South Africa

My step signature project was a study abroad trip to South Africa to study exotic animals and their behavior and wellbeing and the affects they have on the environment and people and vice versa. This was done by observation and storytelling as well visiting various parks and endangered species centers and breeding centers.

My view on the world was transformed especially in terms of animal’s welfare and conservation as well as how humans can help maintain falling populations. My view has changed because not only do I look at it from the side of the animals, but for what is good for the people who live right beside them. I also have learned not to add human emotions to the animals because they are not human and what we think is best for them is not always what is best for them. Also, when it comes to animal conservation each country is different and we must look at those needs when determining different techniques for this conservation.

One of the main events that impacted my thoughts on this trip was visiting a rhino breeding operation. Rhinos lives are depleting rapidly because they produce a lot of money on the black market for their horns and when it comes to retrieving the horn illegally it is easiest and fastest to just kill the rhino so many rhinos are poached each day. We were able to sit down and talk with the owner of this facility and talk about his views on the conservation of rhinos. He thinks that making the rhino horn trade legal again would save the populations of rhino because poaching is dangerous and people aren’t going to poach if it isn’t worth the cost and rhinos don’t need to be killed to get their horns. Something I did not know at the time. Hence my views on the ivory trade and the trade of other animal parts of well.

Another thing that impacted my life was visiting Kruger National Park. We were here for eight days and got to safari for many hours during these days. This park provides limited human interaction with the lives of animals other than population control. Despite them being free to roam around they are still enclosed inside a fence and scattered with places for people to stay. So this questions my ideas of what wild and captive really is. I have seen that there is no animal that is truly wild anymore because all the animals are gated off from the people.

One other thing that I encountered that led to my transformation was a cheetah breeding facility. This showed me that in order to maintain decent levels of animal populations not every animal can be saved and should be saved. There is only so much land to hold the animals because they require so much space so once the numbers reach a certain amount there is only so much that can be done. So those numbers need to go back to the community in order to provide for the people and that is what me and a lot of other people don’t understand.

I have always had a love for animals, especially the exotic African species, specifically the giraffe,  and I learned so much on this trip and I have grown because of it. It has made me reconsider my career path and has made me what to find a way to use my skills to not only attempt to save the animals but to educate the people of the world a good way that saves them as well as helps the people who live among them.            

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *