_________________________________________________________________________________
April 26, 2016
The Honorable Rand Paul
United States Senate
167 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.
20510-1704
Dear Senator Paul,
What if, all the sudden, all the animals in the world were gone. Sounds insane considering they are a huge part of our ecosystem but that is the direction we are heading since people keep hunting and poaching animals which is causing them to go extinct. The endangered species act of 1973 has not been protecting the lives and habitats of animals like it says it, and it needs to be changed. I read about your Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act which states that you would like to take away this act and let poachers freely kill any animals they choose and I am writing this to explain why that is a terrible idea. As a senator you have a lot of power over the acts that get put in place. Putting your Self-Determination Act in place would result in many species going extinct. This act needs to be updated, but not deleted. Here is why:
Since this act was put into place in 1973, 50 different species were placed on the endangered species list. Here are some interesting facts about a couple of these animals.
The bengal tiger was becoming endangered around the time the act was passed, but the act began to save their habitat and they began to grow their numbers again; but then the demand for tiger skin began to grow in Asia and poachers began killing thousands. As of right now, there are only around 2,500 left in the wild.
The white rhino has been endangered since the early 20th century. People viewed rhinos as vermin and were set on exterminating every last one of them. This act did not help these animals or their habitats. There is currently 1 male left in the entire world and it is protected by armed guards at all times to save it from poachers. This single rhino's horn was cut off and sold because of the keratin it's made of. Even without the horn, poachers will even take toenails because they are made of the same thing. There are only 5 species of rhinos left in the world. A rhino horn is the third most sold item after arms and drugs.
The giant panda has been endangered for an extremely long time. Currently, there are only 1800 pandas left in the wild. With the growing population in China, their habitats are getting destroyed. Not only are they seen as very important figures in Chinese culture, but they help the bamboo forests continue to grow by spreading seeds and growing the vegetation. The forests where they live are also home to many different endangered species such as dwarf blue sheep, multicolored pheasants and other endangered species, including the golden monkey, and crested ibis. Without the pandas, some of these animals could have gone extinct a very long time ago.
As human beings, animals do a lot for us. I myself have quite a few animals living in my home and when I go to college I want to study to be a marine biologist. There are many marine animals that are also going extinct due to fishing nets, oil spills, etc. Animals are a huge part of our ecosystem and help us keep this Earth alive. Imagine one day waking up and never seeing any animals in the entire world. Almost every type of animal does something for the earth that keeps it alive. If we continue at the rate we are currently at, all animals could eventually end up extinct. Some people rely on animals in even deeper ways such as blind people relying on their service animals to help guide them, people with mental illnesses have animas to make them happy, etc. Clearly animals make impacts on people.
You may say that some animals need to be killed as food for everyone on this earth or to make money. That is true but animals that are just being killed for sport or for small parts on their bodies are not worth it. These animals keep us alive. If the roles were reversed, would you enjoy being poached and shot at just to get one of your toenails to sell for fifty bucks? It's not fair to these animals. We should just allow them to leave peacefully and anyone who disagrees with that law should be persecuted.
If you pass this law, the lives of all animals in the US will be in danger. Animals play an important role in keeping everyone and everything on this earth alive. If we continue to ignore this act and keep killing off all of these species, every animal will disappear. If we kill all the animals, we kill ourselves. I really hope you will consider updating this act and not following through on your idea. For the animals safety as well as our own.
Sincerely,
Maddie Fister
_________________________________________________________________________________
Works Cited:
Hartl, Brett. "Senate Republicans Take Aim at Endangered Species Act." Senate Republicans Take Aim at Endangered Species Act. Center for Biological Diversity, 6 May 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/endangered-species-act-05-06-2015.html>.
Barnes, Simon. "Loneliest Rhino in the World." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3040970/Loneliest-rhino-world-Surrounded-armed-guards-s-male-breed-victim-evil-trade-s-wiping-giants.html>.
"Bengal Tiger." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/bengal-tiger>.
Dillon, Tom. "Giant Panda." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda>.
"Species List." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?direction=desc&sort=extinction_status>.
April 26, 2016
The Honorable Rand Paul
United States Senate
167 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.
20510-1704
Dear Senator Paul,
What if, all the sudden, all the animals in the world were gone. Sounds insane considering they are a huge part of our ecosystem but that is the direction we are heading since people keep hunting and poaching animals which is causing them to go extinct. The endangered species act of 1973 has not been protecting the lives and habitats of animals like it says it, and it needs to be changed. I read about your Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act which states that you would like to take away this act and let poachers freely kill any animals they choose and I am writing this to explain why that is a terrible idea. As a senator you have a lot of power over the acts that get put in place. Putting your Self-Determination Act in place would result in many species going extinct. This act needs to be updated, but not deleted. Here is why:
Since this act was put into place in 1973, 50 different species were placed on the endangered species list. Here are some interesting facts about a couple of these animals.
The bengal tiger was becoming endangered around the time the act was passed, but the act began to save their habitat and they began to grow their numbers again; but then the demand for tiger skin began to grow in Asia and poachers began killing thousands. As of right now, there are only around 2,500 left in the wild.
The white rhino has been endangered since the early 20th century. People viewed rhinos as vermin and were set on exterminating every last one of them. This act did not help these animals or their habitats. There is currently 1 male left in the entire world and it is protected by armed guards at all times to save it from poachers. This single rhino's horn was cut off and sold because of the keratin it's made of. Even without the horn, poachers will even take toenails because they are made of the same thing. There are only 5 species of rhinos left in the world. A rhino horn is the third most sold item after arms and drugs.
The giant panda has been endangered for an extremely long time. Currently, there are only 1800 pandas left in the wild. With the growing population in China, their habitats are getting destroyed. Not only are they seen as very important figures in Chinese culture, but they help the bamboo forests continue to grow by spreading seeds and growing the vegetation. The forests where they live are also home to many different endangered species such as dwarf blue sheep, multicolored pheasants and other endangered species, including the golden monkey, and crested ibis. Without the pandas, some of these animals could have gone extinct a very long time ago.
As human beings, animals do a lot for us. I myself have quite a few animals living in my home and when I go to college I want to study to be a marine biologist. There are many marine animals that are also going extinct due to fishing nets, oil spills, etc. Animals are a huge part of our ecosystem and help us keep this Earth alive. Imagine one day waking up and never seeing any animals in the entire world. Almost every type of animal does something for the earth that keeps it alive. If we continue at the rate we are currently at, all animals could eventually end up extinct. Some people rely on animals in even deeper ways such as blind people relying on their service animals to help guide them, people with mental illnesses have animas to make them happy, etc. Clearly animals make impacts on people.
You may say that some animals need to be killed as food for everyone on this earth or to make money. That is true but animals that are just being killed for sport or for small parts on their bodies are not worth it. These animals keep us alive. If the roles were reversed, would you enjoy being poached and shot at just to get one of your toenails to sell for fifty bucks? It's not fair to these animals. We should just allow them to leave peacefully and anyone who disagrees with that law should be persecuted.
If you pass this law, the lives of all animals in the US will be in danger. Animals play an important role in keeping everyone and everything on this earth alive. If we continue to ignore this act and keep killing off all of these species, every animal will disappear. If we kill all the animals, we kill ourselves. I really hope you will consider updating this act and not following through on your idea. For the animals safety as well as our own.
Sincerely,
Maddie Fister
_________________________________________________________________________________
Works Cited:
Hartl, Brett. "Senate Republicans Take Aim at Endangered Species Act." Senate Republicans Take Aim at Endangered Species Act. Center for Biological Diversity, 6 May 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/endangered-species-act-05-06-2015.html>.
Barnes, Simon. "Loneliest Rhino in the World." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3040970/Loneliest-rhino-world-Surrounded-armed-guards-s-male-breed-victim-evil-trade-s-wiping-giants.html>.
"Bengal Tiger." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/bengal-tiger>.
Dillon, Tom. "Giant Panda." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda>.
"Species List." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?direction=desc&sort=extinction_status>.
