Reflection

Overall, the past year has been pretty crazy, and it's flown by incredibly fast.  As I look over my past entries I realize how much I've changed in such seemingly short time.  Though I am still unsure of what the future holds for me, I am still fairly certain that animals are where my future lies.  The experiences I've had over the last year have made me sure of that.  I'm both sad and happy to be moving on from this year, and definitely excited to see what's in store.  I can't believe just a year away from now I'll be ready to go to college.  This blog and class has really given me the chance to think and research about what I may do with my life, something I probably wouldn't have done on my own.  It has also definitely helped me progress my passion for helping animals, as I researched more and more about current issues in the environment to write about.  

Extinct Animals

Many animal species have gone extinct over the last century due to human hunting and urbanization.  Here are just a few of the species that have gone extinct recently:
1. Passenger Pigeon (1914)

In the 1800s there were about 3.5 billion of these birds in North America, so many that their flocks blackened the skies, but by 1914 they were driven to extinction by excessive hunting for meat and recreation, which started when Europeans immigrated to the Americas.

2. Bubal Hartebeest (1923)

Herds of hundreds of these antelope roamed northern Africa, especially Morocco and Algeria, until the late 1800s, but they were wiped out by hunters.

3. Tasmanian Tiger (1936)

Tasmanian Tigers, also known as the thylacine, were the largest carnivorous marsupials.  The species was at least 4 million years old at the time of its extinction, and indigenous people of Australia first made contact at least by 1000 BC.  By the mid 1600s they were already extinct in Australia, and in the 1900s the Tasmanian government considered them pests and paid people to kill them, causing their extinction.

4. Javan Tiger (1979)

Javan tigers, native to the Indonesian island of Java, went extinct due to poisoning and hunting, fragmentation and deforestation due to post WWII plantations, and poisoning of their prey

5.  Golden Toad (1989)

The golden toad was native to Costa Rica, and went extinct due to climate change.'

6. Zanzibar Leopard (1996)

Deforestation and hunting caused the death of this species from Tanzania, Africa.

7. Pyrenean Ibex (2000)

This ibex was most common in France and Spain, and went extinct due to gradual overhunting in 2000.  Scientists tried to bring the species back to life by creating a clone using tissue samples from the last ibex alive, but the clone died 7 minutes following its birth.

8. Spix's Macaw (2004)

This small blue macaw from Brazil has recently been declared extinct in the wild, though some exist in captivity.  Illegal trapping and trade and habitat destruction contributed to its extinction.

9. Baiji (Yangtze River Dolphin) (2006)

The Baiji made its home in the Yangtze River in China.  Over the last 50 years, the river has become the world's most used waterway.  Fishing, pollution, shipping, hydroelectricity, and noise caused their deaths.  Noise pollution caused them to swim into propellers, fishers used more and more lethal nets, and the riverbed was dredged and filled with concrete.  

Overfishing

Overfishing is a major global problem.  As countries struggle to make more money and boost the economy, they frequently turn to the earths resources to plunder and overuse. Many people don't realize that the worlds resources, especially it's animals, are not inexhaustible, and that nature is a delicate balance that once upturned, is about impossible to restore.  In today's world, people are getting greedy and what we're seeing is tragedy of the commons.  As each country tries I beat the others in strength, they try to eat up as many resources as they can to prevent others from taking it. I think it's horrible how many animals and fish are dying unnecessarily.  Big fishing companies bypass and find loopholes in laws and regulations and fish far beyond the renewable rate, wiping out entire species and causing the whole ocean to suffer, just to make quick but large profit.  Most of the fish produced is wasted as excess, whether on the dinner plate or in the markets, since more is harvested than demand requires.  

People have taken the worlds resources too much for granted, in this case, marine creatures.  Yes, fisheries may make big bucks on a day to day basis, but lets look at it from a long term perspective.  Even if people don't care about the ethics of letting whole species die out, they should care about their futures.  If we kill all the fish now, what will be left in the future for food?  Not to mention, the harms the loss of organisms in the species will have on the health of the earth as a whole.  When one species goes extinct, it causes a huge loop of extinctions, a positive feedback loop that once initiated, can't be stopped.  The number of dolphins, whales, and fish being killed in Japan alone can contribute to the extinction of 35 species of large marine organisms per year.  

People have started taking what they have on their plates for granted, and many take the earth's resources for granted.  We have lost the respect for the lives we are taken to sustain ourselves, and now kill ruthlessly and unnecessarily without even respecting the lives we take.  The native Americans used to kill for meat only when they really needed it. They worshipped the animals they killed as gifts for their survival, and regretted having to take lives away for their own.  They used every part of the animal and didn't let any go to waste.  Where have those days gone? Every time I go to grocery stores and restaurants, I see pounds and tons of food being thrown away as if its nothing.  We are not only ravaging the earth, but we are not even paying it respect by using what we take.  

This needs to end.  If we are going to take the lives of other creatures, we should do it sustainably and with respect.  We need to stop overkilling and making actions just based on quick profit, no matter how much money is offered and how desperate we are.

Wildlife Veterinarian

Wildlife/zoological veterinary science isn't for people who aren't passionate about the animals.  In fact, to become a wildlife vet, you need to put in equal money and years into education as you would need to become a doctor or surgeon, but in the end you would get much less pay.  Yet wildlife veterinary medicine really is where my interest lies.

As a wild animal veterinarian, I would get the opportunity to work with exotic animals in a steady environment like a zoo, research facility, or rehabilitation center.  I would also be able to travel and work in different countries treating different animals.  The options I would have would allow me to live out my dream and travel and see animals in their natural habitats and interact with them for as long as I want, and when I decide to settle down in one place, I could still do that.  

I really want to make a difference with conservation of animals and prevention of extinction, and even working in a zoo I'd be able to make a difference in that way.  Many zoos have breeding programs to breed endangered species in hope of reviving their populations to healthy numbers.  Zoo vets are instrumental to this process; therefore in being a zoo vet I'd really be able to at least try to make a difference.  

Most veterinarians have to choose a specialty within the field, especially zoo vets, since there are so many species you would come across.  I would specialize in mammals, since I am most interested in them.  Being a zoo vet would be a hard path but extremely rewarding path for me.  A wildlife biologist usually has to focus on only one or two specific species.  However, as a zoo vet, I'd come across dozens of different species on a day to day basis.  

People often tell me that taking an occupation based on my passion may not be the best thing.  However, I can't imagine myself doing anything else.  Zoo vets go through about 6 extra years of education than normal companion animal vets, and have to pass several certification tests, but at the end of the day, they earn less than other vets.  Despite this, wildlife veterinary medicine is what I want to do.  

http://allthecreatures.org/animals/a-healthcare-career-with-animals.html

http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/pandas/tai-shan/baby-panda-pictures/seven-twelve-weeks-5.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/08/12/GA2010081201896.html

http://www.oregonzoo.org/gallery/term/75/0?type=image&items_per_page=24

http://www.elliottgarber.com/do-you-want-to-be-a-zoo-vet-national-zoo-veterinary-externship/

Career with animals, yes, but what?

As I look into possible careers I can go into, one that catches my eye is veterinary pathology.  Veterinary pathology is the study of diagnosing diseases in animals by examining bodily fluids and tissues.  Diagnosing these diseases and finding cures is extremely helpful for animals.  Many diseases that are transmitted between species can be controlled and possibly eliminated thanks to the efforts of pathologists.  This can help solve many problems that end up killing animals when there is unnatural interaction between species due to humans.  For example, in parts of Africa, unnatural interaction between cattle and wild ungulates causes the passing of diseases.  When the wild animals pass the disease to the cattle, the farmers take it upon themselves to "exterminate the pests killing their herds." When cattle pass the diseases to the wild animals, many wild species are threatened and often wiped out because the diseases are totally foreign to their immune systems.  With pathologists' work, however, many of these diseases can be eradicated.  Primate and human shared diseases can also be treated and minimized with pathology.  In many countries, diseases caused by eating bushmeat kills many people.  If more people take up animal pathology, diseases like these can be explained and cured.  

While there are many benefits to taking up veterinary pathology, including benefits to health of animals and humans and a hefty paycheck of an average $170,000 a year, I don't know how right veterinary pathology is for me.  For one thing, I wouldn't be able to interact with animals on a day to day basis the way I want to.  The animals I would be studying would be numbers to me; getting attached to them would be disapproved of because they are part of labs and experiments and patients, subjects that we are studying.  Also, microbiology has never been a strong suit for me. In AP Biology I understand everything about macrobiology and evolution and things like that, but when it comes to intercellular things, I need help understanding what's going on. 

So while veterinary pathology is a very possible career choice for me, I will definitely keep number one on my list of careers open for suggestions. 

Recently I came across an article that reminded me of a situation that occurred last year:

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/blog/morning_call/2012/10/one-year-after-exotic-animals-escape.html

A man in Ohio who owned many exotic animals decided to let them all loose one day before committing suicide.  The animals wandered through the suburban neighborhoods, and 50 of the 56 escaped animals were shot by authorities to prevent civilian injury.  The animals killed included 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, 6 black bears, 3 mountain lions, 2 grizzly bears, a baboon, and 2 wolves.  The number of animals killed by authorities, most being endangered animals, angered me.  In the first place, the man should not have even been allowed to own the animals.  Ohio laws on exotic animals made it easier for people to own a tiger than a squirrel.  I was upset at the number of dead animals, especially because I think that authorities should have tranquilized the animals before shooting them, and at least try to save them.  I understand they presented a threat to the people, but as long as the citizens stayed in their homes, they would be safe.  This article, posted  a year after that incident, talked about new laws that have been passed in Ohio that restrict the buying and selling of exotic animals in the state.  It makes me happy to know that people are doing things in the government to prevent such incidents from happening again.  

Another thing I have a major issue with is sport hunting.  Though I don't generally like hunting and eating the catch, since there is plenty of meat in supermarkets that gets wasted every day because it isn't bought, at least hunting and eating the meat is better than hunting and keeping the parts for trophies and nothing else.  Images such as the ones below horrify me, because people cause the deaths of innocent animals with families and lives of their own for pure pleasure.  I find that idea barbaric.  It is one thing to kill an animal and at least eat its meat, like many deer hunters do, but another totally different thing to kill an animal merely to hang its head on a wall of trophy heads.  I hope to do something to end the reckless allowance of sport hunting when I grow up.  The animals usually don't even have a chance against the long range guns and technology hunters are given.  Often they have babies that they never get home to, family groups they help sustain.  Personally, as a vegetarian from a whole family of vegetarians, I don't see the necessity to eating meat, however, I in no way condemn it.  I just believe that meat should be respected the way Native Americans respected it.  The animals should be respected, nothing should be wasted, and it must be understood that in order to sustain your life you had to take another.  The way the settlers in the United States treated bison, killing millions so their carcasses piled up in mounds 15 times the height of a human disgusts me. 

 

http://www.alaskatrophyadventures.com/hunt04.htm

http://lionexploitation.wordpress.com/canned-lion-hunting/legal-status-in-south-africa/

 entire tourist families would pose next to dead giraffes in several national parks in Africa in order to take home pictures of themselves next to the "trophy giraffes" they brought down. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089806/The-giraffe-hunters-pay-10-000-shoot-gentle-giants-guns-bows-sport.html

Volunteering

Animals have always been a passion for me, but I have always felt the need to know if it would make a good career choice for me. Many people have told me not to make my passion a career, because sometimes it turns your passion into a job, that you have no choice but to adhere to.  They say a passion should remain as only a source of fun.  To figure out for myself if working with animals as a job choice was right for me, I volunteer with animals.  My internship at Happy Hollow was more of a job than a carefree volunteering experience; there were limited spaces, interviews, and many responsibilities that came with the job.  And though many people told me that I may not find animal careers as fun and interesting, I never felt bored while working.  Even if I worked with the same animals every day, I discovered something new.  I was given the opportunity to hold and interact with many animals I didn't think I'd ever get to meet.  I've met lemurs, wallabies, alligators, and meerkats while working.
In the future, perhaps after I graduate high school, I would like to spend a couple months in Africa or India volunteering with animals.  One amazing opportunity allows for volunteers to care for orphaned wildlife.  The project, at Noah's Ark Wildlife Center, is located in Namibia, Africa: http://www.enkosiniecoexperience.com/NoahsArk.htm and seems amazing.  Though it seems as if it isn't as much of a help to the animal populations as a whole, (since you pay a lot of money to bottlefeed baby animals, its more of a fun vacation) it's still a good place to start.  I want to be able to get my hands dirty and involved in taking care of animals in order to gain a deeper personal connection with them.  Also, established centers such as the one above are good places to start, since I am used to a comfortable, mostly disease-free lifestyle with many luxuries, and such centers have at least some of the luxuries and protect better against disease (since they are geared more toward foreign visitors).
I would also look into volunteering in India.  I go every other year anyway to visit family, and I have always been fascinated with the wildlife of India.  The Gir Forest especially, the only place on earth where lions, tigers, and leopards all coexist in the wild, is a place of interest.  And obviously, since it is where I am from, I have a natural connection to the country.
Currently, I volunteer at Nike Animal Rescue Foundation, where I look after kittens and bottlefeed and socialize them when necessary and the German Shepherd Rescue.
I plan to do an internship at the Silicon Valley Wildlife Center, which would give me a chance to work with local wildlife.