Sharks are only one example of species that are in danger of becoming extinct.
• Tigers are under severe threat in southeast Asia, where they are being killed for their body parts.
• Rhinos in Africa are also under severe threat; the horn is supposed to be an aphrodisiac.
• Sun bears and Asian bears are almost extinct due to the same voracious demands of the people who eat these wild animals in China… again the bear has so called “medicinal value” according to the Chinese.
• Orangutans in Borneo are under severe threat as the forests in which they live are being clear cut to make way for oil palm plantations.
• Sea turtles are being smuggled out of the Philippines and Malaysia in the hundreds by offshore Chinese fishing vessels. Again, turtle meat is an Asian delicacy.
• The same applies to the Borneo Pangolins (anteaters), now fetching up to $30 a pound and now almost hunted to extension.
• The Japanese are buying and storing hundreds of tons of yellow fin tuna, according to the book and the movie The End of the Line, which describes in detail the end of global fishery stocks as we know them today, all due to greed and overfishing.
Canadians need to know these things, as without doubt the threat will arrive on Canadian shores sooner or later. Please support the Vancouver Animal Defense League in its quest to ban the sale and consumption of not only shark fin but other so-called Chinese delicacies that are depleting and harming our global wildlife heritage.
Ray Winfield, Surrey
