The article
I read is very interesting and informing. It starts off describing one man in
Kenya, Julius Lokinyi, who made developed a trade of killing elephants and
selling them in the dead of night along side the roads. However, after being
shamed and hounded he, Julius realized that elephants are worth more alive than
dead. This is because of the tourists they attract. As a result, he joined a
conservation militia that works to protect the wildlife he once slaughtered. This militia has become one in many
filled with ordinary citizens with no military experience, who band together
and risk their lives to confront poaching gangs. The drive and motivation these
people have to save the wildlife is that Kenya, above all other African
nations, has a strong tourism industry attracted to wildlife. This tourism
industry and the safari industry generate more than a billion dollars a year,
and nearly 500,000 jobs. It is clear that the wildlife need the people just as
the people need the wildlife for business.
This article
was very eye opening to me. As scientists were quoted in the article, many
important species are becoming extinct, such as the elephants. It is the duty
of the people to help preserve these beloved species, and make sure they do not
go extinct. This is important because despite Kenya being a fairly poor
country, inexperienced people are arming up and defending their wildlife. This
should motivate other communities around the world to help protect their
wildlife just as these Kenyans do. This inspires me to contribute to this
issue, not only to Elephants, but also to other species around the world that
are becoming endangered.
This
article was well written, and presented its argument well. It was a little
unclear to me how the encounters go down between the poacher gangs and the
conservation militias. I was impressed about the in depth description of the
significance of this article, about how this fight to conserve the elephants is
also about security, conflict reconciliation, and even nation building. I was
also intrigued at the long-term effects of this conservation of elephants,
which can help spark a new generation of elephants.
Marika Chrisanthopoulos
ReplyDeleteAP Biology Commentary
January 2, 2013
“To Save Wildlife, and Tourism, Kenyans Take Up Arms” Review by Henry Lilly; The New York Times
In the article described and reviewed by Henry, a man by the name of Julius Lokinyi is made known to us and his immediate terror and injustice to elephants in Kenya, but how his views changed over time to those of wealth to those of compassion for animals and wildlife. In the article, it talks about how Julius used to make a large profit killing and selling elephants for money in order to make a living. This was his only way of survival; poaching elephants and selling them during the night. Because of the hatred and disgust he received from tourists to Kenya, however, he changed his way of thinking to the mindset that elephants are “better alive than dead.” Because of his actions, Julius stopped poaching elephants and joined a conservation militia that works to protect the wildlife he once slaughtered. This militia is filled with ordinary people with little or no experience in fighting that work to protect and help the animals in Kenya, specifically elephants. In his review of this article, one thing Henry does well is explain how the article changed his thoughts about wildlife; he talks about how he wants to become more involved in keeping and caring for animals that are endangered or at risk of becoming instinct. Another thing he does well is explain how since there are so many tourists in Kenya, Julius was ostracized and disliked by the community, resulting in his final change of heart and overall makeover of his life. Henry also explains that it is the “duty of the people” to take care of the wildlife; how they need more from us than we give them, and how they depend on us for survival while we depend on them for business.
One thing that Henry could have done better in his review of this article was that he could have explained more about the organization that Julius joined; he did not state the name or the progress of the organization, which made it difficult to be able to do more research and fully understand Julius’s change of heart. Another thing that he could have done better was talk more about the extinction of elephants; are all types in danger? How many elephants on average are left, and how many are poached each year? Answering these questions and developing the topic more would have made the review better for us readers. One thing that I learned from this article is that while there are organizations in Africa, there is still a major problem with poaching and hatred of wildlife all over the continent. Every country is filled with animals that are in danger of becoming extinct and killed, and even though there are organizations and actions being taken to decrease the trauma these animals experience, there is still a lot of crime going on that needs to be stopped.
The review of To Save Wildlife, and Tourism, Kenyans Take Up Arms was very interesting. A few good points made in the review were explaining how Julius, once of man who poached elephants became a man who fought for their survival. Another good point was explaining how continuous poaching will eventually endanger the elephants and they can become extinct. Finally, the militias in Kenya were set up to save the wildlife population because they bring in most of the profit and it would be foolish to kill them.
ReplyDeleteOne thing the article could have explained better was how the interaction is successful or unsuccessful from the untrained militiamen who are faced with very loaded poachers. That job is very dangerous and probably leads to many deaths on each side of the fence. Another thing that could have improved this article was more explanation of Julius and the other people and how he became a militiamen and how these people affected Kenya
What I was surprised to learn is how many elephants are dying in these past years compared to previous. It was also interesting to read about the people working to save the elephants from evil, money hungry poachers.