fields filled with crops and to the gardens of those living near the parks.  This conflict of wildlife and people can turn to anger in the local communities and lead to poaching in order to recover their losses and the losses are  not small.
Crops such as soy bean, maize, pineapple, peanuts, cotton, bananas have been lost to the Elephants – the struggle between man and beast was being won by the Elephants – all efforts to stop their nightly onslaught were futile but one – fences made of bees – yes you read right – fences made of bees -the Bee  Fences keep Elephants from the Crops and Villages

Many things had been tried but only one seems to be effective – Bees.  The tiny Bumble Bee frightens the mighty Pachyderm – the African Elephant – even the sound of bees alone will frighten them away– all over Africa Bee Fences are being erected to keep Elephants from Human Settlements – saving the crops of villagers and allowing them to make a living and there is an added blessing from having fences made of bees – income from the honey of the bees going to the local community.
http://kabiza.com/kabiza-wilderness-safaris/bee-fences-keep-elephants-from-the-crops-and-villages/

This ought to tickle WYWolfie's funny bone and make him proud that the method of 'Beekeeping' is not only a DUAL PURPOSE idea...but now it's a TRIPLE Method for pollination/honey making/scaring away those huge beasties that would destroy the crops.   



And in fact some regions that haven't been able to establish those 'Bee Fence Lines' / Bee keeping --- they've chose some bright 'YELLOW' rags tied to wire fencing; seems the mighty elephant has an aversion to 'YELLOW'...like yellow = stingers and bad shit flying up the trunk!

nicko wrote:Too many people in the world, not enough room for animals.

Even considering the human overpopulation, what humans there are still cause a lot more damage than necessary...

Let's consider :

*  Excessive rates of deforestation in Africa, India, China, and Queensland currently
*  Former rates of deforestation in USA and Australia
*  Unnecessary clearing in Brazil for agricultural use
*  Several deserts in Africa were actually man-made !
*  "Long line" and gill-netting fishing, feeding giant factory ships
*  Animals killed for sport -- especially in Africa and North America
*  Bad farming practices still used in many places
*  Ill-considerd "Soldier Settler" schemes after WW1 caused the 'Dust Bowl' droughts and dust storms in the USA, Canada and Australia during the 1920s
*   Open Cut and 'Strip mining' practices
*   Animals killed for "Aphrodisiacs" and Traditional medicines
*   Wild animals killed for furs and hides
*   Japanese whaling
*   Land lost to "surban sprawl" and runaway pollution levels...