The illegal hunting and harvesting of animals are the second biggest direct threat to species after habitat destruction. It can have a devastating effect on the individual species and on entire ecosystems as well as on local communities. Wild animals are being poached on a massive scale, with millions of individual animals of thousands of species worldwide killed or captured from their native habitats. 📸@artfamcdk #endpoaching🚫 #extinctionisforever (at Ol Pejeta Conservancy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfDflazKxa0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Beyond the environment and the economy, poaching animals can have severe consequences on communities. Not only does it threaten traditional ways of living but it also relies on profiting from state weaknesses and corruption. This creates an inherent interest among poachers and criminals in actively undermining state economic development – a particular problem in a number of already vulnerable countries in the developing world. 📸@artfamcdk #endpoaching🚫 #extinctionisforever (at Ol Pejeta Conservancy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfA4iYOqqTZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The defaunation of an area due to poaching flows from the immediate impact of killing an existing animal, the medium-term effect of reducing breeding numbers and hence the rate of reproduction, and the long-term effects of thinning the gene pool and the symbiotic- and often irreversible – impact this has on overall biodiversity. Species that are victims of poaching are greatly threatened by extinction.  When just one species becomes extinct, especially if it is a keystone species within the ecosystem, the balance of the ecosystem is thrown off.  The loss of one species can have a chain reaction, leading to the loss of other plants and animals or even the collapse of the entire ecosystem 📸 @artfamcdk #protectallanimals #stoppoachingnow #extinctionisforever (at Ol Pejeta Conservancy) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce0R1boK2pd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

the extinct Pinta Island Tortoise, eliminated as a species by human action, as depicted by the computer, based on my description.

the extinct Western Black Rhinoceros, eliminated as a species by human action, as depicted by the computer, based on my description.

the extinct baiji, eliminated as a species by human action, as depicted by the computer, based on my description.

the extinct Golden Toad, eliminated as a species by human action, as depicted by the computer, based on my description.

the extinct Caspian Tiger, eliminated as a species by human action, as depicted by the computer, based on my description.