Disappearing Wildlife Red Alert

The African Lion and the Sunda Clouded Leopard could be extinct within a few years due to lack of food and water in the wild caused by changing weather conditions. 

In 1979, Africa had 1,300,000 wild Elephants, today, there are 400,000 alive and the land is guarded by park rangers and it is estimated more than 1,000 rangers have been killed by armed militia groups in the past ten years trying to protect them.

23 tonnes of Elephant Ivory was confiscated in 2012 - equivalent to the tusks of 2,500 Elephants. Seizures of illegal ivory are at their highest for 20 years  The price of Rhino horn has increased to £37.500 per kilogram, twice the price of gold and platinum (and more valuable than black market diamonds or cocaine). The illegal trade in wildlife is one of the most lucrative trades in the world, worth £6,000,000,000 per year and is ruthless in its quest. Animals are viciously killed and people are also killed. This trade is fueled by the new middle classes of the Far East, Vietnam is the top destination point for Rhino horn where they trade in carcass, tusk and horn, in one haul 1,200 Rhino tusks were seized in Hong Kong. Approx 5,000 Rhinos remain in the wild. The species is 50 million years old! 


There are no laws against hunting, killing and capture of wild animals in South Africa and India. Never before has the situation been so dire with regards to iconic intelligent and caring animal species.
Habitat loss is another major cause of the extinction of wild animals. 13,000,000 hectares of forest has been lost each year between 2000 and 2010 and there has been a 28% decline in biodiversity since 1970.
Please help save our sacred web of life, by donating, signing petitions and passing your information to others. Thank you. 

and more information on these links: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/11-startling-stats-about-earths-disappearing-wildlife
and here:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11129163/Half-of-worlds-animals-have-disappeared-since-1970.html