The Significant Effects Of Pooaching In South Africa

Poaching, the illegal killing of protected animals, occurs in Africa for a variety of reasons. The most profitable reason is the ivory trade. Hundreds of elephants and Rhinos are slaughtered every year for their ivory tusks, which claim a sizeable profit on the black market. Many hunters also poach for the sport of it, the thrill of the hunt. Many of the country's native peoples, however, poach animals as a means to stay alive. Because the wildlife of Africa roams so free, many people and crops are damaged and destroyed every year and natives poach the animals for self-defense. Financial concerns also drive many natives to poaching, seeing as most of Africa is still considered to be third world and an elephant tusk can mean the difference between starving to death and a prosperous year (Messer, 50). Poaching also has negative effects on the environment, and on the economy. Governments in Africa and around the world have tried to enforce strict anti-poaching laws, and also regulate the ivory trade, until recently however, both efforts have been in...

Poaching is a serious matter in countries overseas. In one specific area is Africa. Hunters who are poaching in Africa are damaging the wildlife and proper precautions should be taken in preventing this crime; however, African leaders are not doing much about it. If proper precautions were being taken, then there would be less poaching in Africa. Also, poaching is very damaging to the wildlife because all animals depend on each other. Some conservation activists have tried to speak out about this issue by writing letters to hunters, but this has not been a big success. Hunters have also responded and written letters defending themselves and their actions. Over the years there has been a steady decline in the animal populations such as rhino’s

Wildlife conservationists are constantly working to supervise the rivers, forest, and other natural resources of Africa in order to preserve and protect them through prudent management. In Kenya, laws against trophy hunting has assisted these conservationists in maintaining wildlife populations. However, park rangers face a huge battle against the illegal poaching of these rare trophy animals, such as lions and elephants. In Asia, the demand for ivory continues to surge, despite the long-time ban on its international trade. The demand is so high that the Tanzanian government has developed plans to construct a commercial highway through the Serengeti in order to more efficiently trade goods with Asia (“The Need for Serengeti Watch”). However, the highway will also provide a faster route to the coast for ivory smugglers. The controversy surrounding the highway and its positive or negative effects on the economy, Tanzania as a whole, and the Serengeti is countless. Despite the debate over its benefits and...

The endangerment of apes in Central and Western Africa is bred by ignorant human behavior. People who live in these areas engage in activities that threaten the ecosystem. These activities include commercial logging and illegal hunting for bushmeat. In doing these, apes lose their habitats and their lives. Logging, the act of cutting down trees in forests for profit, has recently increased in Africa to the point of land exploitation (Peterson, Ammann, & Museveni, 2003; Kormos, Boesch, Bakarr, & Butynski, 2003). European and Asian countries meet their timber demands by logging in Central and Western Africa. Countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and more, have strict internal laws on logging or have forests that are already extremely depleted. In effect, they look to Africa for the supply of their timber (Kormos et al., 2003). This is an example of a tragedy of the commons in which people act upon their own self interest. They believe that if they don’t use the resources for their own good, somebody else will. In doing this, they work against what is commonly good

The second half of the 20th century has seen the continent of Africa in continuous turmoil. Civil wars, the AIDS epidemic, deforestation, and desertification are just a few of the problems facing Africa. A more recent threat to this ancient and fragile environment has emerged and is quickly gaining strength at devouring life – the bush meat trade. “Bush meat” refers to the smoked carcasses of various wild, and often endangered species that are sold illegally at rural markets of undeveloped countries and even at ethnic markets in developed nations. The meat of gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants are considered delicacies and the demand for these endangered species is increasingly high. Countries at the center of this crisis are Botswana, Mozambique, Kenya, Zimbabwe, the Congo, Cameroon, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. Bush meat plays a crucial socio-economic role to many in Africa, and as such epitomizes the need to balance protection against such factors as poverty, health, and food security. Certain key issues are necessary to understand the bush meat trade:

Poaching is when a person illegally hunts and kills wildlife. Usually poaching occurs when an animal is on land that is not their own or a poacher is hunting specific species of animal which is illegal to hunt.

First, poaching is a huge game being played. It hurts the animals or species that are being targeted, which causes them to increase their chances of extinction. Orietta C. Estrada, an animal and environmental writer, explains that poaching "is a crime fueled by a lucrative black market trade of animal parts"(onegreenplanet). To these people, it is all about the money. They do not bother to think about how much pain this creature may feel. The only thing they desire to obtain is the big dollars. The animals that are affected by this monstrous act are elephants, tigers, rhinoceros, Tibetan antelopes, gorillas, and great apes(animalpoachers.weebly). The most they have done with dealing with the poachers is give them a cruel punishment for being caught. It does not work because it still happens today and the animals are still dying and becoming

Scientists from the United Nations Environment Program have estimated that approximately 150 species go extinct every day. In addition around 11% of the birds and 15% of the mammal species are considered threatened with extinction (Vidal, 2010, ¶5). Illegal wildlife trafficking has become the second biggest threat for the survival of these endangered species, the number one threat being the destruction of their habitat (World Wildlife Fund, n.d, ¶1). Today the European Union plays a key role in international wildlife trafficking, as it is the number one destination market in the world. In addition it is considered the main transit point between Africa and Asia. Due to the fact that these animals are in serious danger of being extinct and the EU role in the trafficking of illegal wildlife, it is of great importance that more control and higher sanctions are implemented within the EU along with creating awareness among citizens.

Conservation efforts by trophy hunters have been proven to be positive. The lion harvest in Tanzania decreased by 50% between 1996 and 2008, and the areas with the biggest trophy hunting industry produced the biggest declines. In 1977, hunting was banned in Kenya. Rather than increase the endangered herds as originally hoped, wildlife populations outside of parks have nose-dived, declining by at least 60% (“Potential”). Thus, the lack of hunting has actually negatively affected wildlife populations, proving that trophy hunting is essential to conserving endangered big-game (Packer et

When shipments are intercepted they are held within that country. This also encourages government’s that are trying to stop the poachers to do more in their country. This indicates that other factors besides legal ivory trade were to blame for the elephant population changes. Parts of Africa have game preserves, wildlife conservation areas and stricter laws to help stop the killing of elephants. Interviews with ivory industry workers indicated that the two main factors responsible for the decline in most ivory markets were the reduction in ivory supply and the decrease in demand, particularly in the West. The lack of demand was driven down in North America, Europe and Japan by an effective anti-ivory campaigns that created stigma, which made buying ivory ethically unacceptable, and by Western governments passing legislation that made the import of most types of elephant ivory illegal, thus introducing risk of prosecution as a factor in buying foreign ivory (Stiles,