“Earth was created for all life, not just human life.” Poaching is the illegal hunting, killing or capturing of wild animals. Poaching and wildlife crimes are some of the top reasons many species join the endangered species list every year. There are many things that are considered poaching, some are: Hunting, killing or collecting wildlife that are listed as endangered by IUCN and protected by law such as the Endangered Species Act; Fishing and hunting without a license; Capturing wildlife outside legal hours and outside the hunting season(usually breeding season); Prohibited use of machine guns, poison, explosives, snare traps, nets and pitfall traps; Hunting from a moving vehicle or aircraft; Taking wildlife on land that is restricted, owned by or licensed to somebody else. Shining deer with a spotlight at night to impair its natural defenses and making it easier kill is considered animal abuse. This hunting method is illegal in California, Virginia, Connecticut and Tennessee. The motives change a little depending on the grounds, such as:  in North America people poach for commercial gain, home consumption, trophies, and pleasure and thrill in killing wildlife; In rural areas of the United States, their motives are based around poverty; In African rural areas, the key motives for poaching are the lack of employment opportunities and a limited potential for agriculture and livestock production. Also In Africa(mostly) they poach for decorative or cultural “needs”. They skin them and use the skin as rugs, they remove the tusks because they are part of their culture and worshiped, and some of their innards are useful in medicines that they create. In Canada they allow seal hunting, their excuse is that there are too many seals and they need to lower the population. They treat that as a sport, and kill hundreds at time. No matter what reason people poach, it affect species populations. They are declining: There are 18,000 lions left; 3,200 tigers; 200,000 leopards; 15,000 jaguars; 70,000 bald eagles; 400,000 elephants; 700 gorillas; and 28,000 rhinos. It’s not just land animals either, it’s all animals. People fin sharks to use them in soup. After they fin them, they put them back in the ocean and let them die. Their numbers are declining as well. Every year the numbers drop lower and lower, if we don’t try to protect them, they will become extinct. There are many ways we can help. We can create petitions and sign pledges. Donate to organization that are serious about stopping wildlife crimes, such as: World Wildlife Foundation, African Wildlife Foundation, and International Fund for Wildlife Welfare and many others. Host fundraisers and volunteer with anti-poaching foundations. Get educated and spread your knowledge to people, the more that people are aware, the better chance we have to end the rapid declines in wildlife species.