The Anti-Poaching Unit out in Bumi Hills in Zimbabwe [Credits: Frendi Apen Irawan]
When there are unimaginable numbers of species roaming the planet, killing a couple of deer or a turkey a year may seem like nothing. After all, they will reproduce. Hunting has been a means of survival for both humans and other non-human species since the start. But if species are killed too quickly their population will collapse.
The practice of hunting led to the formation of a set of guidelines to control how many animals were being killed and establish the best hunting season. By society’s standard it was viewed as the more ethical way of killing species and to a certain degree, ensuring the health of the affected ecosystems. Though when the prey is “high value,” all too often these regulations get ignored.
This is known as poaching, defined most commonly as “the illegal trafficking and killing of animals.” Alongside human-induced habitat destruction, and climate change, poaching greatly contributes to the declining populations of various species.
Much of the trade that fuels poaching comes from talks of baseless medicinal cures, myths, or from the mere curiosity of being able to have exotic “pets.”
Most commonly Big Cats, Elephants, Pangolins, Sharks, and Tropical Birds are targeted by poachers. Many of these species are only hunted for a singular part. Elephants and Rhinos ivory horns and tusks are illicitly sold for thousands of dollars as a part of $23 billion ivory trade. Sharks are illegally caught for their fins, which are the key ingredient of a dish found in many Asian countries called “Shark Fin Soup.” Pangolins are stripped of their impressive scales for their so-called “magical” medicinal properties.
A Pangolin in a tree [Credits: Bumihillsfoundation]
Poachers often operate in countries with poorer economic, social, and infrastructure conditions. Southeast and East Asia contain some of the areas that have the highest rate of incidents of poaching including China, India, Vietnam and Thailand. The Golden Triangle, “the border area where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar connect,” is a highly undeveloped region. Traffic, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), discovered that this region is a hotspot for the “ten of the most widely trafficked animal products,” including “rhino horns, tiger bone wine and ivory.”
Inadequate governance in these areas and weak law enforcement make stopping poaching difficult. Corruption within governments also makes it hard to rely on them as an entity that will ensure punishment and laws will dissuade poachers. Bribes and extortion are common practice amongst people who are involved in poaching so that they are able to freely kill species without consequence.
For my beat, I want to explore the intersections between the social, political, and environmental spheres of poaching to better understand how we can protect other species. I hope to understand what factors drive people to poach and how their personal upbringings affect their willingness to poach. The answers to these questions will be crucial to helping preserve ecosystems for the sake of our planet’s health and for the future.