By Nicole Rojas – Change.org
U.S. House of Representatives – Ban trophy hunting of endangered species in the United States and ban the imports of a trophy of any species listed under the Endangered Species Act! Support the ProTECT Act!
Now is the time to pressure the U.S. government to take action to protect endangered species!
Every life counts. Every voice matters.
Sign this petition asking our U.S. Representatives to reintroduce the ProTECT Act to ban trophy hunts of endangered species and ask our lawmakers to defund trophy hunting import permits sold here in America.
The ProTECT Act, (Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies) will prohibit trophy hunting of endangered species in the US and import of any trophy of a species listed under the Endangered Species Act.
To help make a bigger impact, you can call your House of Representative asking him/her to support the Protect Act. To find your House of Representative, go to www.house.gov
How did we get here?
Many species are threatened with extinction and as trophy hunting continues to be allowed, endangered species will not have a chance for survival.
When looking specifically at wild elephants, just one hundred years ago, the global elephant population was approximately 3-5 million. After decades of poaching and hunting, the current elephant population is estimated at 415,000.
To take this one step further on how detrimental commercial elephant hunting and poaching is, we are currently in the world’s sixth mass extinction. The first 5 mass extinctions were all-natural phenomena. This current extinction is almost exclusively due to humans. Dozens of species are going extinct every day and it is predicted by 2050, 30-50% of all species will be extinct. Losing species at this rate will break down ecosystems that we rely on for the health of the planet. This is another reason why it is critical we help conserve and protect the elephants and all wildlife.
Elephants also help the local economies through eco-tourism. According to an article by All Africa research indicates eco-tourism is a $2 billion-dollar industry and reintroducing hunting contributes to only 1.9% of tourism.
Hunting of keystone species, like the elephant, only hurts us in the big scheme of life. In fact, the elephant actually supports ecosystems, their sheer existence helps to maintain biodiversity that supports the health of our planet. We actually benefit from the elephants’ presence without even realizing it.
As we are experiencing massive climate change, elephants are part of the SOLUTION to climate change. Their mighty presence as a keystone species helps with carbon sequestration because they are known as gardeners of the forest. According to a BBC report, the African elephant can sequester up to 9,5000 metric tonnes per year which is equivalent to emissions from over 2,000 cars.
Please sign and share this petition to help end trophy hunting and protect elephants and other incredible wildlife.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Nicole @WildForChange
