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103 lines
7.4 KiB
103 lines
7.4 KiB
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<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html lang="en">
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<head>
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<meta charset="UTF-8">
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<title>Impact of Rhino Poaching on Ecosystems</title>
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<meta name="description" content="This biology project looks into the impact of rhino poaching on ecosystems.">
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<!-- Top Navbar -->
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<div class="Navbar">
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<div class="Navbar__Link Navbar__Link-brand">
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<h1><a href="#">Impact of Rhino Poaching on Ecosystems</a></h1>
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<a href="mailto:ravi@yeetpc.com">Contact Me</a>
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<div class="section-header">
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<h1>Background</h1>
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<p>Poaching is a widespread issue that's affecting countless countries around the world. Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals. Usually, animals are poached for parts of their bodies, such as a rhino's horn or an elephant's tusks. Poachers can then sell these body parts for millions of dollars on the black market. This illegal hunting can have disastrous effects on the ecosystems of the area, and can even cause certain species to become extinct.</p>
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<div class="image-section-1">
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<div class="poaching-image">
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<img src="static/img/background-poaching.jpg" alt="A dead rhino with its horns removed">
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<!-- Start location section -->
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<div class="location-section">
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<div class="section-header">
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<h1>Affected Location</h1>
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<p>Kenya has been significantly affected by poaching. It is home to 1,258 rhinos (as of 2017) and has large wildlife reserves to protect these animals. Kenya is also home to the last two surviving Northern White Rhinos. Rhino population has been on a general decline over the last century, but has seen a gradual increase over the last few decades. It is of the utmost importance that we protect these animals, since they play an important role in Kenya's savanna ecosystems. Many species of rhino in Kenya, including the Black Rhino & Javan Rhino, are endangered, and it's crucial for humans to protect them.</p>
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</div>
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<!-- Start map section -->
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<div class="map-section-1">
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<iframe title="Map of Kenya" width="100%" height="90%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://www.openstreetmap.org/export/embed.html?bbox=31.684570312500004%2C-2.943040910055132%2C43.41796875000001%2C3.425691524418062&layer=hot&marker=0.24169850190165%2C37.55126953125" loading=lazy></iframe><br/><small><a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=0.242&mlon=37.551#map=7/0.242/37.551&layers=H">View Larger Map</a></small>
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<div class="image-caption">
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<caption></caption>
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</div>
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</div>
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<!-- Start food web section -->
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<div class="food-web-section">
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<div class="section-header" style="margin-bottom: 1em;">
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<h1>Food Web</h1>
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<div class="food-web-image">
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<img src="static/img/rhino-food-web.jpg" alt="Food Web of many organisms in the Kenyan Savanna, including the Rhino" loading="lazy">
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<div class="food-web-explanation">
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<div class="section-header">
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<p>The organisms in green are primary producers and include star grass and acacia. These primary producers are autotrophs, which means that they create their own food. Primary consumers (blue), including the rhino, mouse, termite, and gazelle (all herbivores, which means that they only feed on plants), consume these producers. The mongoose (secondary consumer) eats the mouse & termite, and is an omnivore, so it feeds on both plants and animals. The primary & secondary consumers are eaten by tertiary consumers (yellow), which include the lion, caracal, hyena, and crocodile (all carnivores, meaning that they only eat animal matter). Finally, the vulture (detritivore), a quaternary consumer, consumes the remains of all other consumers. Detritivores feed on dead or decaying organic material. Although adult rhinos don't have any predators in the wild, tertiary consumers like lions and hyenas depend on juvenile and baby rhinos for a food source. Poaching rhinos removes a large food source for these tertiary consumers, and can cause their populations to fall. Humans are indirectly affected by poaching because the removal of rhinos and other animals from the ecosystem prevents natural resources from being returned to the environment. Because of this, the land may become non-arable, and humans' food production would be significantly impacted.</p>
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<div class="symbiosis-section">
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<div class="section-header">
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<h1>Symbiosis</h1>
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<p>A mutualistic relationship that is directly affected by rhino poaching is the relationship between rhinos and the oxpecker bird. Mutualism means that both organisms benefit from the relationship. Oxpeckers eat ticks, parasites, and insects off of rhinos' skin. The oxpecker has a steady food source and the rhino is able to stay clean. If rhino poaching continues, oxpeckers could lose a large part of their diet. An example of commensalism can be seen in the relationship between rhinos and dung beetles. Commensalism is when one organism benefits from a relationship and the other is unaffected. Rhinos produce up to 50 pounds of excrement a day, and dung beetles rely on this as a food source. Again, if rhinos continue to be poached, these beetles could lose a very important source of nutrition. Finally, an example of parasitism is the relationship between rhinos and the bot fly. Parasitism is when one organism benefits from the relationship and the other one is harmed. In this case, the bot fly lives almost its entire life cycle inside a rhino's stomach by eating parts of the rhino's ingested food. The bot fly is able to carry out its life functions, but the rhino loses part of the food it eats. Since bot flies live exclusively in rhino stomachs, poaching may eventually cause the extinction of Africa's largest fly species. If poaching continues, these relationships may be gone forever, and their loss would cause diversity to fall significantly in the environment. Also, symbiotic relationships can take thousands of years to mature, so continued poaching will prevent ecosystems from ever bouncing back. This can cause important natural resources to be removed from our planet, which will be disastrous for the human population.</p>
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<div class="image-section-2">
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<div class="poaching-image">
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<img src="static/img/oxpecker-rhino.jpg" alt="Oxpecker birds on a rhino" loading="lazy">
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</div>
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</div>
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