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/