Keeping Wild Animals as Pets - Assignment Example

Keeping Wild Animals as Pets 1. How common is this in the UAE? It is estimated that more 3,000 individuals in the UAE do keep wild animals, which include but not limited to the lions, tigers, cheetahs, etcetera as pets in their premises. The practice is widespread to the extent that many actually disregard the existing laws on animals and actually spend huge sums of money in smuggling them into country illegally. The obsession extends to the malls and public attractions pursuing the seemingly insatiable record-breaking domestications of large animals from the wild. 2. Who does it and why is it popular? Keeping of wild animals as pets in UAE is basically done by the rich as a sign of wealth; a practice which has been so for hundreds of years, thus, its popularity. Akbar, the King of Mughal of the 16th century is said to have kept 9,000 cheetahs over a 49-year period as sign of wealth. Not much has changed in the modern times, with many of wild animals bought solely for showing off ones wealth. 3. Can you think of ecological reasons why this isn’t a good idea? First, it is not in the best interest of the animals to keep them as pets; the extremely small enclosures coupled with poor conditions make their domestication as pets very unpredictable, and so unsustainable. Some of the wild animals like the cheetahs have very specific nutritive needs, which such enclosures never meet. Additionally, the enclosures are, in many cases, situated in noisy and stressful locations that are not conducive for successful breeding efforts of such animals. 4. Look at the following link and answer the questions below: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/last_of_the_tigers/what_if_tigers_did_become_extinct_ 5. What is meant by “the tiger is the top of the food chain”? The phrase means that the tiger is an apex predator that feeds on many other animals, yet not a single of these animals feeds on full-grown tigers. That while these animals will attack and occasionally kill a tiger, the fight is usually over food and none ever eats its flesh. 6. Under the heading “Upsetting the Ecological balance”, what are some of the effects listed of removing tigers from the food chain? You should be able to find 4 effects: The removal of tigers from the food chain has far reaching consequences, which include but not limited to: the expansion of the populations of deer, wildbore, sambar and gaur in the wild due to lack of predator specifies on them the expansion of the populations above would mean faster depletion/destruction of the vegetation inexistence, leaving other smaller animals and insects with inhabitable habitats The search for survival for such smaller animals and insects will thus extend to crops in farmlands, leading to the destruction of food sources for the human populations Due to the inability plants to grow anywhere, soil infertility will be an everywhere phenomenon, resulting in the extinction of life in general 7. Under the heading “Other Consequences include”, What do you think they mean by “ecological services”? Ecological services refer to the benefits that humans derive from the ecosystems. From the availability of diverse food products, advancements in medical research, to clean water, clean air, wood fuel, natural gas and oils, and even the clothes that human war as well as other associated materials, all are a result of wildlife and natural ecosystems 8. What do you think “ecotourism” means? Does it exist in the UAE? Ecotourism is but a responsible travel to the relatively undisturbed natural areas that conserves the general environment, with the additive effect of improving the well-being of the local populations. The intent, generally involves low-impact to the endangered natural environments/ destinations where flora, fauna as well as the general cultural heritage are the primary attractions as opposed to mass standard commercial tourism. With the rampant keeping of wild animals in total disregard of the consequences to the environment and the living populations, ecotourism can rightly be said to have gone extinct in UAE. 9. What is meant by “coextinction of other species”? “Coextinction of other species” basically refers to the simultaneous loss/decline of two or more species due to a knock-on effect on certain species within an ecosystem. The loss of a predator species, for instance, may well result in the extinction of other prey species due to the increased competition resulting from the ensuing population surge. Affiliated species such as parasites that are more adapted to a single host species may become extinct if the host precedes. 10. How could this impact on CO2 levels? Coextinction of the tigers and their associated species, for instance, will trigger a series of destructive activities like illegal logging and/or clearing in/of the currently protected habitats for agriculture and development; all of which leads to greater CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, and so increased CO2 levels. As it stands, deforestation currently accounts for more than 15% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. 11. Read the article about exotic species in the UAE and write a paragraph explaining your opinion on this. http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/keeping-a-big-cat-at-home-isnt-cool-its-just-plain-cruel Indeed as it is, keeping wild animals in individuals homes is just but plainly cruel not just to the animals, but to the rest of the public and the world at large. Notably, many of those in custody of the animals acquire them through illegal means, and that with the soaring demand in UAE, more of the wild animals such as the cheetahs in protected areas around the world, are put in grave danger and/or killed to capture the rest, particularly the young cubs. As stated in the article, a large number of those who buy the animals have no idea how to take care of them, in effect, aggravating the danger to themselves and the people on the streets. The fact of the matter is that the enclosures that include ridden out cars are not meant for the animals, and that no one can ever predict a wild animal’s behavior once out of the enclosures that more or less depress them and threaten their very own lives. It is clear that the people of UAE lack enough laws to protect animals in the wild, and the sooner such laws are put in place, the better for the environment and the people the world over. Read More