Dear Next President,

About every 15 minutes an elephant is slaughtered and poached. Poaching is an illegal crime of hunting and killing animals that shouldn’t be killed, and it needs to be stopped. You are most likely already informed about poaching happening in the world, but nothing is being done to stop it. I have always loved animals growing up and I still do. The animals are living breathing creatures just like us, so why is it okay to kill them and use their fur or tusks for something else? It isn’t, and that is why we need your help.

The animals in the world are being killed off one by one, and according to The Huffington Post, elephants will become extinct in 2020 if the poachers aren’t stopped. With no elephants, there will be no trees. Forest Ecology and Management said that trees rely on elephants to distribute their seeds and grow more of them. If the poaching continues and elephants are killed to extinction, there will be very few trees, throwing off the whole environment. Although former presidents have tried to stop it, it is still going on.

The reason for poaching is money, and people who have that thirst to be rich will do anything. The poachers and people buying from the poachers want money, so they kill off beautiful species of animals. Poaching can also help people out of poverty, but is it really worth killing thousands of animals? The price for ivory on the Black Market, which is an illegal trade system, is $1,500 dollars which can encourage poachers who are poor to keep killing animals and selling the products. If all the animals do go extinct, what are poachers going to go for next? They could kill many more animals and wipe out a whole population. They could start other animals that are important to the environment. We need to stop it before it becomes out of hand.

The laws need to be stricter and the punishments need to be crueler.One of the problems is that the poachers who are killing the animals are not getting charged for it, and they keep killing. Poachers don’t learn and keep killing off animals because of the little to no punishment they get. Poachers only get 90 days in jail for killing thousands of animals. In the first 4 months of 2016, 1,038 rhinos were poached and only 206 poachers have been arrested. 50,000 black bears are killed each year and Shark-finning in California is responsible for 100 million shark deaths each year. Yet, the poachers aren't getting charged.

In conclusion, I think that the poaching laws should be stricter, and I think there needs to be more done about these killings from the government. Even wildlife services from the U.S Department of Agriculture killed 3.2 million wild animals by trapping and poisoning them. This could have accidentally killed endangered species too. It is up to you to stop it. Help the animals, and the people, and please, President, don’t let these beautiful creatures go extinct. 

Beka

CITATIONS

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@TakePart. "Here's What the U.S. Can Do Right Now to Help End Poaching."TakePart. Takepart, 24 July 2015. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

By the End of 2015, the Number of African Rhinos Killed by Poachers Had Increased for the Sixth Year in a Row with at Least 1,338 Rhinos Killed by Poachers across Africa in 2015. These Statistics Are Compiled by By International Union for Conservation. "Poaching Statistics." Poaching Statistics. Save the Rhino, n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

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By Putting in Security, Wildlife Occupying Remote Areas Stays Alive. "Stopping Poaching." WWF Conserves Our Planet, Habitats, & Species like the Panda & Tiger. Wwf, 5 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

Headquarters, Frontier London. "Africa's Poaching Crisis: How Do We Stop It?" The Dodo. The Dodo, 8 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

By Its Very Nature, However, Wildlife Is a Highly Dynamic and Mobile Resource That Can Damage Agricultural and Industrial Resources, Pose Risks to Human Health and Safety, and Affect Other Natural Resources. The WS Program Carries out the Federal Responsi. "WS Vision, Mission and Goals." USDA APHIS. USDA, 5 June 2015. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

"11 Facts about Poaching Animals." Mnrt. N.p., n.d. Web.