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Poachers - Blog Posts
There's one problem with this. When poachers track a rhino (which can take days) and they discover that is horn has been dyed like this, they kill it anyway.
And they kill it so that they won't end up tracking it again and wasting their time.
This is a good idea but ultimately doesn't work.
1) Does not hurt rhinos
2) Discolours ivory (BRIGHT PINK) thus reducing saleability
3) Can be detected by airport scanners, even if ground up, thus increasing the chances you will be caught
4) Causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea if ingested by humans, thus driving away your customer base
Win. Win. Win. Win.
Our world does not welcome wild things.
As a zoology student, this is a brutal truth I must face. We slaughter keystone predators, leaving ecosystems to rot, then ponder why we are so overrun by the animals they hunt. We destroy forests, jungles, prairies and marshlands, then wonder why these pests dare encroach on our land.
We hunt rare creatures for their tusks, for their horns, for their skin, for their bones, forcing those that remain onto reserves, culling them when their populations grow beyond our control. Our highest-ranking political figures publicly delight in murdering endangered species for mere thrill of the hunt. If a creature is fierce, or frightening, or mysterious, or beautiful… we kill it.
This is why How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is important. Grimmel is a trophy hunter. He kills dragons for the fun of it. Because Night Furies are beautiful and rare and dangerous and the world heralds him as a hero for it. He doesn’t need another reason for it, anymore than any of the trophy hunters of our world need a reason for shooting an elephant and proudly posing with its bloody tail other than it boosts their egos.
“Our world doesn’t deserve you…”
…because our world destroys all that which is fierce and beautiful and wild. So until the day comes when mankind stops desecrating, polluting, and exploiting the natural world we are meant to protect, I hope the dragons stay hidden, where man cannot reach them.