yes its ****ed up.
it seems im always the one to play devils advocate, but you have to understand they dont live the same lives we do. most of these regions in africa 1000s of people are dying everyday because they cant get something as simple as a clean drink of water.
this market is created by the rich of asia that have nothing better to spend their money on, and will pay millions and millions just to have it. when there is such a huge demand with the $$$ behind it there will always be someone willing to supply it.
its easy for us to sit here in our warm houses sipping our coffee reading the morning news and says its ****ed up from a conservation standpoint over here, but we dont have to live it. they probably dont even know what conservation is, most countries over there are so ravaged by civil war that death is an everyday thing. you see everyone you kno dying and getting slaughtered every day, an animal death to feed and provide for your family probably wouldnt seem like such a big deal.
if that makes u sick, have u seen any of the practices that are regular procedure at your local mass meat production facility? sure they are getting used for food, but with the anthorpomorphism our society has taught us, where is the line drawn??
i dont know if the same applies to elephant ivory, but the rhino horn poaching is another big black market over there. with the rhino horn its like a finger nail and will actually grow back, given the animals face isnt chainsawed in half in the process. there has been alot of talk about creating a sustainable market of safely removing the horns and selling them legally and therefore creating jobs, but then the demand and value would both drop substantially due to a saturated market. sounds like a good idea, but only time will tell if it solves the issue or if the rich will just want a different hard to get item from a nearly extinct creature because local folklore says its better than any hard dick pills u can get anywhere.
