Stop Poaching Elephants
I believe we should stop poaching elephants for their tusks. Elephants are magnificent creatures, and I think they should stop being poached for their tusks. After all, they never did anything to us that we have to do to them back. They should be treated like the beautiful creatures they are, not things you can shoot for their ivory tusks. I think of it as, “if you were them, would you like to be treated that way?” They are beautiful creatures, and I think they should be treated like people. They may not look like it, but deep down inside, they are just like us. We aren’t them, but I know humans should stop poaching elephants because: they have feelings just like us, they are an endangered species, and selling ivory from their tusks won’t save them. I know that if you think about what I say today, you will definitely agree with me.
First elephants should stop being poached because elephants have feelings just like us. PBS's website, “Nature,” states that elephants are among the most exuberantly expressive of creatures, that means that they are extremely joyful and vigorous. They say that you can tell if an elephant is feeling joyful, grief, or anger. The one I will talk about is grief. Article, “Elephant Emotions” by PBS says that days, months, or even years after a loved ones death, an elephant would still pass by where they were either shot or they passed away, or they might just stand and pause for a few minutes because they had remembered a loved one. If you still don’t believe me, here are more reasons to show you they feel. I have heard a story of a herd, and the matriarch passes. The rest of the herd tried to feed her and lift her tusks, but she wouldn’t budge. When the herd moved on because they discovered she was dead, but, a mother and a calf stayed behind still moving her feet and mourning. Isn’t that so sad. Also, PBS wrote that they saw a mother elephant whose calf had died. They say she had dragged behind the herd for days. That just proves that elephants have feelings just like us. I know that even if nobody else believes this, it is true, and I have seen it all over the place, because they have feelings just like us.
To add on, elephants should stop being poached because elephants are an endangered species. PBS's (Public Broadcasting Service’s) article, “The Elephants of Africa” states that there used to be 1.3 million African elephants, which seems a lot compared to right now, doesn’t it? I also went on to SIRS Discoverer, and found that only about 600,000 African elephants remain, and who do you think caused that...humans! Everyone I tell just says, “What do you mean little? 600,00 is a big number,” but compared to before it is so small. As of the end of June in 2014, Singapore, a small island, had about 5.5 million people, and 600,000 African elephants compared to 5.5 million people, that just shows that they are endangered. Their population is less than one Singapore island, and that is small if you compare it to the size of Singapore. One final reason that shows you that those poor African elephants are endangered, is that they are endangered because of their tusks! I know that if I asked you right now ‘are people really poaching elephants,’ you would say yes because everybody knows about it. They would know about it because they’re doing it. They are the ones poaching elephants for their tusks, all because they want the money from their ivory. They are the ones that will sooner or later cause elephants to be extinct. That is so sad, isn’t it? If you ask anyone, they would say we poach them for money, and even if money helps people, it doesn’t help the biggest, most beautiful land mammal in the world.
Lastly, elephants should definitely stop being poached because selling ivory from their tusks, and killing them for it won’t help their cause. Since the elephant is killed to have the tusks, it won’t help them. Laura Leigh Davidson, from scholastic, writes in her article, “Satao's Sad Story, a quote from the Tsavo Trust, "It is with enormous regret that we confirm there is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow," which shows that poaching elephants is bad. Everyday people are poaching elephants, so that they have the money for something wierd, but the elephants will get angry, and depressed. Poaching these creatures will hurt nature, so many people love elephants, and they will be sad if the biggest land mammal goes extinct. Also, considering that there are only 600,000 African elephants left in the world, and people are still selling their ivory tusks, you can see that selling their ivory isn’t really helping. People all over the world don’t see that these creatures care about each other. They are like us, they have the same exact feelings humans have, but nobody sees it. Finally, when people sell ivory, since they have to poach elephants for it, and the elephant population has been split in half, it must be bad. All because of poaching all over the world, the elephant population has literally been split in half. I wish all people could take the time to save elephants, but I can see that they are too busy doing something else, then caring about nature. Nature has kept us alive all these years, and only animal lovers have done something about it because they know that nature deserves something in return. I hope you think about this and stop poaching those poor creatures.
Just to conclude, we should definitely stop poaching elephants to save their lives. People are always poaching elephants for their ivory, without even giving them a chance. Everyone thinks elephants are just fine, but I know just from the small number of 600,000 African elephants left, they aren't fine. They need serious help! We need to save them. They need us, and I know that if this keeps going on, after they are extinct, you will feel bad too. All you have to think about is poor Echo and her family. Her family was going down bit by bit in Amboseli all because the farmers there didn't want them to eat their crops, but then even after they put up the chili smelling ropes, it was still bad. I hope you find out what is right and stop poaching elephants for their tusks. I think people should stop poaching elephants because they have feelings too, they are going extinct, and poaching them doesn’t do anything to help them! We need to save them! Right now, we need to do something in return something for those 6 ton land giants, we need to give them something in return, their freedom of life.
Bibliography
PBS. “Echo: An Elephant to Remember~Elephant Emotions.”
PBS. “The Elephants of Africa~The Poaching Problem.”
Cargo for Conservation (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). “African Elephant.”
http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000025430
Davidson, Laura Leigh. “Satao's Sad Story.”
http://magazines.scholastic.com/news/2014/07/Satao-s-Sad-Story
When I started this project, I knew nothing at all about the ankh, but then as I started collecting MIDAS notes and working on my mind map, I started to learn a lot more than I could ever imagined. I learned legends, beliefs and important facts, which later helped me a lot. Then, once my group and I got together, I learned even more. They gave me advice to add more detail to my script, so I did which means I learned more about the ankh. Next, my group and I needed to come up with a theme, which Ms. Ramani helped us with. She told us that the ankh, flute and dagger were all seen at banquets which lead us to learn more about our artifacts, learning how our artifact fits into the theme. Finally, my group and I had a successful project. A banquet full of grapes and wine, but most importantly, knowledge.
