Gifting Wisely

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving is designated as "Giving Tuesday," when people are asked to consider making charitable donations, perhaps as a partial atonement for the mass consumerism that is Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday.  Of course, Giving Tuesday can easily become a part of your holiday shopping, if you choose to donate to charity in someone's name as a gift for the season.


 This is always tricky, of course - there are a LOT of charities out there, all claiming to be doing the good work of saving animals.  Some do.  Others, less so.


If your gift-giving is going to take a more conventional form (i.e., actual presents), please make sure that you are first following the Hippocratic Oath - Do No Harm.  Just because a product can be bought or sold legally does not mean that it does not have a negative impact on wildlife.  The internet makes it increasingly easy for products that are legal (or at least poorly enforced) in one jurisdiction to be sold in another. 


The following is a list of products (by no means comprehensive) that the Wildlfie Trafficking Alliance strongly suggests that you avoid: Ivory, Tiger Product, Rhino Product, Sea Turtle Product, Medicinal Products derived from animals.  You could easily add several other items to the list, from unethically obtained wild animal pets to all sorts of knickknacks, such as dried seahorses.


It may seem silly to focus on these - we generally think of wildlife products being in demand in other cultures in other countries, "It's an Asian problem, not an American one."  That attitude is false.  The United States is one of the world's largest markets for endangered animals and their products. It's our responsibility to make sure that we do not inadvertently fuel the demand that imperils so many rare and wonderful plants and animals around the globe.