User:Wildforchange: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:46, 11 August 2023

Wild For Change

Interview:Save The Frogs! with Kerry Kriger - WikiAnimal

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”

John Muir

I love and always have loved animals. It was instinctual. My love of nature was more or less cultivated by my experiences. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, nature wasn’t as apparent as having my dog to love and play with. As I traveled with my family to go camping or visit places like the mountains of Colorado and Germany, my love of nature grew and I became more aligned with it.

Throughout my life, it became more apparent my love for animals and nature. But a life changing visit to the Performing Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) in California directed me to really align to become a voice for animals. I met wildlife of all kinds at PAWS, including a bull elephant named Nicolas that was rescued from a circus who forced him to ride a tricycle. After seeing what was possible at PAWS, I knew it was time to leave my career as a physical therapist and devote my life to being an advocate for animals.

I began volunteering with the Humane Society of the United States and Tusk Task Force to help advocate for legislation to be passed in Illinois to ban the sale and trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn. It took three years of advocating and meeting with legislators to pass this bill. Shortly thereafter, we were able to pass an all-encompassing piece of legislation that would ban the sale and trade of wildlife parts of all endangered species in perpetuity in Illinois.

Since then, I continue to advocate for other animals in Illinois, the United States, and around the globe.

I was then inspired to create two petitions to help wildlife. One to support the elephants in Botswana which currently has over one million signatories. The other petition which has over 80,000 supporters is addressed to the United States government to pass the ProTECT Act (Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creatures Trophies Act) which would ban trophy hunting imports of endangered species.

As I was advocating for the wildlife, I was inspired to reach our youth and began speaking to children at schools about wildlife trafficking and why the wildlife’s existence is so important for all of us. I was touched by how engaged and eager the children wanted to help.

It was through advocating for endangered species, I began learning more about the important roles elephants and rhinos play as keystone species in ecosystems. I was seeing the interconnection these species have with nature; how they help sustain and improve ecosystems which benefit other wildlife, as well as humans and the overall health of the planet.

As I was becoming more aware about nature’s vital role in all of our lives and our inherent interconnection with it, I wanted to bridge the gap between us and nature and find ways we can make this world a better place for all beings. Thus, Wild For Change was born from this love of both animals and our planet.

I started the Wild For Change podcast to celebrate the gamechangers who are making a difference for animals and nature. With each guest I speak with, I become more inspired to create positive change, and more in love with our planet.

I have become part of the All About Animals Radio Show family and co-host radio shows speaking to animal advocates, conservationists, and organizations who are making it their life’s work to help and protect animals.

I am Wild For… Animals to be treated with respect! I am Wild For… The Earth to be treated with reverence! I am Wild For… Sharing how both are interconnected to each other and us!

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-== Trophy Hunting Kills One Animal Every Three Minutes, Threatening Endangered Species and Climate Change Efforts ==
+== Wild For Change ==
-[[File:British Governor Sir Hesketh Bell with hunting trophies in Uganda, 1908.png|alt=British Governor Sir Hesketh Bell with hunting trophies in Uganda, 1908|thumb|British Governor Sir Hesketh Bell with hunting trophies in Uganda, 1908]]
+'''<big>I am [https://www.wildforchange.com Wild For Change]!</big>'''
-In a study posted last year, it was found that trophy hunters killed one animal every '''THREE''' minutes over the last decade.<ref>[https://bantrophyhunting.org/one-animal-killed-every-three-minutes-trophy-hunting-is-out-of-control/ One Animal Killed Every Three Minutes: Trophy Hunting is out of Control!] Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting</ref>
-The study revealed:
+[[Interview:Save The Frogs! with Kerry Kriger|Interview:Save The Frogs! with Kerry Kriger - WikiAnimal]]
-* Included in the 1.7 million animals killed in the last decade, were elephants, lions and rhinos who are part of  the [[Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora]] (CITES) protected species.
+“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
-* Nearly 800 hunters won the ‘African Big 5’ prize for killing at least one elephant, lion, leopard, a black or white rhino, and a buffalo.
-* Safari Club International awards a special prize to anyone who shoots more than 80 different African species.
-* Trophy hunting undermines many facets of maintaining biodiversity around the globe at a time where many wildlife are endangered and being pushed towards extinction.
-* Trophy hunting threatens the survival of species in many ways:
-** Risk of local extinction of wildlife populations.<ref>[https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1377 Assessing the sustainability of African lion trophy hunting, with recommendations for policy] Creel, S., M’soka, J., Droge, E., Rosenblatt, E., Becker, M.S. Matandiko, W. and Simpamba, T. (2016)</ref>
-** Population structure is then skewed to subadult males and females which reduces reproductive success.<ref>[https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00591.x Milner, J. M., Nilsen, E.B. and Andreassen, H.P.(2007). “Demographic side effects of selective hunting in ungulates and carnivores.”] ''Conservation Biology'' 21(1): 36-47</ref>
-** Genetic erosion: where there is decreased genetic diversity and loss of resilience.<ref>[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2008.02.008 Genetic effects of harvest on wild animal populations.” ''Trends in ecology & evolution'' 23(6): 327-337] Allendorf, F.W., England, P.R., Luikart, G. Ritchie, P.A., and Ryman, N. (2008)</ref>
-** Destabilization of wildlife populations through the key loss of individuals who contain the critical social and ecological knowledge needed for the survival and reproduction.<ref>[https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0168 Leadership in elephants: the adaptive value of age.” ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences'' 278(1722): 3270-3276] McComb, K., Shannon, G., Durant, S. M., Sayialel, K., Slotow, R., Poole, J. and Moss, C. (2011).</ref>
-Endangered keystone species who are being hunted down for trophies are in fact doing more to support climate change than we are just by their sheer existence and everyday their numbers keep on dwindling.
+John Muir
-The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported we have a decade left to help turn back the clock on preventing even larger scale climate disasters and rewilding of endangered species like the elephant and wolf can help promote healthier ecosystems which results in a healthier planet for you and me.
+I love and always have loved animals. It was instinctual.  My love of nature was more or less cultivated by my experiences. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, nature wasn’t as apparent as having my dog to love and play with.  As I traveled with my family to go camping or visit places like the mountains of Colorado and Germany, my love of nature grew and I became more aligned with it.
-[[File:American bison k5680-1.jpg|alt=American bison|thumb|American bison]]
-According to an article published in the Nature Climate Change journal; “Rewilding nine wildlife species (African forest elephants, American bison, fish, gray wolves, musk oxen, sea otters, sharks, whales, and wildebeest) would contribute more than 95% of the annual requirement to achieve the global target of extracting 500 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2100. This in turn would help cap the global temperature rise at less than 1.5 degree Celsius.<ref>[https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01631-6 Trophic rewilding can expand natural climate solutions. ''Nat. Clim. Chang.'' 13, 324–333 (2023).]  Schmitz, O.J., Sylvén, M., Atwood, T.B. ''et al.''</ref>
-Many of the hunted wildlife are keystone species that actually support ecosystems. Keystone species are the blueprint to help keep our ecosystems balanced and intact.  Saving them is a simple solution to help save our planet because humans benefit from healthy ecosystems as ecosystems provide us with healthy water, oxygen, and sequester carbon.
+Throughout my life, it became more apparent my love for animals and nature.  But a life changing visit to the Performing Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) in California directed me to really align to become a voice for animals.  I met wildlife of all kinds at PAWS, including a bull elephant named Nicolas that was rescued from a circus who forced him to ride a tricycle. After seeing what was possible at PAWS, I knew it was time to leave my career as a physical therapist and devote my life to being an advocate for animals.
+I began volunteering with the Humane Society of the United States and Tusk Task Force to help advocate for legislation to be passed in Illinois to ban the sale and trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn.  It took three years of advocating and meeting with legislators to pass this bill. Shortly thereafter, we were able to pass an all-encompassing piece of legislation that would ban the sale and trade of wildlife parts of all endangered species in perpetuity in Illinois.
-== See also ==
+Since then, I continue to advocate for other animals in Illinois, the United States, and around the globe.
-* [[Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora]]
+I was then inspired to create two petitions to help wildlife. One to support the elephants in Botswana which currently has over one million signatories. The other petition which has over 80,000 supporters is addressed to the United States government to pass the ProTECT Act (Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creatures Trophies Act) which would ban trophy hunting imports of endangered species.
-* [[Trophy hunting]]
-== References ==
+As I was advocating for the wildlife, I was inspired to reach our youth and began speaking to children at schools about wildlife trafficking and why the wildlife’s existence is so important for all of us. I was touched by how engaged and eager the children wanted to help.
-<references />
-== Notes ==
+It was through advocating for endangered species, I began learning more about the important roles elephants and rhinos play as keystone species in ecosystems.  I was seeing the interconnection these species have with nature; how they help sustain and improve ecosystems which benefit other wildlife, as well as humans and the overall health of the planet.
-{{AT disclaimer}}
+As I was becoming more aware about nature’s vital role in all of our lives and our inherent interconnection with it, I wanted to bridge the gap between us and nature and find ways we can make this world a better place for all beings.  Thus, Wild For Change was born from this love of both animals and our planet.
+I started the Wild For Change podcast to celebrate the gamechangers who are making a difference for animals and nature. With each guest I speak with, I become more inspired to create positive change, and more in love with our planet.
+I have become part of the All About Animals Radio Show family and co-host radio shows speaking to animal advocates, conservationists, and organizations who are making it their life’s work to help and protect animals.
+I am Wild For… Animals to be treated with respect!
+I am Wild For… The Earth to be treated with reverence!
+I am Wild For… Sharing how both are interconnected to each other and us!