Our goal is to make people aware through a social media campaign that tagging the location of endangered or threatened species and the use of geo tags on social media platforms can inadvertently make them vulnerable to poaching by assisting poachers in locating sought after animals and plants for the illegal wildlife and plant trade. Poaching to feed the real and fake medicinal, skin, pet and parts trade have brought many species of animals and plants to the very brink of extinction. Most of these species live in wilderness areas, but often near rural or under-developed communities. It is a sad fact that very often it is these impoverished communities, fueled by international demand and money from organized crime, that conduct the actual killing or collecting of these endangered and threatened species in order to survive themselves. Particularly vulnerable to poaching for this illegal trade are the large “showpiece” species like rhino, elephant, and spotted cats, as well as plants considered valuable in the traditional medicinal trade. Photographic tourism, and the creation of private and public game reserves and protected areas across the continent, have however, created refugia for many of these threatened species, while at the same time bringing jobs to impoverished rural communities, and adding millions of dollars to the economies of under-developed regions and countries. These projects have largely been considered global success stories, but are now under threat due to growing demands of the illegal wildlife trade, and consequent increased poaching. Illegal hunting of particularly elephant, rhino, spotted cats and many plant species has brought these species in many areas to the brink of extinction. As only one example, shockingly, official figures show that more than 1300 rhinos were poached in South Africa alone in 2015, rising a staggering 9,000 percent in the last eight years alone. This unchecked and increasing slaughter has left some experts to suggest that if not stopped, we could see rhinos become extinct in the wild within ten years. But it is not just these ‘showpiece’ African species that are in danger. Smaller, lesser known species of spotted cats, reptiles, birds for the pet trade and even plants are vulnerable to such poaching, many of which also sit on the brink of extinction due to the illegal plant and wildlife trade. Other species populations are often locally devastated as a byproduct of illegal poaching, either through the bushmeat trade, or through death or wounding through inadvertent snaring, becoming a form of ‘bycatch’ of these illegal activities. Such poaching for specific animals or plants can devastate entire ecosystems not just the targeted species. Individual parks, reserves and environmental tourism agencies across the continent have responded to this threat through anti-poaching efforts, stronger border controls, increased monitoring of the trafficking of illegal wildlife and plant parts, public demonstrations intended to de-value wildlife parts through their destruction, investigation of international syndicates and more investment into identifying and understanding end-users of illegally obtained material. But these efforts are not enough and the slaughter continues. A few private and public reserves across the continent of Africa have begun campaigns among their visiting tourists asking them not to give the exact location of particularly vulnerable animals when posting pictures on social media. Such efforts are an attempt to ensure that photographic tourism is not aiding and abetting poachers by letting them easily locate individual plants and animals prized by criminals. While a step in the right direction, such efforts are often foiled by tourists inadvertently giving their holiday location in other photos alongside those of vulnerable species, or simply being unaware of the potential unintended consequences of their actions when posting the location of vulnerable plant and wildlife on social media. The campaign seeks to build awareness of the illegal trade in African animals and plants. At the same time, seeks to build a global culture of not tagging on social media the exact location of particularly endangered or threatened species by tourists, but instead using the hashtag as their universal locator. Such a simple act might save just one threatened animal, and is a simple way for tourists to contribute in a meaningful way to the fight against the illegal poaching of Africa’s vulnerable animals and plants. Please share and spread the word about using the tag on all your wildlife shots. Build a culture of … in your community and across the planet and in doing so assist environmental and conservation organizations as well as law enforcement agencies in protecting the most vulnerable species from being located and perhaps targeted by criminals. Start today by stopping location tags on threatened species, such as the rhino, elephant, gorillas and spotted cats and hashtag on your photos. Make a difference and make this a worldwide trend to help conserve some of Africa’s and the worlds most valued and vulnerable species.
