Poaching for African Ivory: Perceptions and Problems.

Poaching for ivory, particularly in Africa, has been a huge topic in the international community for a while now and many people are outraged at the large numbers of animals being illegally killed for this black market trade. 

Poachers often come from local villages. It is the intermediate trade and export that is run by organised crime. In countries with poor government administration, the military and police may also poach regularly. 

Very recently an article was circulating about a poacher who was killed in a shootout by police in Zimbabwe. Currently it is unclear as to whether the man was a front line poacher who hunted the elephants, or an organised crime gang member who buys or collects the ivory to sell on to international buyers for export.

Either way, this subject provoked a lot of emotion from readers and this got me thinking about public perceptions of poachers and the anger and hatred people feel towards them. Below are some example screenshots I took of a few responses tweeted in reply to the article.

As a conservationist, I am strongly opposed to poaching and would seek to find solutions to solve the problem in order to protect endangered wildlife. However, I disagree with comments like these and actually found them to be a tad unsettling.

This is because, areas that are most rife with poaching generally suffer with widespread poverty, unemployment and bad governance. Many of these poachers are desperate, with most trying to support their family in any way possible, they know the risks, they know the danger. But a shootout with police is a risk they will take in order to survive. 

"Interview with an elephant poacher."

An interesting case study can be seen through the interview conducted with a man named John Kaimoi, a 33-year-old Kenyan who was caught poaching and completed a two-year prison sentence for this crime. In the interview he discussed how famine and drought drove him into poaching for ivory. Some extracts from the interview conducted by Stephen Messenger of "The Dodo" are below.

John Kaimoi

 "I would plant maize and millet with my family; they would assist me. We could plant. We could till a small piece of land. We would just survive from that. That's how I [could] earn my living. So when problems arose, what I could I do?" 

".. because of the kind of life I was living by then, I had to risk it. I had to risk it. That's the time when I lived like that until I was arrested."

".. I had young kids, I could divide this money to meet the needs of my family -- to buy food and pay for my child to go to boarding school. This amount could change things."

".. If given an opportunity, I would work. Because what concerns me is the issue of my family, my young children who are still in primary school. So I don’t have another way. If given even something, anything."

The full interview can be found here. 
 

An African Elephant I was fortunate to see in the wild on a visit to South Africa.

The overall poaching problem is only going to be solved by addressing the demand for ivory, but lasting solutions are going to have to involve simultaneous action on the side of supply as well as the side of demand.

On the national level, appropriate legislation and effective law enforcement will be essential, as well as properly functioning authorities that are at less risk of corruption. Effective international cooperation will also be vital in combating the illegal trade on a global level. 

It is not guaranteed that increasing wealth of locals will reduce poaching incidents but currently the levels of poverty are a huge factor in driving people to poach. Bad governance in nearly all locations is also a decisive factor.

It is because of this that many protected and conservation areas have to gain funding from outside and external sources and prevent poaching with limited money and resources. They often use patrols and armed rangers that aim to stop poachers before they kill an animal, but this is a very short term solution and is not always successful in stopping deaths. 

Regulations and tighter rules and punishments for these crimes are clearly not working so this is likely to come down to national and international politics. Many charities run behavioural change communication campaigns in key consumer countries as well as public outreach initiatives, but in the end change is likely to only be achieved dependent on the political will of these countries to implement proper strategies and legislation and put a stop to the trade in ivory.

I don't think that arresting, punishing or even killing poachers is ever going to be sustainable or work as a solution to poaching as these are largely poverty stricken people who are in need of help and support in order to survive. I'm sure most would much rather work safely and legally if it was possible, rather than risking everything, including their lives, out in the wild.