The main reason for poaching is money. Poachers will usually try to sell the carcass, bone, tusk, and horn etc. to Black Markets where they can get good money for it. Ivory and fur are the most commonly wanted items and they can cost up to thousands of dollars. Another reason animals are poached is religion. There are some religions that believe certain animals to be pests, so they hunt them to “keep their land clean”. Some religions also protect certain animals from being hunted because they believe that the animals are sacred.

Animals are also killed for food, for clothes, wool, cosmetics, ornaments, fat, and for sport. One example of poaching is seal clubbing, in the 2010 Norwegian Olympics, seal clubbing is going to be one of the main events. Already, Norwegian hunters have killed 25,000 seal pups since the ban in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. If the sport takes part in the Olympics, this means that even more seals will be slaughtered for no real reason. These seals are helpless and have absolutely no chance of surviving the attacks from the hunters, which makes it easier for full-grown adults to run up and attack them brutally. Seal clubbing also happens often in Canada. The seal hunters use long wooden clubs with spikes on the end so the seal is killed straight away. This is an incredibly disgusting way to slaughter an innocent animal. They are mostly killed for fun, but also for their soft white fur (for pups) which is usually turned into a coat, hat, or rug. Below is another Youtube clip on seal clubbing. It is a bit graphic in some parts; so if it makes you feel uncomfortable or you have a weak stomach, then please don’t watch it.

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