Cactus At Risk By Rebecca Katzm Article Analysis

In the article "Cactus's at Risk" by Rebecca Katzman, it explains to us how cactus poaching is becoming more and more popular in the United States. The cactus's around are now in danger and the problem is becoming worse. The article says, "The sun goes down and a truck pulls up to a giant saguaro (sa-wah-ro) in the Sonoran Desert. Poachers wearing protective gloves dig up the cactus, wrap it in a carpet, and drive away." This evidence shows that now cactus poachers are snatching up cactus's and to stop it would be a very difficult task. These poachers are extremely good at taking different types of cactus's and selling them for big money. The article says, "Entire populations of cactus have been wiped out almost overnight, rare cactus's and large cactus's are more valuable, so they’re more likely to be poached. A saguaro can be sold illegally for $1,000 or more." All of this shows that if a poacher can get away with taking just

The article states, "Cactus wrens and elf owls nest in saguaros, and woodpeckers get water from the plants. Various desert squirrels eat cactus fruits and flowers—and so do humans." This evidence shows that without the cactus's, many things would go wrong and with them disappearing in large numbers the environment in the desert will not run as smoothly as it did before. The article also says, "Cactus's are symbols of desert culture, and they play an important role in a desert’s ecosystem...If you lose the cactus, you’re going to lose other things too cactus's help hold the desert together.” This means if the desert lost the most of the cactus's over time, the desert would have their 'culture' taken from them. Without cactus's the deserts would never be the same, the character that the cactus's gave would be taken away by the cactus poachers