Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
nationalgeographic.com
Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
1–10 of 24 posts
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#2When will people learn that wild animals should not be pets? This just saddens me.
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#3Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#4Colombia, not Columbia.
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#5Sloths are amazing animals and the three-toed variety seen in this article is insanely cute but unfortunately for them, their cuteness makes them a desirable object for the tourist selfie industry and people who want them as pets and therefore a target for unscrupulous poachers. And since they're too slow and low on energy to defend themselves it means they're an easy target and most likely won't survive their captors very long.
They've managed to survive for so long by perfectly adapting to that very specific "goldilocks" rainforest canopy environment. Take them out of that environment or stress them out too much and they will get sick and die. They really don't make good pets. That's why most zoos have only sloths of the two-toed variety as they're more resilient vs the three-toed sloths featured in this article.
I wish Colombia would make the sloth trade illegal and also inform tourists not to pay for any services related to interactions with wild sloths under the penalty of law. If you destroy the demand for a service, the supply will naturally fall, but the core issue is more complex as the quote below highlights what the main problem is:
>December through February are typically the busiest months, when he and his friends can sell at least 30 sloths. “I really want to stop,” says Morales, who provides for his mother and nine siblings. “I feel like I don’t have another option.”
I totally get that when people are desperate and out of options of making a decent living they will turn to less humane gigs to feed their family. The key would be to get these people out of poverty first so they don't have to capture and sell wild animals.
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#6Gah, when you've spent any time in Colombia, you're condemned to spend the rest of your life correcting the very easy u (vowel) spelling mistake. Easy one to make since the university is spelled that way + Columbus. But gah, it gets under your skin.
That said, cool article!
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#7Getting a pet sloth is a guaranteed way to kill it.
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#8Colombia, not Columbia.
Argh that was me. The funny thing was I was thinking "must remember to spell this right" as I spelled it wrong.
Fixed now. Thanks!
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#9Gah, when you've spent any time in Colombia, you're condemned to spend the rest of your life correcting the very easy u (vowel) spelling mistake. Easy one to make since the university is spelled that way + Columbus. But gah, it gets under your skin. That said, cool article!
Sorry. Fixed now.
Re: Sloth poaching in northwestern Colombia
#10When will people learn that wild animals should not be pets? This just saddens me.
When people stop being selfish.