Elephant poaching in India

Ivory

Elephants exist in India.

So, of course they are poached in India also.

But why are elephants poached?

Well, they are poached for their ivory and sometimes meat. I never knew that elephants are sometimes poached for their meat! Do you think elephant meat tastes good?



A poached elephant

 Ivory is prized for its close-grained texture, mellow colour and pleasing smoothness. It is also a wonderful material to carve.

Did you know how many elephants are left in the wild?

There are about 50,000 elephants left in the wild in India.

And I forgot to tell you this earth shattering fact!

In India only male elephants have tusks and are poached, there for  there are more females then males, and this will give problem for the breeding of elephants. Poor elephants! Poaching gives them lots of trouble.

Do you know who is Veerappan?
He was a bandit or robber in Karnataka (india).
He poached 200 hundred elephants and smuggled ivory.
Orrisa was famous since the time of king Ashoka for its big number of elephants. But the sad thing today is that Orrisa's number of elephants has reduced, soon it will stop being famous for its elephant population because of poachers.

If you want to help elephants don't buy ivory.

Rhino poaching in India

Did you know rhinos are being poached for their horns? 



The Indian rhino of Assam

Yes, Of course!

Rhinos also live in India. They live in Assam.

But what are rhinos poached for?

For their horns, of course!

But what are their horns used for? As such they don’t look very beautiful.

Their horns have been prized for ten centuries for their beautiful colours when carved. It is believed that rhino horns cures fevers, stomach ailments and other diseases.

Did you know that rhinos in India might soon become extinct? 

Did you know that rhino horns are valued at 37000 US dollars?

And did you know that in 2008 18 rhinos wer killed and in 2009 14 rhinos were killed. And this year 10 rhinos were killed.

Here is a little information you need to know on the poachers who poach the rhinos in India.

These poachers travel in groups of just three to five people. They come from Nagaland to Assam, to kill the great one horned rhino. There is one local person who is familiar to the region, he is the helper. There is a person who carries the provision, (he often is local to the place).

It is illegal to hunt rhinos in India but still they are poached.

Sad, isn’t it? Who would want rhinos to get extinct from India? If you want to know more on rhino poaching visit this link  http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2010/05/13/indias-rhino-poaching-gangs-a-closer-look/



A rhino that has been poached







Seven elephants killed in a train accident

Seven elephants were killed by a goods train on Wednesday 11 September 2010 in India. This incident happened in JALPAIGURI district 1.5km from BANERHAT station. Three adult females, two young elephants, a full grown male elephant and a calf got killed.  dTwo young elephants were walking on the railway track when the signal came and the railway track closed. The baby elephants got trapped. The other elephants came to rescue them, and then the train came and killed them. One elephant charged at the train and the driver made the train speed up even faster and killed the elephant. Two elephants were badly wounded but not dead. They even managed to drag themselves out of the railway track. They died the next morning.

The place had no big trees and it was a moonlit night.  The driver would have been able to see the elephants. If the driver had been driving at a good speed he would have been able to stop the train from hitting all the elephants.

If you want to read more have a look at this link  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Goods-train-mows-downs-7-elephants/articleshow/6616632.cms In this link there is also a video on the accident.

Have a look at this video on the accident. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzHM4ANRp3w

Elephants in the East

Elephants in the East is written by Lucy Daniels.

Elephants in the East happens in Kenya.  It is a story about the poaching of elephants. It is part of the series of Animal Ark. In this story Mandy, a girl who loves animals wants to save a mother elephant from getting poached for ivory.

Mandy and her best friend James have gone to Africa. Mandy’s parents Adam and Emily Hope are vets. Mandy and her parents and her best friend James stay in England but have come to Africa for a holiday. In Africa they are staying in Kenya, in a wildlife reserve. In the reserve, they are staying with a scientist call Levina.

One day Levina gets a call from one of the wardens of the reserve. He says that a vet from Mombasa who has specialized in elephants is going to fly tomorrow to treat an elephant named Tina who has gotten attacked by poachers.

Mandy and James are eager to help save Tina the elephant and, so they go with their parents and the vet from Mombasa to see her and help her. They manage to treat Tina.

Tina has got a baby named Evie. After Tina had gotten attacked by the poachers there was no sign of the baby.

Mandy and James decide to stay with the wardens to look for Evie.  There are not able to find her by dusk.  Mandy and James start getting worried for Evie. How will Mandy and James find little Evie?

In this book you learn all about elephant poaching in Africa and you also learn some elephant facts. In this book you also learn to respect animals like Mandy who protected the elephants till the last.

Elephants are poached for their ivory, but they are also poached sometimes for their meat. There are 40,000 elephant in India and 500,000 elephants left in Africa. Ivory is a good material for carving. Ivory has a mellow colour, close grained texture and pleasing smoothness. This is why people like ivory.

If you want to know more on the poaching of elephants click here

Tiger poaching in India



tiger skin

Poor tigers! Only 1411 of them are left in India.

Did you know that tigers are poached for their whiskers, tail, claws, bones, canines and skin?

Here is the list of tiger products.

1. The canine of a tiger is used to make ornamental jewellery.
2. Tiger claws are often inlaid in gold. This is used to make pendants for necklaces.



3. Tiger whiskers are believed to have magical powers.

4. Tiger bones are used to make medicines.

5. The paw sole of a tiger is used for ritual purposes.

Tiger products are used to make many more things. If I narrated the list of them you would get dead bored.

Poachers often set snares to trap tigers. Before the poachers set the snares, investigation trips are often conducted to choose sites to place the snares in. The poachers look for signs of tigers like tracks. They also choose places that have lots of prey for tigers.

Tiger poachers rarely use guns to kill the tigers. This is because they don’t want to spoil the gorgeous skin of the tigers.

If you want to know more on tiger traps click here.

Dairy cows don’t have a happy life

Do Dairy cows have a wonderful life?

No, of course not!

In Europe cows are forced to produce as much milk as possible. To force the cows to give lots of milk the dairy people do lots of things like giving hormones to the cows. Some cows in Dairy industries are given growth hormones. These hormones cause the poor cow’s udders to become big and heavy, and that causes infections.

Another hormone is the Bovine growth hormone and this hormone increases birth defects for the poor calf.

Oh, I forgot to tell you another Earth shattering fact!



Dairy cow with Cannula



People have fixed a window in the side of the cow. This window’s posh scientific name is Cannula. Thanks to this window people can look inside the cow’s stomach and see if her digestion is good. This way they can improve the digestion of the cow, and that way she will give more milk.

It must be horrible for the poor cow. Who would like a window in her side? And it can get infected.



And guess how much milk dairy cows produce per day?

They produce 100 pounds of milk per day. Surprising, isn’t it? And that is 10 times more than the natural produce of a cow.

A calf is separated from its mother almost afterbirth and kept in a small cage till it grows little fat and plump. Then it is slaughtered for its white meat.



Peacocks are being poached for their meat and feathers

Did you know that peacocks are being poached for their meat and feathers?

Yes, of course!

It is illegal to poach peacocks but still the poachers manage to poach the poor peacocks secretly without anyone knows. They poach the peacocks for their meat and feathers. Isn’t it cruel?

As the poachers don’t want the feathers of the peacock to become bloody, they break the unfortunate peacock's legs. Then they take away the peacock's feathers.Then they kill it. Horrid, isn’t it! And the poor peacock must be having lots of pain. Isn’t it extremely cruel?

And to make things worse farmers are using pesticides in their fields. As the peacock eats the grains that are coated with pesticide the unlucky peacock gets poisoned and dies. Poor peacocks!

With all this the population of peacocks is dwindling. Very sad, isn’t it? And the peacock is the national bird of India and it is getting extinct.

Who would like to see these beautiful birds getting extinct?