Beauty’s Beloved Beasts

education, preservation and conservation

About Dana

I’ve always felt as if I was born into a world in which I didn’t quite fit. As a young girl, I struggled with the way we as a people interacted with the countless beautiful creatures we share this planet with. I knew something was fundamentally wrong. As I grew into a woman, I learned that my differences were my strengths, and that my choices and decisions would help to inspire others. I soon discovered that the meaning of life was to give life meaning, and my life’s meaning was to help create a new world, where animals could live free of cruelty, abuse and the threat of extinction. For almost a decade, I have focused my efforts on studying the pandemic issues of threatened and endangered species facing extinction. What I’ve learned is alarming. As human life continues to evolve, the consequences for countless species of animals grow dire. With extinction far surpassing its normal background rate, future generations are set to inherit an earth devoid of countless species of wildlife. As human beings, we have a responsibility to raise awareness about poaching, illegal trapping, canned hunting, habitat destruction, and many other causes of the decimation of wildlife around the world. We have an absolute obligation to facilitate change, practice conservation, and educate the world on how they can help bring about an end to the devastation of our wildlife. We must be the change in ourselves that we wish to see in the world. Through example, it is my wish to show the world that being unable to do everything to save all animals isn’t an excuse to do nothing. Start small, and from here we will grow.

Most importantly my message to the world is that I believe I am what I do, not what I say I’ll do.

Why Help The Lion?

Well, Lions are UNIQUE among cats, as they live in a group known as a “pride”. The pride members will spend the day in scattered groups, or may unite to share a meal. The prides consist of several generations of lionesses, some of which are related, as well as a smaller number of breeding males, and their cubs. Over the last two decades the lion population has been nearly cut in half due to poaching and habitat loss. However, populations of lions rose roughly 11% in certain countries where parks are well funded and managed appropriately. National Geographic states, “There are half as many African lions than there was 25 years ago.” Wildlife Conservation Network Director (WCN) Paul Thomson states, “Lions are one of the world’s universal and iconic animals, and they are quietly slipping away.” Thomson goes on to say, “Now is the time to stop the loss and bring lions back into landscapes across the continent.”

Why Help The ELEPHANT?

The human world MUST know elephants have deep family bonds. Females will often stay with their mothers their whole lives, so elephants often become great-grandmothers. They are highly sensitive animals, with gestures and emotions similar to humans. As an example, if a baby elephant cries, the herd will touch and caress the baby with their trunks to sooth it. Elephants also mourn the deaths of their loved ones, often by running their trunks along the remains of another elephant. Even years after death, an elephant reacts to the bones of a deceased herd member, an action that lends itself to the adage “An elephant NEVER forgets.” As of today, there are less than 415,000 elephants across Africa, nearing this species towards extinction. The global elephant population has also declined significantly during the 20th century, largely due to illegal ivory trade. Fortunately, in 1989 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) orchestrated an agreement among world governments to regulate or ban international trade in species under threat, which included banning commercial trade in elephant ivory.

Why Help The TIGER?

Over the last century, the tiger’s natural habitat has declined by a staggering 95%. Fewer than 4,000 tigers are thought to remain in the wild, with factors like poaching and fragmentation threatening to lower this number every day. A significant contribution to tiger extinction is the use of tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicine, where almost every last part of a tiger is used in some fashion to treat all sorts of human maladies. Still practiced in large parts of Asia, traditional Chinese medicine regards tiger bone in particular to have healing properties, creating a high demand for the animal in one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Despite being celebrated as a widely recognizable and universally beautiful species, the tiger faces the threat of extinction, with three of its nine subspecies already lost to the hands of humans. Without intervention, the tiger stands to join a growing list of animals lost forever to this world. 

Why help the Elephant?

The human world MUST know elephants have deep family bonds. Females will often stay with their mothers their whole lives, so elephants often become great-grandmothers. They are highly sensitive animals, with gestures and emotions similar to humans. As an example, if a baby elephant cries, the herd will touch and caress the baby with their trunks to sooth it. Elephants also mourn the deaths of their loved ones, often by running their trunks along the remains of another elephant. Even years after death, an elephant reacts to the bones of a deceased herd member, an action that lends itself to the adage “An elephant NEVER forgets.” As of today, there are less than 415,000 elephants across Africa, nearing this species towards extinction. The global elephant population has also declined significantly during the 20th century, largely due to illegal ivory trade. Fortunately, in 1989 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) orchestrated an agreement among world governments to regulate or ban international trade in species under threat, which included banning commercial trade in elephant ivory.