The article I read was about poaching of animals in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Poaching is the illegal hunting, killing, or capturing of wild animals. The forest has a long history of illegal hunting. Kibale used to be protected by only one person, Tom Struhsaker. Thanks to his hard work Kibale is now a national park. This means the animals can be better protected.
This article can be viewed at http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/26/strange-chimp-behaviour-alerts-researchers-to-poachers/
This article is about the poaching of a herd of red duikers, and how a group of chimpanzees helped to scare away the poachers. Three researchers were following two different subgroups of chimpanzees. One of the researchers noticed unusual behaviour by the chimps. He saw them sniff the ground but they were not on patrol. When he went to investigate he saw what they had been sniffing was blood. The researchers then alerted the leader of the camp, who went looking for and found the poachers. Even though they didn’t catch the poachers they did get all their supplies and poaching equipment.
In my opinion the illegal killing or capturing of wild animals is extremely wrong and becoming quite a serious issue. Endangered animals are killed so that a single body part- like tusks, pelt or bones - can be illegally sold for huge sums of money. At current poaching rates, elephants, rhinos and other iconic African animals may be gone within our lifetime. We cannot let this happen.
Many people turn to poaching as a last resort to support their families. We need to work to provide alternative livelihoods to local communities so that wildlife is not harmed. We also need to raise awareness of poaching and of the animals that are becoming endangered.
So let’s unite to fight to save the animals!
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