Types of Animal Poaching and Its Consequences

Poaching is something that has happened for years and has plagued numerous parts of the world. It has destroyed ecosystems and brought some animals close to extinction and some to extinction. This is a very major thing in Africa and is threatening lots of native species. A major trade is in ivory, which will be sold on the black market and some chinese markets. Normally ivory is used for making little trinkets and sometimes furniture. Some people around the world also eat exotic animals as special dishes.

These are some of the numerous animals that are killed and eaten as a delicacy monkey, chimpanzee, antelope, and elephants. Most of these are very expensive to buy and eat but people still manage to obtain these meats normally through black markets and other undercover markets. Elephant meat is normally grilled and the outside is charred to keep it fresh to the main market in town. Poachers can make about $180 for the ivory and as much as $6,000 for the meat. Another major poached animal is monkeys this occurs in africa and some parts of india. At one point people were killing at least 40 monkeys a day.

There are many organizations that help and protect at risk animals of poaching. Some of these are IAPF, WWF, WCS, The WILD Foundation, and many more. Most of their focuses are on building habitats for these animals that safe and away from poachers. Some of these organizations also help animals that were hurt from poaching. Some places even have people who protect the animals using weapons. Some people who protect these animals sometimes unfortunately get killed.

People is a very important topic to a lot of people worldwide who wanted governments to step in and help protect these animals better. A lot of these governments that have the worst amount of poaching also have problems with in their own countries starving and other economic problems. So helping protect animals are normally left up to volunteers and people who own sanctuaries. Some people are very outspoken and will set up marches and protests to bring awareness to the issue of poaching.

Poaching also leads into another major issue which is the extinction of certain species. Some animals are already at risk of extinction due to habitat loss but poaching makes some of those fears of extinction a very sad reality. Black Rhinos are in trouble in the East and Southern African range. There are only about 5,000 black rhinos left in the wild. Buyers are mostly from Vietnam and China. They use their horns as a status symbol. The next animal shows not only how devastating the exotic pet trade can be but how it can destroy the ecosystem as well. The Red-Fronted Macaw which is native to Bolivia is a major bird in the exotic pet trade. There are only about 4,000 left in the wild. The Pangolin which is a small mammal that lives in Africa and Asia. They are sold to Vietnam and China so they can be used in medicine.

There is a major argument about whether trophy hunting should be legal or be a kind of poaching. Trophy hunting is when people will normally hunt big game animals and take their head or skin as a souvenir. People of course argue that its basically a kind of poaching and they are just killing those animals to be killing them. Americans every year import at least 126,000 trophies. People argue that it's just a form of hunting and is no different than hunting a deer or a kind of animal like that. People also argue that trophy hunting is messing with the ecosystems the same way that poaching does.

If people are caught with poached goods they get small fines and aren’t punished enough according to some groups. These are the people requesting for more stricter laws and for governments to step in and show some justice to those who are caught. Poached goods that are recovered before being put on the market are normally always destroyed. Which is very unfortunate for the animals that most likely died in the process of the poach.

Another kind of poaching is something some of us are far more aware of which is the exotic pet trade. This is the trade that takes animals that are not normally thought of as pets and sold throughout the world to the highest buyer. These include monkeys, birds, big cats, and some lizards and reptiles. This isn’t only hurtful to the species but to the people that decide to buy those exotic pets. Some states do allow you to own some exotic pets but if you want tigers and those kinds of pets you would need to use black market and other secretive websites because you can’t buy those animals anywhere regularly.

The tasks of people defending animal sanctuaries are not easy and sometimes deadly. There are very many articles about poachers killing rangers and sometimes the rangers killing the poachers. That shows that people on both sides are willing to give their lives for their cause. There has been thousands of rangers that have died to poachers protecting animals. This number just like the number of animals being poached is increasing and doesn’t seem to show signs of decreasing.

Works Cited

1. Actman, Jani. “Poaching Animals, Explained.” Poaching Animals, Facts and Information, 12 Feb. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reference/poaching-animals/.
2. “Banning Trophy Hunting.” The Humane Society of the United States, www.humanesociety.org/all-our-fights/banning-trophy-hunting.
3. Bardroff, Jenna. “10 Groups Working to Protect Animals Targeted by Poachers.” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 17 Dec. 2014, www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/groups-working-to-protect-animals-targeted-by-poachers/.
4. “Elephants Killed for Meat as Well as Ivory.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2007, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-10-adfg-elephant10-story.html.
5. “Exotic Pet Trade.” National Humane Education Society, www.nhes.org/exotic-pet-trade/.
6. Sartore, Joel, and Flip Nicklin. “Poaching May Drive These 7 Species to Extinction.” National Geographic, 20 May 2016, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/05/160520-poachers-endangered-species-extinction/#close.
7. Shadow, Simon. “How Poaching Works.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 9 Dec. 2008, adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hunting/traditional-methods/poaching3.htm.
8. Tnn. “Monkey Meat: Illegal Monkey Meat Trade Rampant in Chhattisgarh: Raipur News - Times of India.” The Times of India, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/raipur/Illegal-monkey-meat-trade-rampant-in-Chhattisgarh/articleshow/33642249.cms.
9. Winter, Stuart. “Battle against Poachers: 740 Rangers Have Been Killed Protecting Elephants and Rhinos.” Express.co.uk, Express.co.uk, 31 July 2017, www.express.co.uk/news/nature/835165/battle-poachers-rangers-killed-protecting-animals.