Imagine you're staring right into the eyes of the most gorgeous animal you have ever seen. Its colorful plumage shines brilliantly in the light, its piercing eyes stare into your soul, its majestic presence fills you with awe. You don't want to break away your gaze from this magnificent creature. 

But then the animal vanishes into thin air. 

It was jarring for it to be taken away from you in the blink of an eye, never to return or to be seen by anyone ever again. Now, you may be reading this thinking that this whole story is preposterous and nothing like this would ever happen. That's the scary thing about this example - it's not just a story, it is our reality.

Do you remember in school when you'd learn about history and see foreign animals staring up at you from your textbooks? You'd find yourself wondering what the Tasmanian tiger looked like, or what the squawk of the famed Dodo bird sounded like. But you couldn't possibly know, you could only know that these both were animals that once walked our very earth. You could never view these animals with an excitement that one day you may have the privilege of seeing them up close and personal. You could only view these animals with sadness and longing, knowing that they both are long gone and will never be seen among the earth again. And why? 

Because of our own human race. Our fellow man are the reason that we never could see for ourselves what Steller's sea cow looked like or what the saber toothed tiger's growl sounded like. They are the reason that we have to say goodbye to so many magnificent creatures, never to be seen again. And why? It wasn't necessary to hunt these animals, and especially not in so much of a great quantity that we would cause a species as a whole to dwindle so much to the point of eradicating every last one of their kind. It was to feed their own greed and their own selfish desire. 

There are many poachers that have gotten carried away in greed and poach animals to fuel their own selfish desires, but there are also poachers who engage in this type of grisly work for the sole reason to just support themselves and their families and to put food on their tables. It is true, poachers are not anybody to be proud of, but there is a bigger monster than them. Somebody much lower than them and are one of the sole reasons why poaching is happening worldwide. 

The people that engage in purchasing products that have been produced with animal material. 

Those that purchase those real crocodile handbags, who purchase ivory jewelry and so on are the cause of the poaching that goes on in the world. These people are the reasons why there are so many rhinos and elephants dying each and every year. The price of their looking fashionable and stylish (according to them, that is) is the lives of thousands of animals. Animals that all have families, children to care for, lives to live. Even though genuine animal products are incredibly expensive, people still buy these products, which results in terrible losses for the animal community. For example, consider this information.

According to a National Geographic article, over 100,000 African elephants were killed between the years 2014 ans 2017 due to poaching for their ivory. Over 1,000 rhinos per year are poached for their horns. Many more animals are slaughtered just because what they were born with is coveted. There are many reasons behind poaching, and almost all of them are the root of selfish desires, the most prevalent being the love of money. It is true that the love of money is the root of all evil, and this is one of the many examples. Many animals are poached for their furs, skins, horns, tusks, almost anything you can see on them.

Thankfully, there are some people taking great strides in order to protect and conserve various species, especially those who are in high risk of becoming extinct, just like the other animals I have listed in this article. Now, I am not reprimanding anybody (besides most of the poachers  and the people buying the animal products of course) because it is not always possible for us to do something that positively impacts conservation efforts, especially if you live all the way on the other side of the world, far from the root of the problem. 

However, every single day, it seems that we hear so many stories via our television screens, our latops, and our phones. Whether it's a new celebrity couple, an artist announcing their world tour, or a new movie hitting the cinemas, we are constantly being pumped full of information that we deem as important and worthy of reading and learning about. With all this information out there, why do we not have more articles concerning the many animals and various species roaming about our earth that are in dire need of our help?

That is why I am writing this article. It's to inform you all of the things happening on our very planet to our glorious creatures. I know that it may not do much, just another article on Wattpad, but it is my desire to write about things I am passionate about, and this certainly is a topic I am passionate about. Saving the lives of animals. I don't expect you to do anything after reading this, though, such as donating large sums of money to conservation projects or anything along those lines because that may not be possible. However, if I were to encourage you to do one thing, it would be the following. 

Remind people of the things happening in our world. Just as we in our daily lives discuss celebrities, k-pop groups and the like, we can take the time out of our day just to share with someone what is happening to our animals. As much as sharing a picture of an elephant or a rhinoceros or any other animal raises our appreciation for these animals. It reminds us of how much we value these animals and how sad we'd be to see them disappear from our beloved planet. And who knows? One small act of appreciation for our animals can eventually lead to a big act of appreciation for our animals for somebody who can greatly impact the conservation efforts. It will have been worth it. 

Now, think back to that animal we discussed in the beginning. Even though that animal from before is gone, you turn your head and see an animal just as beautiful. You stop to look at it and appreciate it. You start to share it with the others around you, and you all come together to admire it. Remembering what happened with the other animal, united with the others admiring this animal, you decide to build a huge protective fence around it to keep it safe. Now, this animal happily sits in its protection, safe from poachers, threats, and the like. 

This animal doesn't disappear. And if we take this kind of action and show this kind of appreciation for all the animals on our earth, they surely won't disappear either.

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References:

"Poaching Animals, Explained" by Jani Actman. Published February 12th, 2019. From National Geographic.