POACHING ANIMALS BY JANI ACTMAN

WILD ANIMALS ARE being poached on a massive scale, with millions

of individual animals of thousands of species worldwide killed or
captured from their native habitats. Poaching poses a growing threat
to elephants, rhinos, and other charismatic animals, as well as to
smaller and more obscure creatures, like certain lizards and
monkeys.

Poachers sometimes kill or capture animals to sell them locally or for

the global trade in wildlife. Wildlife trading is a major black market
that has increased alongside rising wealth in Asia—a major consumer
of wildlife—and the advent of e-commerce and social media websites.

Some animals, such as birds, reptiles, and primates, are captured live
so that they can be kept or sold as exotic pets. Slaughtered animals,
on the other hand, have commercial value as food, jewelry, decor, or
traditional medicine. The ivory tusks of African elephants, for
example, are carved into trinkets or display pieces. The scales of
pangolins, small animals that eat ants, are ground into powder and
consumed for their purported healing powers. The meat of apes,
snakes, and other bush animals is considered a delicacy in parts of
Africa.

In addition to killing for direct profit, poachers target animals to

prevent them from destroying crops or attacking livestock. This
happens to lions and elephants in Africa, as well as to wolves,
coyotes, and other predators in North America and beyond.

Poaching has devastating consequences for wildlife. In some

instances, it’s the primary reason why an animal faces a risk of
extinction. This is the case with the African elephant, more than
100,000 of which were killed between 2014 and 2017 for ivory.
Poaching has also had a catastrophic impact on rhinos, with more
than a thousand slaughtered a year for their horns.
Poaching for the exotic pet trade affects an animal’s welfare in
addition to its numbers in the wild. Most wild animals eat specialized
diets found in nature, and they need space to fly, roam, and swing
from branches. Captured animals are stuffed into boxes, suitcases, or
sacks, and even if they survive transport, they often suffer in their
new, unnatural situations.

Then there’s the tragic ways poaching affects people. In Africa, nearly
600 rangers charged with protecting wildlife were gunned down by
poachers between 2009 and 2016 while in the line of duty. In the
Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga National Park, one of
the continent’s most dangerous, at least 170 rangers have been killed
during the past two decades.

What’s more, poaching has been linked to armed militia groups in

Africasuspected of trafficking ivory to fund their operations, and it
often occurs alongside other crimes including corruption and money
laundering. And poached animals can spread disease, such as Ebola
and SARS.

In addition to providing on-the-ground protection for animals, many

countries make poaching an offense punishable by prison or
monetary fees. Because poachers in Africa and Asia are
often impoverished local people who make small profits in
comparison to traders and kingpins, penalties for poaching wildlife
are generally less severe than those for trafficking wildlife.

There are also numerous nonprofits around the world working to end
wildlife poaching. Some of these groups have helped to
promote alternative, more sustainable ways for poachers to earn a
living. Another way people are working to end poaching is by trying
to decrease demand for illegal wildlife and wildlife parts. If no one's
buying the products, there will be no need to kill the animals.
 The Devastating Effects of
Wildlife Poaching
By Orrieta C. Estrada

Wildlife poaching has negative side-effects that affect local communities, wildlife
populations, and the environment. It is a crime fueled by a lucrative black market
trade of animal parts. The animal parts are sold as novelty items and are sold for their
“medicinal” properties. Environmental groups, animal rights groups, government
agencies, and even the Duke of Cambridge are calling for an end to wildlife poaching.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), The World Wildlife Fund for
Nature (WWF), and The International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) are leading
international efforts to end wildlife poaching.
Poachers kill for profit. For example, bear gall bladders and big horned sheep antlers
are worth top dollar for their so-called medicinal properties. This past November, at
the National Wildlife Property Repository in Colorado, the wildlife service destroyed
six tons of ivory confiscated at U.S. borders. Elephants are killed for their tusks
because, while it is possible to remove the tusks without killing the elephant, they are
too dangerous to remove when they are alive. The international community is
responding. China recently increased its prosecutions of ivory smugglers, sentencing
eight citizens to jail for bringing in over 3 tons of ivory between 2010 and 2012.

The United States is second to China in its desire for illegal wildlife parts. According
to an On Earth article, poachers killed over 30,000 elephants last year. Experts believe
that elephants will go extinct within the next decade if the killing continues at this
rate.
The extinction of a species can have a negative economic effect on a local
community’s tourism industry. A community that relies on its wildlife to attract
tourists is at great risk for economic hardship if the prevalence of poaching is high.
Furthermore, a tourist boycott due to local poaching is a real threat. A boycott could
have a detrimental effect on a community’s economy since restaurants, hotels, rentals,
and other attractions would suffer.

Extinction is the greatest threat to animals that are victims of wildlife poaching. In
2011, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature(IUNC) declared
the Western Black Rhinoceros extinct. This subspecies of the critically
endangered Black Rhino was poached due to the belief in the healing properties of its
horn.
The Sumatran Tiger is a critically endangered species right now. It is poached and
sold for its parts (skin, teeth, bones, and claws) which sell for up to $5,000. Poaching
is more lucrative than other jobs that are available in the region; a harsh reality faced
by many individuals and communities.

Poaching is also dangerous to the environment. When the North American Gray Wolf
was on the brink of extinction, due to trophy hunting and poaching, the elk
populations in Yellowstone National Park soared. With no natural predator, the elk
nearly ate the aspen tree to extinction. Now, because of the increasing populations of
gray wolves in the park, elk populations are balancing out and the aspen tree is
recovering.
Our ecosystems are sensitive and must be preserved. The economic challenges of a
community can lead to poaching, which in turn can lead to endangerment (and in the
worst cases, extinction) of different species. We need various species of flora and
fauna in our environmental ecosystems so that it can maintain healthy and balanced.
The survival of our own species depends on it.
Second-biggest direct threat to species after habitat
destruction

What is wildlife trade?

Whenever people sell or exchange wild animal and plant resources,
this is wildlife trade. It can involve live animals and plants or all
kinds of wild animal and plant products. Wildlife trade is easiest to
track when it is from one country to another because it must be
checked, and often recorded, at Customs checkpoints.

Why do people trade wildlife?

People trade wildlife for cash or exchange it for other useful objects
- for example, utensils in exchange for wild animal skins. Driving the
trade is the end-consumer who has a need or desire for wildlife
products, whether for food, construction or clothing.

For a more detailed list of the various uses of wildlife, visit

the TRAFFIC website.

What is wildlife trade worth financially?

This is a difficult estimate to make. As a guideline, TRAFFIC has
calculated that wildlife products worth about 160 US billion dollars
were imported around the globe each year in the early 1990s. In
addition to this, there is a large and profitable illegal wildlife trade,
but because it is conducted covertly no-one can judge with any
accuracy what this may be worth.

What is the scale of wildlife trade?

The trade involves hundreds of millions of wild plants and animals
from tens of thousands of species. To provide a glimpse of the
scale of wildlife trafficking, there are records of over 100 million
tonnes of fish, 1.5 million live birds and 440,000 tonnes of medicinal
plants in trade in just one year.
Why is wildlife trade a problem?
Wildlife trade is by no means always a problem and most wildlife
trade is legal. However, it has the potential to be very damaging.
Populations of species on earth declined by an average 40%
between 1970 and 2000 - and the second-biggest direct threat to
species survival, after habitat destruction, is wildlife trade.

Perhaps the most obvious problem associated with wildlife trade is

that it can cause overexploitation to the point where the survival
of a species hangs in the balance. Historically, such
overexploitation has caused extinctions or severely threatened
species and, as human populations have expanded, demand for
wildlife has only increased.

Recent overexploitation of wildlife for trade has affected countless

species. This has been well-publicized in the cases of tigers,
rhinoceroses, elephants and others, but many other species are
affected.

This overexploitation should concern us all...

 ...because it harms human livelihoods.

Wildlife is vital to the lives of a high proportion of the world's

population, often the poorest. Some rural households depend
on local wild animals for their meat protein and on local trees
for fuel, and both wild animals and plants provide components
of traditional medicines used by the majority of people in the
world. While many people in developed countries are
cushioned from any effects caused by a reduced supply of a
particular household item, many people in the developing
world depend entirely on the continued availability of local
wildlife resources.

 ...because it harms the balance of nature.

In addition to the impact on human livelihoods caused by the

over-harvesting of animals and plants is the harm caused by
overexploitation of species to the living planet in a wider way.
 For example, overfishing does not only affect individual fishing
communities and threaten certain fish species, but causes
imbalances in the whole marine system. As human life
depends on the existence of a functioning planet Earth, careful
and thoughtful use of wildlife species and their habitats is
required to avoid not only extinctions, but serious disturbances
to the complex web of life.

Particular problems are associated with illegal wildlife trade,

which is usually driven by a demand for rare, protected species
which need to be smuggled and/or by a desire to avoid paying
duties. In illegal wildlife trade, some species involved are highly
endangered, conditions of transport for live animals are likely to be
worse and wildlife is more likely to have been obtained in an
environmentally damaging way. The existence of illegal trade is
also worrying because it undermines countries' efforts to protect
their natural resources.

Wildlife trade can also cause indirect harm through:

 Introducing invasive species which then prey on, or
compete with, native species. Invasive species are as big a
threat to the balance of nature as the direct overexploitation by
humans of some species. Many invasive species have been
purposely introduced by wildlife traders; examples include the
American Mink, the Red-eared Terrapin and countless plant
species.

 Incidental killing of non-target species, such as dolphins

and seabirds, when they are caught in fishing gear. It is
estimated that over a quarter of the global marine fisheries
catch is incidental, unwanted, and discarded. Incidental killing
of animals also happens on land when crude traps are set (for
example, for musk deer or duikers). These cause damage and
death to a variety of animals besides the intended ones.
Finally...while wildlife trade alone is a major threat to some
species, it is important to remember that its impact is frequently
made worse by habitat loss and other pressures.