Rebecca Dannock
BSc (Hons), PhD - Zoology and Ecology
Blog 41 – May '17 – Batteground
Poaching has become a war. People, on both sides are dying. But not as often as the animals caught in the middle. Organisations, like the one I work for (Game Rangers International) and many, many others, have been set up to support the local parks departments and other law enforcement institutions to try and stem the tide. Parks are being taken over by criminal syndicates who outsource to locals wielding guns, knives, spears, axes and snares. Parks are also being taken over by locals who started by feeding their family, and then got greedy, and turned to trading illegal wildlife products. And, in the constant battle to remove these foot soldiers, and their increasing death tolls, parks are also becoming the hunting ground for those on the side of the law. These men and women, these rangers and scouts, put their lives on the line, day in day out to protect their wildlife. These soldiers, often with no, or tattered uniforms are in many cases ill-equipped to handle the influx of poachers. In parks across Africa these soldiers are dying at the hands of poachers. These men and women are leaving behind families, distraught and in need of welfare. Yet, people across the world are trading in illegal wildlife products, seemingly without concern of the death and destruction its procurement has caused. Not just the animal’s death, but possibly the poacher trying to kill it and the soldier trying to protect it. With escalating prices for illegal wildlife products, there is currently more money in poaching than there is in protection. A statistic that needs to change before any real progress can be made.
L to R: Commander Zgambo from Zambia’s Special Anti-Poaching Unit with a seized weapon originating in WW1, an array of seized homemade shotguns, Ranger Greenford with a confiscated homemade shotgun
Many poachers are part of organised international smuggling syndicates. The poachers are at the very bottom of the food chain of these syndicates - the expendable lives sent out at risk of being jailed, fined or killed. They aim for rhino horn, elephant tusks, lion skins, exotic pet species and pangolin scales. The big-ticket items. Those higher in the syndicate are too smart to be caught at ground level. They don’t risk their lives, instead risking the lives of others to make their millions. And while syndicate-contracted poachers are the ones that get the lions’ share of attention (pun only half intended, I swear), they are not the only risk to wildlife and natural ecosystems across the world. Poachers that enter the parks in the hunt for bushmeat, a generally far less organised and profitable trade, cause considerable damage too. They might only use home-made weapons and get around in broken shoes or on a rickety bicycle, but that doesn’t stop them. Not only do they reduce animal populations directly, they are also the cause of many non-target animals such as wild dogs and lions becoming snared* and parks burning down. In Kafue NP, where historical fire records indicate very little natural fire activity, over 80% of the park now burns annually. This has a huge impact on the ecosystem, and one which may cause irreversible damage if left unchecked. This fire activity is a consequence of poaching (among other illegal activity). Poachers use fire for a number of reasons. Bushmeat is dried, generally within the area of poaching (e.g. in the Park or adjacent game management areas), on large drying racks. These drying racks, once unattended, can cause fire to sweep through the area. Fire is also a great way to cover tracks – making it ideal for poachers. Sadly, the soldiers trying to protect these natural lands have also been found to spread fire through leaving fires unattended at patrol bases and through a habit of lighting a match to signal the end of a patrol.
*Animals that become ensnared often die because of the injury sustained, others live with debilitating injuries that affect their ability to hunt, mate and even move.
Primates being treated for malnutrition by GRI, with support of a government vet. These primates were removed from the illegal wildlife trade where they were bound to become exotic pets or exhibits.
Education and empowerment will be vital tools in this fight against poaching. Those living in, and adjacent to, wildlife areas need to be empowered to live an economically sustainable life without turning to illegal hunting. If people in these areas are able to reap the financial benefits of leaving ecosystems in more natural states, they will want to protect them. Because, if an area is not just pretty, with interesting animals, but results in income from tourism and sustainable harvesting and also gives the locals clean water and air (filtered by nature for free!) amongst other environmental services, then the reasons to poach will become fewer and further between and the reasons to protect will grow exponentially. So, whilst law enforcement and results monitoring, are necessary parts of the fight today, empowerment is the key to reducing the fight tomorrow.
The hope for the future of places like Kafue NP – these kids live and learn in a Game Management Area beside Kafue NP. Through the local safari lodge, Mukambi, their parents are employed and they are educated.
If you want more insight into Africa’s poaching crisis, documentaries like Virunga (which made me want to go to meet the heroic and passionate Congolese rangers), The Ivory Game and the soon to be produced documentary The Bigger Picture, will give you a more detailed (and cinematic) introduction to the corruption, greed and danger of poaching.
These elephants were orphaned through poaching but are now getting a new lease on life at the Kafue Release Facility.