The Jaguar: Now Endangered From Poaching
We’ve seen the children seeking salvation as they cross the border in droves. This exodus is funded by many black markets. This time, it’s worse than drugs. Poachers push the illegal trade of wildlife in desperate pursuit of profit. One of the most ignored, yet significant sources of funding comes from wildlife poachers hauling endangered animals and illegal products made with their parts. Untraceable cash has been a part of the movement of humans seeking a better life via immigration for centuries. Unregulated activities are common-place when it comes to crossing political borders of different jurisdiction. Central and South America have several biodiversity hot spots of rare species on the verge of extinction, and they are being exploited.
On the open border of the United States and Mexico more than 52,000 unaccompanied minors from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have been caught trying to come in in the past 9 months since October, according toReuters. If the children can make it, so can anything else.
Blue crowned parrots smuggled from Guatemala or French Guiana. (World Wildlife Fund)
Many countries have lax regulations against taking wildlife out of the wild. Lack of respect for endangered species due to lack of education and the luring demand of expensive rare collections from a sadistic hobby all contribute to the massive appeal of poaching. Regulations against such actions require stricter enforcement involving an international agreement between governments calledCITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) . Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Animals are hunted to extinction, mutilated, and tortured.
This video verifies the horror behind trafficking endangered wildlife to sell to tourists and smugglers.
Endangered Jaguar skin hanging in a market. (woofersthedog.com)
The endangered Blue Hyacinth Macaw only has three fragmented populations left in southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia, and northeastern Paraguay. (Flickr/Mark Dumont)
Spider Monkeys are disappearing at alarming rates out of Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Belize.
Baby spider monkey (bioexpedition.com)
Here are a few more mammals from a clickable list courtesy ofwww.earthsendangered.com :
Critically endangered Mammals of South & Central America
| COMMON NAME | RANGE |
| Amazonian Manatee | South America (Amazon R. Basin) |
| Andean Cat | Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru |
| Bald Uakari | Brazil, Colombia, Peru |
| Giant Armadillo | Guyana to Argentina, Venezuela |
| Giant Otter | South America |
| Golden Lion Tamarin | Brazil |
| Jaguar | Arizona, California, Central and South America, Louisiana, Mexico, New Mexico, Texas |
| Little Spotted Cat | Costa Rica to Northern Argentina |
| Long-tailed Otter | South America |
| Maned Wolf | Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay |
| Mantled Howler Monkey | Mexico to South America |
| Margay | Central and South America, Mexico |
| Marine Otter | Peru south to Straits of Magellan |
| Ocelot | USA (Arizona, Texas) to Central and South America |
| Short-tailed Chinchilla | Bolivia |
| Southern River Otter | Argentina, Chile |
| Thin-spined Porcupine | Brazil |
| West Indian Manatee | Caribbean Sea, South America, Southeastern USA |
| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey | Andes of Northern Peru |
Click here: for a list of animals you might not know are going extinct.
President Obama issued an Executive Order in July 2013 “to enhance coordination of U.S. Government efforts to combat wildlife trafficking and assist foreign governments with capacity building.”
As an immigrant who sees immense value in living in a free country, what actual freedoms are we allowing to cross our borders? Should we allow hundreds of innocent endangered species to freely sneak in with thousands of innocent children?
Obviously, the doors of regulation are broken.
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