In the morning of the Student Sustainability Summit, I attended a workshop on Nature Loss and the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) came in and gave us an overview on their NGO with an insight into which animals need protecting.
Gathering information from the workshop and their website, I will showcase some memes of animals and give a brief description of why they are under threat.
Tigers:
Unfortunately Timmy here got forced out of his home, some humans came trapping and skinning his friends and family.
For some tigers like Timmy, they are found in small areas of forest in different places throughout Asia, they have to try hard to claw their way to survival in small areas of forest .
Polar Bears:
Sea ice is vital for Polar Bears, and Pearl in the meme can’t find any.
Climate Change makes the sea ice vanish and it adds to the pools of water, consequently impacting their existence.
It’s a shame because polar bears have brought a great wealth of culture and economy to Arctic people for thousands of years.
Orangutans:
Tracy’s friend was hungry, as they couldn’t find the food they required in the forest.
Instead of going hungry, her friend decided to move into more agricultural areas, and of course destroyed crops by munching on them.
Clearly this enfuriates the farmers because they’re damaging produce, so he got shot and killed.
Some of Tracy’s species also get hunted for food and get found quite easily, as they are very large and slow creatures.
Pandas:
Bill and Bob are such jokers, but seriously the roads and railraods are penetrating the forest and this isolates populations, stopping Bill and Bob spreading their seed and start mating.
They do spread their seed though, in a different way… Pandas are the heroes of the bamboo forests and wherever they go, they spread seeds, helping vegetation increase.
Pandas like Bill and Bob bring a significant amount of income to local communities through ecotourism, so they help us as much as they help the animal kingdom.
Elephants:
Due to these elephants roaming around in big herds, they digest hundreds of pounds of plants in a single day, they also need to drink a lot and need ample amount of space to move around.
At times, it is difficult becauase these giant animals take a toll on the environment, resulting in conflicts with humans because they are competing for resources.
Like Pandas, elephants also contribute to help maintain forest and savanna ecosystems for other animals, and are importantly connected to rich biodiversity.
Overall, their presentation was really helpful and made me think more about trying to help the wildlife. A very thought-provoking and moving thing is that we are unfortunately the root of their decline. However we can help though, by contributing/donating to charities like WWF who are changing things for the better.
I like this its both informative and funny (especially the names, Tracy is my fave). I have been doing alot of reading about other endangered species that arent as prevelant in the media today (Fruit Bats, Dung Beetles, Parrotfish etc). Theres an arguement that more conservation money should go towards these “unloved” animals but they are vital for life on earth (More than a Tiger or an Orangutan). There was a good article in last months BBC Wildlife (I have the magazine if you would like it).
That said said I don’t think we should value certain animals over others just because they are cuter or are more useful. At the same time we shouldn’t value human lives over animal lives!
A good article, it would work particularly well with a younger generation. A simple way of introducing them to a serious topic. There’s not much time left to halt the damage already done, it would be awful for these animals to become extinct
This is a great piece of awareness. It is both fresh and provocative with a dash of humour. Well thought through. Well done.
A very important message! More people need to take note!!
This is a subject to which I feel fairly passionate about and indeed stopping negatively impacting wildlife is important.
I feel this original idea of creating memes relating to the issues of humans mistreating wildlife could attract a younger audience who currently live in a world of internet memes. Hopefully this original idea could teach them the importance of the issue.
This light hearted approach could work well as a small scale campaign to alert a specific generation to a particular problem. The meme idea could also be carried through with other issues too.
I particularly like the tiger meme as it is short and to the point with just the right amount of comical value for it to retain its serious message yet attract an audience.
Interesting idea!
This is a truly thought provoking article. We humans need to learn to respect and care for these beautiful intelligent creatures as well as the environment that we share together on this planet of ours. It’s ashame that our overall greed to have everything we want & think we need for our own benefit, pleasure & satisfaction makes us blind to the persecution of these animals , their habitat and the fact that it is possible to coexist with them without having to unnecessarily harm them.
I agree Teresa, we need to step up. Did you know this was happening until now? Animals share naturally, shame some of us don’t. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for this post. Being a student myself, I sometime find it difficult financially. Yet I still donate each month to good causes like the WWF because they make things happen and are genuine. It’s so nice to see animals helping out other animals, that’s something I didn’t really know about. I wish humans would stop killing animals…
Thanks for the comment Naveer! I know what you’re saying about money, it’s difficult. I haven’t donated to any charity yet, but after the presentation, I could probably spare a few quid each month. Yeah I also like seeing animals helping one another out.