Wikipedia Trail: Japanese Raccoon Dog to Shark Finning
I wrote about the tanuki this week and thought they were very interesting to read about. I wanted to learn more about the cute little animals so I started by looking at an article about the Japanese Raccoon dog. I learned from this article that the term "tanuki" originally referred to a broader group that resembled of medium-sized cats.
I clicked on Leopard cat in part because it was the apparently the central animal of the tanuki group. Also I didn't know what it looked like but I figured this was a chance to see another new cute animal. I was right:
I learned from the article that leopard cats are endangered and protected under an international treaty called CITES but even where the treaty is accepted it is often no adequately implemented and enforced. I clicked on an article about CITES because I was curious why it wasn't effective and generally what it does.
In learning about what CITES prohibits, I saw the mention of a practice called shark finning. I thought this probably involved cutting off shark fins which it does but I wondered why people would do this. What use is a shark fin? I didn't think shark fins would be worth that much. Well, I was wrong. Apparently, for some species, some people are willing to pay 10,000 to 20,000 dollars a fin. Who would have known?
A Beautiful Tanuki (Wikimedia Commons)
I clicked on Leopard cat in part because it was the apparently the central animal of the tanuki group. Also I didn't know what it looked like but I figured this was a chance to see another new cute animal. I was right:
What a Cute Leopard Kitty (Wikimedia Commons)
I learned from the article that leopard cats are endangered and protected under an international treaty called CITES but even where the treaty is accepted it is often no adequately implemented and enforced. I clicked on an article about CITES because I was curious why it wasn't effective and generally what it does.
40th anniversary CITES logo (Wikimedia Commons)
In learning about what CITES prohibits, I saw the mention of a practice called shark finning. I thought this probably involved cutting off shark fins which it does but I wondered why people would do this. What use is a shark fin? I didn't think shark fins would be worth that much. Well, I was wrong. Apparently, for some species, some people are willing to pay 10,000 to 20,000 dollars a fin. Who would have known?
My new source of income... Just Kidding but I'd be making a killing (Wikimedia Commons)
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