Conservation Hypocrisy - Why Global Support is Crucial

Just the other day, I reported on the Big Cat Safety Act that is on track to become law in the United States. The Act would see private ownership of big cats banned as well as the usage of cubs at roadside facilities for tourist selfies. The Act is a crucial step in protecting big cats and committing to animal welfare & conservation for big cats. One might assume that this signifies a true commitment to conservation and while it is an excellent start, it's simply not enough when there are so many other areas of conservation that the US and the rest of the globe are failing in, particularly with big cats.

In my years reporting on animal welfare across the globe, one thing I've noticed is the blatant hypocrisy that seems to surround conservation & animal welfare. Looking at the Big Cat Safety Act in the US, you would think that the US was wholly committed to the conservation of big cats. Unfortunately, the US continues to promote and participate in trophy hunting of Africa's most imperiled and endangered species. Another example would be the UK and the banning of the production of fur. It was celebrated when the UK announced a commitment to improving animal welfare and banning the production of fur was part of that initiative. However, while they no longer produce fur, they happily import and sell it. Can you guys see where there's hypocrisy rooted even in conservation and animal welfare? An area that should be black and white in terms of what's expected and yet there's hypocrisy and confusion around every corner.

When it comes to conservation, we need global support and an 100% commitment if we're going to see actual improvements. We cannot be banning the ownership of big cats while simultaneously promoting the slaughter of big cats for the right price. We cannot be banning the production of fur while simultaneously suggesting fur is wonderful if imported from other countries. These sorts of contradictory commitments to animal welfare undermine the importance of conservation. How can we believe our governments are committed to animal welfare & conservation if they're actively working against their own initiatives? This is the major problem with conservation across the globe, the hypocrisy of it all. We're getting nowhere fast if we keep putting up roadblocks to our own efforts.

Big cats across the globe are dying. Elephants, rhinos, giraffes, whales, sharks, pangolins, chimpanzees, gorillas etc., these animals are all facing the possibility of extinction. We've decimated their populations in the past 100 years to alarmingly low numbers. Our "efforts" to conserve them will be in vain if we are not committing to conservation in its entirety. We need to immediately tackle the perils that these animals are facing in the wild. These perils include;

• TROPHY HUNTING - We must ban the slaughter of endangered animals for trophy hunts. There's absolutely no excuse for allowing rich people from across the globe to come to Africa for the sole purpose of putting a bullet in the head of an endangered animal like a cheetah or an elephant. If we are going to commit to conservation, trophy hunting must be banned.
• LIVESTOCK CONFLICTS - Continued human development includes taking land away from wild animals to produce livestock. Livestock are easy targets for wild predators which results in them being trapped, poisoned, or slaughtered. Instead of looking at ways to prevent future conflicts, it seems that slaughtering these predators is often the method used, despite the fact that these animals face the possibility of extinction. We must address the lackluster access to livestock instead of continuing to slaughter predators that are vital to the survival of an ecosystem.
• ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE - Ivory is still a valuable product. Pangolin scales are still a valuable product. Tiger blood is still a valuable product. If we do not devalue these things immediately, we will continue to see a flourishing black market. People are risking their lives to poach endangered animals under the guise that they will get rich by selling these products on the black market. We need global cooperation in devaluing these products so that there is absolutely no allure in slaughtering these animals. 
• HABITAT LOSS - Our continued development is rapidly taking land away from wild animals. Predators like lions and cheetahs have seen their natural range disappear by almost 90% in the last 100 years because of our rapid development. Gorillas have seen their habitat destroyed by the demand for palm oil. We need more designation of protected lands for wild animals that are losing their habitat. The more protected land we have, the less of an opportunity for human encroachment that will put animals in further danger of extinction.

With all of the perils endangered animals on our planet face because of us, small steps towards conservation are going to be too little too late. We need to come together globally and commit to improved animal welfare and conservation, otherwise we can say goodbye to hundreds of thousands of recognized species in our lifetime and we'll only have ourselves to blame.

HAPPY VEG