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Everyday, exotic animals are abducted or poached from their environments to serve a huge global black market of buyers and sellers who see them simply as business opportunities or things to collect. It seems that there is no limit to what some will do in order to obtain something rare. Shamavu is a baby gorilla who is luckier than many of his counterparts. He is only the 4th baby gorilla to be saved in 2011 from poachers by the dedicated men and women who protect these rare creatures within their natural home. At a price of up to $40,000 for just one of these defenseless babies, the trade attracts dangerous people who are willing to harm man and beast in order to get their profits. It’s unknown just how many animals are taken each year, though we see the devastation left behind from the violence wrought by man upon beast.
Around the world, the animals that are supposed to be protected by us are harmed by human activities including poaching, mutilation, habitat destruction, and so much more. We still have a long way to go in taming our own wild instincts, when greed and corruption become involved. This battle is only one in a long-standing war that pits man against nature and man against man. Considering that we are still fighting amongst ourselves for respect and welfare, it seems miraculous that there are people who care about stopping the atrocities we visit upon nature. We owe these people a great debt because they see the big picture: we all co-exist on a single planet and rely on one another. At least Shamavu has people who love him, though he had to lose too much in order to find this out.
– another inspiring yet tragic story brought to us by National Geographic
