WSPA & WWF

Differences and Similarities between WWF and WSPA

By: Yiqi (Ariel) Wang

Since the dawn of time, animals have played important part in human’s life because they provide source of food to people, help scientists to have better understanding of biology and use for promoting the development of economy by fur trade. The uses of animals lead some brutal human’s activities to kill animals for food and economic benefit. For example, according to the book Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, the authors Klein states, “harvesting of wildlife for food and furs through hunting and trapping has been the most conspicuous influence … on arctic wildlife in recent decades,” and also “the overexploitation of wildlife … led the extinction of the Steller sea cow.”(1) Although some people abuse and kill animals for food, entertainment, or trade, some people argue that non-human animals are not able to use as food, cloth and research subjects, and they take actions to protect animals. In modern day, people established many animal protection organizations in all around the world, such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The World Society of the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

                  

Figure 1- World Wildlife Fund                                            Figure 2- The World Society of the Protection of Animal

(http://90by2030.wordpress.com/tag/wwf/)             (http://creativelogik.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/wspa-logo/)

WWF is the world’s largest independent conservation organization, which is found by the famous British biologist, Sir Julian Huxley, in 29^th April 1961. It works to preserve threatened species and habitats, and also engage in global environmental problems. Its mission is “to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth and to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature.”(2) Recently, WWF works in over a hundred countries, and specifically it focuses on wildlife conservation.

WSPA is another international animal protection organization in the world, and it is established in more than twenty-five years. The organization is the first and world’s largest alliance of animal welfare societies, and it actives in over a hundred and fifty countries. WSPA works on promoting animal welfare and ending the abuse of animal and animal cruelty. Through WSPA, it assists governments to promote animal protection legislations for improving the lives of animals, and it is successful in helping people have better understand on the importance of protecting animals by educational programs.(3)

As compare to WWF and WSPA, they have some similarities to promote conservation institution. Both of these organizations “dedicate to wildlife and interactive educational displays that will attract people of all ages.”(4) However, they have some differences as compared with their policies of conservation and their major protecting targets.

Similarity in education program

WWF, similar to WSPA, provides education courses to educate children and students to encourage respect for animals, and improve their compassion and justice for preserving animals and wildlife. WWF cooperates with the national schools in countries, such as the USA, the UK and South Africa, and runs education programs through students and their family members to spread the message of conservation.(5) WSPA also designs training program to schools in South America, Africa and Asia to develop children’s knowledge about the importance of protecting animal welfare.(6) In addition, there are some volunteers, who distribute in the world to work on the projects for improving animal’s lives, in both of the animal protection organizations. They are successful to inspire some people to conserve non-human animals.

Similar activities and purposes

Both conservation organizations take actions to reduce the negative impacts of human activities. For example, people’s strong economic incentives lead the increasing of illegal trade, such as fur trade, and it causes the decreasing of population of wild species.(7) Not only WWF but also WSPA determine to protect wildlife from illegal trade. WWF in the United States “tells the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize the proposed rule change and ensure that captive tigers do not fall victim to illegal trade.”(8) WSPA do the similar thing as compare to WWF, it makes Animal Planet pays attention to the rising of illegal bear trade in Asia, and helps to preserve the suffering bears. The programs of the two organizations are alike to promote animal protection by taking on the illegal sales.

 

Different conservation policies

In spite of these similarities, these two animal protection organizations have differences. One obvious difference is their policies of animal preservation, such as hunting policy and polar bear protection policy. Commercial hunting has became a mainly activities to slay wildlife, and it causes many wild animals to be threatened, such as polar bear. Research in North America that is about international trade in eight species of bears (etc. giant panda, Malayan sun bear, sloth bear, spectacled bear, Asiatic black bear, American black bear, brown bear and polar bear), it points out that people hunt polar bear for commercial purpose. Also, the hunting activities cause the population of polar bear is decreasing, and lead polar bear is listed on Appendix II in America.(9)

 

Figure 3- Polar Bear trade (http://loveallblogs.com/2012/03/wspa-cruelty-in-a-concrete-jungle-campaign-where-do-i-belong/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wspa-cruelty-in-a-concrete-jungle-campaign-where-do-i-belong)

 

According to animal protection law in Canada, people are not allowed to hunt any species that listed as endangered animals, and hunting is prohibited in some areas in Canada.(10) Both WSPA and WWF express their concern with the suffering bear, and takes actions to conservation, but they have different policy for preserve wild bear. WSPA’s policy to hunting just like the policy in Canada that is prohibited hunting and trade in polar bear. In contrast, WWF supports animal hunting because they found that hunting is not only has negative impacts on wild animals, and they claim that they would implement “conservation hunting” to save polar bear.(11) A conservation biologist at the University of Zimbabwa, Dr. Lindsey states, “[hunting] provides an economic motive for maintain wildlife habitats.”(12) It demonstrates that WWF and WSPA have the contrary idea about wildlife protection.

 

Differences in targets

Other areas of difference between WWF and WSPA are about their different objectives to conservation. Whereas WWF focuses on the protection of the threatened species through habitat conservation, illegal trade and hunting of endangered animals, WSPA is an animal welfare organization that focuses more on the problem of animal’s health and cruelty. Furthermore, WWF is not an animal welfare organization, and it not only protects wild animals, but also conserves the global issues about nature. However, WSPA works directly on the animal welfare cases, and ensures animals are treated humanely, for example, it states on the website that the purpose of their effort on preserving animals is to “encourage nations to commit to animal-friendly practices” and “educate people to understand the critical importance of good animal welfare and facilitating.”(13) It shows that the two international organization of animal preservation handle different types of animals and different global environment issues.

             vs.           

Figure 4- WSPA animal cruelty                                            Figure 5- WWF save wildlife

(https://donate.wspa.org.au/campaigns/                                       (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saving-Worlds-Wildlife-SierraLeoneAppeal/default.aspx?ID=A0711W01)                                         first-years/dp/1846685303&docid)

 

Conclusion

WWF and WSPA: alike, yet different. Although the two animal protection organizations are alike in many areas such as their similar education programs to promote wildlife conservation and their activities to prevent extinction of endangered animals, they have some different ways and policies to preserve animals. Moreover, their differences probably more than their similarities toward the different goals to conservation. WWF and WSPA contribute on dissimilar area, WWF focuses on wildlife protection and global environment issues, while WSPA focuses more on combating animal cruelty, and its service learning and community service projects for a positive change in people’s attitude to end animal cruelty. In all, both the aim of organizations is to improve animal’s lives and educate people to regard non-human animals.

Figure 6-WSPA-Animal cruelty-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N-f0uDPQds&feature=related

Word Count: 1247

 

1. Klein, David R. Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 626. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

2. “World Wildlife Fund.” 2012. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html, accessed 2012.

3. “The World Society for the Protection of Animals.” 2012. http://www.wspa.ca/default.aspx, accessed 2012.

4. Priesnitz, Rolf. “Saving wildlife and the environment.” Natural Life (July/August 2004): 18.

5. “World Wildlife Fund.” 2012. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html, accessed 2012.

6. “The World Society for the Protection of Animals.” 2012. http://www.wspa.ca/default.aspx, accessed 2012.

7. Liu, Fang; McShea, William J.; Garshelis, L. David; Zhu, Xiaojian; Wang, Dajun; Shao, Liangkun. “Human-wildlife conflicts influence attitudes but not necessarily behaviors: Factors driving the poaching of bears in China.” Biological Conservation 144, no. 1 (January 2011): 538-547.

8. “World Wildlife Fund.” 2012. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html, accessed 2012.

9. Yi, Hsieh. “Bear Markets: North America (USA and Canada).” The Bear Bile Business (November 2000): 77-92.

10. Battle, Tim. “Animal Protection Laws across Canada.” Law Now, March/April 2010, 1-5.

11. Clark, Douglas A; Lee, David S; Freeman, Milton M R; Clark, Susan G. “Polar Bear Conservation in Canada: Defining the Policy Problems.” Arctic Institute of North America 61, no. 4 (December 2008): 347-360.

12. “Hunting ‘can help rare animal conservation.” The Yorkshire Post, 4 January 2007, 1.

13. “The World Society for the Protection of Animals.” 2012. http://www.wspa.ca/default.aspx, accessed 2012.