- Common name: Finger Monkey.
- Scientific name: Cebuella pygmaea
- IUCN Category (vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, etc.): Vulnerable
- Geographic range: The monkey is native to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. The upper elevation limit is 940 meters.
- Habitat: The monkey lives in a terrestrial system and a forest habitat. This monkey is native to river- edge forest, which is prone to deforestation. The areas it is located can be affected by agriculture and hunting, but it is able to live in habitats near humans. The monkey prefers inundated forests, liana forest, and around lakes and rivers in Peru. The species travels through the vegetation closer to the ground (“International Union”, n.d.).
- Assessment information: The species is labeled as vulnerable. The Monkey was last assessed on January 26th, 2015 because is it believed that it is experiencing a population size reduction greater than 30% throughout a 3-generation period (“International Union”, n.d.).
- Threats: Threats include housing and urban areas, wood and pump plantations, mining quarrying, hunting, trapping, logging, and wood harvesting. Work and other activities also pose a threat. (“International Union”, n.d.)
- Use and Trade: This animal is affected by illegal trade. The monkeys are hunted in Ecuador and used as pets. The monkey was added to the IUCN website6 primarily because of the international trade, mostly from the area of Iquitos, Colombia (“International Union”, n.d.).
- Appendix listing and related countries with Source Code(s) (the letters W, X, R, etc.): II, A4dc.
URL for the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E6Fcf3oflVdNY5fvjYovXYnIuRZupyP85OSDaCzIYMw/edit#gid=0
Species 2:
- Common name: Yellow Spotted Salamander.
- Scientific name: Pseudohynobius flavomaculatus
- IUCN Category (vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, etc.): Vulnerable.
- Geographic range: The salamander is native to Hunan and Hubei China. The upper elevation limit is 2,165 meters and the lower elevation limit is 1,258 meters.
- Habitat: The system the salamander lives in is terrestrial and freshwater. They live in habitats such as forests, shrubland, and wetlands. The Salamander thrives in wet environments with an abundance of vegetation. The adults stay on land and hide under mosses and bamboo thickets. The species breeds in streams and forms larvae (“International Union”, n.d.)
- Assessment information: The Salamander is labeled as vulnerable. This assessment was done on June 19, 2019. The Salamander is native to only two areas that are prone to various threats, and the number of mature adults has decreased (“International Union”, n.d.).
- Threats: The salamander is exposed to various threats like roads, railroads, agriculture, and forestry, and different effluents. These threats cause ecosystem degradation.
- Use and Trade: There are no specific records of how the species is utilized, but I have found that they are used as pets.
- Appendix listing and related countries with Source Code(s) (the letters W, X, R, etc.): II, V.
URL for the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E6Fcf3oflVdNY5fvjYovXYnIuRZupyP85OSDaCzIYMw/edit#gid=0
Section B
After looking at the spreadsheet, it is obvious that all the ads for these exotic animals are in the U.S, more specifically, Texas. Most of the sellers' word their ads to make it seem as if what they are doing is legal. In the section for short ad descriptions on the spreadsheet, many of the ads stated that the animals were babies, or happy to hang out with humans. They also used words like “rehoming” or “consigned”. Individuals that are not educated in wildlife trafficking see these ads and think they are harmless and reliable.
When gathering my data, I tried to focus on animals with “exotic” sounding names because I knew they were most likely to be on the endangered spectrum. Some of the Craigslist ads did not provide pictures and they did not state specifically what kind of species they were. For example, the ad I found for the Yellow Spotted Salamander only labeled it as a Spotted Salamander, but I googled what different species look like and figured out its actual name. I suppose the creators of the ad did this on purpose so that they are not flagged for selling endangered species. Similarly, it was extremely easy to find animal traffickers on Facebook. Even more alarming, there were many comments under the posts showing interest in buying the animals.
This activity was extremely interesting, and I really liked the concept of having the entire class work on one spreadsheet. Activities like this are a great way to educated people over the animal trafficking trade because it proves just how often it goes on without notice. I was able to pull up multiple species being sold that were somewhere on the IUCN endangered category. Although this is a great activity, it is incredibly sad. I wish I could do more for the animals that are being sold, but it is hard not to feel helpless. Most of these exotic animals have very specific diets are overall care needs in order to stay happy and healthy. Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram glorify exotic pets, but these animals are wild. They are meant to be in the wild. They are not easy to take care of. When the life of an animal is commodified, it can be very hard to stop. After all, money makes the world go round.
Figure 1. Craigslist. (2020). Spotted salamanders. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
Figure 2. Facebook. (2021). Marmoset Monkeys available. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
References
CITES. A guide to the application of CITES source codes. (page 4)
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Species+ [Database].
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The red list of threatened species [Database].
United States Fish and Wildlife (USFW). Endangered species [Database]
No comments:
Post a Comment