Wildlife Poaching: The global aftermath by Jude Lugsanay

Wildlife Poaching: The global aftermath

by Jude Lugsanay | November 25, 2014

An African rhino poached for its valuable ivory. Image from http://sustainablepulse.com/2013/01/18/vietnam-thailand-boom-african-ivory-murder/#.VHRrPvnoikE

               

The word “death” may surprise people; however, what is even more surprising, and shocking of course, is that the death toll of rhinoceros in South Africa has now reached  a record of 1020, a number greater than the record in 2013 and triple the number four years ago (Bukhardt, 2014)! People may fall off their seats if they would be seeing this: according to Kathleen Gobush (n.d.), the population of African elephants has declined from a number of 1.3 million to 600 individuals from 1979 to 1987, an astonishing span of eight years! Here is another stunning fact: a recent United Nations report predicted that by the mid-2020s, gorillas may disappear from large parts of the Congo Basin (World Wildlife Fund, 2014). This is the sad reality: the figures would tell that poaching is still a very alive and kicking business until today and every day, it continues to threaten and harm hundreds or even thousands of animals in the wild and the balance of their peaceful biodiversities.

Born Free Foundation officials with another victim of 
ivory trade. Image from http://www.bornfree.org.uk/
campaigns/elephants/campaign-action/
anti-poaching-initiative/

Traditionally speaking, poaching, or illegal hunting is defined as the act of trespassing, especially on another game’s preserve, in order to steal animals or to hunt (“Poaching”, n.d.).  The history of poaching probably began during the Stone Age, the time when knowledge of farming and harvesting of agricultural food sources wasn’t yet discovered (“Before we delve”, n.d.); however, it wasn’t until the Late Middle Ages that poaching became illegal and is considered a punishable offense (Shadow, 2008). Today, different international organizations are devising ways to alleviate the unchecked industry of illegal wildlife hunting. For example, in Burkina Faso (West Africa), an anti-poaching team composed of 25 rangers and a number of community Eco guards has been tasked to protect elephants over an astounding area of 2500 square kilometers (a land so vast for a small team of rangers), but “Team Elephant”, as they are called, are currently facing problems as the elephants in the area are under serious threat from criminal gangs eager to slaughter them for ivory (Born Free Foundation, n.d.). The illegal snaring and shooting of animals for the bush meat trade in Zambia’s National Park have also alarmed a group of concerned individuals collectively named as The South Luangwa Conservation Society, or SLCS (Taronga Conservation Society Australia [TCSA], n.d.). According to TCSA (n.d.), the SLCS’  anti-poaching campaign targeted on protecting species of buffalo, small antelope, elephant, and hippopotamus which are important to the ecology and economics of Zambia and its neighboring countries. In this case, chimpanzees in the area were not an exception for they were still caught in snares indiscriminately (TCSA, n.d.). Nevertheless, the collaborative effort of communities to stop poaching cannot be doubted because in one way or another, they are preventing the eventual extinction of wild animals.

An employee of Kenya Ports Authority weighing tusks 
seized by officials in Mombasa. Image from 
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/08/opinion
/portman-elephants/

No market in the world has ever been blacker than the “black market” especially when wildlife trafficking is involved. According to Wallace (2014), the black market, also called the “underground market”, is an economic activity in which merchandise and services are bought and sold illegally. Wallace (2014) added that the market got its name due to the fact that its activities are often conducted out of sight and outside the sight of the law enforcement. An evidence of black marketing involved in poaching was that in 2011, 23 tons of ivory representing 2500 dead animals were seized and according to the calculations of the wildlife trade network Traffic, more elephant tusks were confiscated in 2011 than in any year since 1989, the year when ivory trade was banned (“Elephant poaching”, 2011). Was the banning of ivory trade really imposed?

An evidence of tiger smuggling in Asia. 
Image from http://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat68/
sub432/item2491.html

Tiger part smuggling currently poses the largest threat to tiger survival; poachers hunt tigers to extinction for the tigers’ teeth, claws, bones, and skins which are highly valued for their use in traditional Asian medicine, various folk remedies and various products (World Wildlife Fund [WWF], 2011). In addition, according to reports from WWF (2011), Traffic found that the smuggled parts from at least 200 tigers have been confiscated per year by the law enforcement in Asia and in the past 10 years, over 1000 tigers have been slaughtered to traffic their parts to meet the on-going demand. WWF (2011) expressed that a century ago, 100000 tigers roamed the forests, swamps, and tundra of Asia; today, according to them, only 3200 tigers are left in the wild and only 7% of historic tiger habitat still contains tigers. If this continues, tigers will be extinct in just a few decades (WWF, 2011)!

How wise are poachers? In Thailand, according to Tiradej Palasuwan of the Wildlife Conservation Office, arresting the wildlife traffickers was very difficult since the traffickers have developed tricks to avoid the eyes of the police (Sarnsamak, 2014). In his interview with Sarnsamak (2014), Palasuwan added that traffickers change car registration and drivers a lot while they are transferring wildlife goods across countries’ borders, but during the past year, the national wildlife protection agency have seized more than 10000 wild animals from illegal trade operations. The department has confiscated 10700 live animals, 1348 carcasses, and 3923 kilograms of animal parts from 642 people who were allegedly involved in illegal wildlife trade (Sarnsamak, 2014). Sarnsamak (2014) reported that Palasuwan accepted the fact that it was very difficult to get to influential people behind wildlife trafficking because of loopholes in the law and the smugglers not spitting out any details about the people who hired them to traffic wildlife. Poachers are definitely wise!

Confiscated fresh tiger bones in Sumatra. 
Image from http://www.panthera.org/node/1473

Big employers or small part-time dealers, whoever they are, still continue to endanger the lives of many species of animals in the wild. Even big nations with highly established economies seriously threaten the existence of these wild animals. According to Kasnoff (2014), throughout the world, there exists an increased demand for endangered tiger parts. Kasnoff (2014) stated that the countries involved in the worsening tiger trade are China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Great Britain, and the United States, countries belonging to the First World. For example, the Zoological Society of London have noted that in 1990, at least 1900 kg of tiger bone, or an equivalent of 400 to 500 tigers, were exported from Taiwan to Japan (Kasnoff, 2014). Also, according to Kasnoff (2014), the South Korean immigration statistics reported that South Korea imported 3994 kilograms (8787 pounds) of tiger bones from Indonesia between the years 1970 and 1993. In Taiwan, a bowl of tiger penis soup, a virility booster, currently costs $320 and a pair of tiger eyes, believed to fight epilepsy and malaria, can be bought for $170; In Seoul,  the powdered tiger humerus bone, noted for its medical properties against ulcers, rheumatism, and typhoid, currently brings up to $1450 per pound (Kasnoff, 2014). The illegal trade of tiger parts for medicinal use wasn’t limited to Asia only. Recently, a World Wildlife Fund investigation in England showed that half of the shops in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool sold products claiming to contain tiger bone (Kasnoff, 2014). This is the sad truth: people never really get tired to enjoy products from dying species.

Countries seem to be insensitive and deaf especially when they are slightly guilty of wildlife trafficking. According to Kasnoff (2014), even though China has joined as a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), it completely ignored CITES’ laws and remained as the primary destination for Indian tiger parts. Kasnoff (2014) also elaborated that tiger hunting is still legal in Burma, as well as Vietnam and Malaysia. One can still buy tiger bones, skins, and organs at Hanoi airport (Kasnoff, 2014).   

Forest officials standing near a dehorned rhinoceros 
in Karbi hills. Image from http://www.demotix.com/
news/1483062/rhinoceros-killed-and-dehorned-
poachers-kisangani

The increasing demand of wildlife goods and the rapid increase in price of wild animal products does not stop to “inspire” poachers to hunt illegally and continues to be an irresistible incentive for them. The selling of illegal animal products globally is somewhere in the high millions if not billions (animalpoaching, 2012). Animalpoaching (2012) further elaborated that poaching does not only harm a single species of wild animals, but also affects other wildlife that depends on the endangered animal. Animalpoaching (2012) said that having a non-natural food chain link added into the wildlife’s food chain is a big problem for animals that rely on the illegally-hunted animals to eat or to produce offspring with; this is why even though these animals have been in the world for thousands of years, one day, they would be critically endangered and unfortunately extinct.

An angry mob of rhinos finally finding the
poachers responsible for cutting off their horns.
Image from http://www.jantoo.com/cartoons/
keywords/trophy-wall

Do humans have an active conscience? No! Should humans be guilty? Yes, definitely! Think again. With all the facts provided and all the anti-poaching campaigns created by many concerned organizations, why is it very hard for humans to understand that without wildlife they would be nothing? Why do the poachers continue to kill despite seeing animal blood splatter on their clothes every day? Poachers must have failed to learn the concept of the word “mercy”, or rather, “pity”. Human desires and greed for money must have activated poacher hormones to stimulate poachers to kill. Illegal hunting is a crime, but it is never prioritized politically (World Wildlife Fund, 2011). It can be described as murder times the number of wild animals killed in a single event. Without action, soon enough there will be a worldwide extinction of wildlife. Biodiversity which provides basic human needs such as food, medicine, and shelter will lose its equilibrium and all remaining life on Earth, including the species Homo sapiens, will perish (“Importance of”, n.d.). This will surely happen unless humans cooperate and learn to understand the concept of nature. It’s still not too late to reflect, to realize and to act!

References:

AFP. (2014, March 24). Counting the cost of East Africa’s poaching economy. Daily Times. Retrieved from http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/24-Mar-2014/counting-the-cost-of-east-africa-s-poaching-economy

Animalpoaching. (2012, September 20). Cause & effect of animal poaching. Retrieved from https://animalpoaching.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/cause-effect-of-animal-poaching/

Born Free Foundation (n.d.). Team Elephant. Retrieved from http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/elephants/campaign-action/anti-poaching-initiative/

Brown, S. & Wang, S. (2014, January 6). China crushes tons of illegal ivory. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/06/world/asia/china-ivory-stockpile/

Dell’Amore, C. (2014, January 7). 1000+ rhinos poached in 2013: Highest in modern history. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140117-rhinoceros-south-africa-poaching-animals-wildlife-crime-science/

Elephant poaching: ‘Record year’ for ivory seizures. (2011, December 29). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-16353204

Gobush, K. (n.d.). Effects of poaching on African elephants. Retrieved from http://conservationbiology.uw.edu/research-programs/effects-of-poaching-on-african-elephants/
History of poaching. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://savewildlife.tripod.com/history.htm

Importance of wildlife. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://chandanjani.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/importance-of-wildlife.pdf

Kasnoff, C. (2014). Tigers in crisis. Retrieved from http://www.tigersincrisis.com/trade_tigers.htm

McGarth, M. (2012, December 12). Wildlife crime profound threat to nations. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-20679454

Poach. (n.d.). In Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/poaching

Sarnsamak, P. (2014, March 4). Up to 10000 smuggled animals seized in past year. The Nation. Retrieved from http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Up-to-10000-smuggled-animals-seized-in-past-year-30228275.html

Shadow, S. (2008). How poaching works. In History of poaching. Retrieved from http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hunting/traditional-methods/poaching1.htm

Taronga Conservation Society Australia (n.d.). Anti-poaching campaign in Zambia.  Retrieved from http://taronga.org.au/conservation/wildlife-conservation/taronga-field-conservation-grants/conservation-grants-program-0

Wallace, O. (2014). What is the black market?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-black-market.htm

World Wildlife Fund (2011). As few as 3,200 tigers left. Retrieved from http://www.savetigersnow.org/problem#illegal-trade

World Wildlife Fund. (2011, April 5). Stopping poaching. Retrieved from http://wwf.panda.org/?199903/Stopping-poaching

World Wildlife Fund. (2014). Adopt a gorilla. Retrieved from http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/gorilla