Problem - Maintaining the habitat of the capybara and breeding them for meat.
Problem - Maintaining the habitat of the capybara and breeding them for meat.
The capybara (shown left 10) is currently classified as a common species in the 2000 IUCN Red List of threatened species. However, I have found through research that the number of capybara in the wild is declining, "Mortality from hunting is responsible for local extinctions or scarcity in many localities”.1 Also this is confirmed by the statistic, "Today barely 100,000 capybaras are left in Venezuela”. 2
The classification of the capybara as 'common' also means that people are unaware of the affect hunting will, and is having on the population of capybara living in the wild. The conservation of the capybara is overlooked by most people as it is considered a pest, due to its tendency to raid crops when fresh grazing is not available.
The capybara has a great variety of habitats from forest and brush land to swamps, brackish mangrove areas and open savannah. The habitat needs to have all the components of water, dry ground on which to rest, grass and natural shelter1.
These habitats are being destroyed by human activities, such as pollution of freshwater and the drainage of wetlands for agricultural use of the fertile soil, causing damage to the environment where the capybara seeks refuge from predators. Water is being abstracted for human usage increasing the threat to freshwater habitats. Efforts to protect wetlands have now produced several international agreements. Another habitat being destroyed is the grasslands, in the past grassland covered about two fifths of the earth's land surface 3.This grassland is being destroyed for agricultural use for growing crops or raising livestock. However, farming has created grassland; the hill pastures of Europe and New Zealand, for example, are a result of deforestation several centuries ago 3.This old pasture has a larger range of plants and vegetation, which nutritionally benefits the capybara and several other animals. But there is more destruction of habitat occurring than being created. Farmers benefit from destroying the habitats of these animals economically, through the gain of more land and the reduction in the number of capybara. This is because the capybara can destroy crops, but if there are less capybara the damage will be smaller and less frequent. With more land the farmer can grow a larger amount of crops or raise a larger livestock to gain more money. This in my opinion is a simplistic view; the capybara may be a less appealing animal to many people. But it is important to take into account that the depletion and extinction of species is reducing the earth's biodiversity. This change disrupts ecological links, resulting in ecological instability which will in turn come to affect the human.
Conservation of the capybara.
Another major threat to the capybara is hunting by humans for meat and oil from the subcutaneous fat, which is a popular medicine in southern South America (distribution of capybara shown left ). The hides are used to make gloves, belts, leatherjackets, handbags, harnesses and saddles. These products are sold on by the hunters who only receive a bare subsistence wage. So economically there is the problem that if the hunting was stopped the hunters would lose their already very small wage. Also the small wage means the hunter has to kill a larger number of the capybara to gain money to feed his family, if the wage was increased there would be less carnage. Socially many people have different views on the hunting of capybara; in countries where capybara meat is popular such as Venezuela, the general view point is that the meat is a delicacy and "they contend that eating capybara, which is a cousin of the guinea pig, shouldn't make people squeamish." 2 Where as other people would be completely against the idea morally as killing a wild animal is wrong when we already have food resources from cattle. I believe that the hunting and killing of capybara is highly unethical due to the way in which the hunting and killing is carried out. The hunting takes place along Forest Rivers where the capybara take refuge and dogs are used to drive the capybara to shore or into water where they are shot or harpooned. They are hunted at night using canoes and caught in pitfalls dug. This means a very large number die due to hunting as there is little chance of escape for such a large and vulnerable animal. In Llanos of Columbia and Venezuela the capybara are hunted commercially during the dry season on the open savannah. They are easily located in the open area, rounded up and driven by mounted hunters to a prearranged spot. Here they are surrounded and the adults with cubs are slaughtered. This slaughter can be as many as 200 animals a day. They are either gutted in the field or transported to a camp or slaughter house. 1 All of which are cruel and highly stressful to the animals.
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Quality of writing
All punctuation, grammar and spelling are to a high standard. Paragraphing presents the information clearly.
Level of analysis
The scientific depth that the candidate has gone into is what I would expect from the higher end of candidates at this level. The candidate uses a range of scientific principles to support their arguments increasing the depth of analysis shown in the essay. The candidate introduces the essay with a clear and concise background to the animal, and it would have been good to the candidate to sum the essay up with an overall conclusion. References are not cited throughout the text but they are presented in a bibliography but to increase their grade the sources would have been cited correctly in the text.
Response to question
The response to the question is done to a very high level. The candidate introduces the topic well and argues on a variety of topics that are relevant to the issue with this animal. The answer is clear and concise. The main body of text provides analysis and evaluations throughout, and sources are analysed at the end for their validity.
