Dear Wisconsin Wildlife Advocates and Beyond,
We truly care about each and every one of you and we are in this together, one big pack. This is the time to come together, to express concern and love, even with those you disagree with. We too, share your grief. We hope you find time to reflect on your passions and yourself and come out of this an even better advocate for the wildlife who desperately need our energy for conservation. This is the time for compassion and community, and we are so grateful for you and your continued support.
Unfortunately, we have had to cancel our annual event in April, but we are currently working on a video conferencing plan to allow us to join together for our Wildlife Advocacy Day and for our upcoming Endangered Species Day in May.
Together, we will help to find a new way of life, because it is the only sustainable way forward, for both wildlife and ourselves.
The destruction of biodiversity, including the poaching and trafficking of wildlife and plants, even right here in the Great Lakes region, puts people in incredible danger in a variety of ways: the spread of disease like CWD, undermining the rule of law, and threatening local economies that depend on nature. This current situation demonstrates that good wildlife policy and conservation funding, including for enforcement, must be a very high priority to protect our health, communities, and future.
We echo our friends at Endangered Species Coalition:
COVID-19 is causing massive disruption to everyone’s work and lives. Hundreds of thousands have become ill, many fatally so. It appears this crisis originated with humans’ unsustainable approach to the exploitation of wildlife and plants—in this instance, wildlife trafficking. Wildlife trafficking is a commercial enterprise that entails illegal poaching, taking, and trade of wild plants and animals.
Experts believe that the current coronavirus likely originated with the close interaction with wildlife—that may have been illegally trafficked—in a live animal market in Wuhan, China. The disease may have originated in bats and moved to an intermediary host—possibly the highly endangered pangolin, the most trafficked mammal on earth—from which the disease jumped to humans.
We have been here before. SARS, Ebola, and HIV all likely originated from the exploitation of wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Now is the time to learn from our past actions. We must put an end to wildlife trafficking immediately. And, we must stop the unsustainable exploitation of wildlife more broadly. This is the second leading cause of the biodiversity crisis.”
We couldn’t agree more. Our priorities are keeping you and our wildlife, safe, happy and healthy. Please contact us if you would like to get involved!
Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf & Wildlife 