What is Poaching?
Poaching is the illegal act of hunting, killing or capturing animals. Poaching can refer to the failure to obay the rules for legal hunting. Examples: Killing without a license or permit, use of weapons that are not aloud in the area, Taking animals without a license or permit. Poaching can also be the killing animals that belong in a wildlife snctuary, such as national parks, zoos or game reserves. |
Why do people poach animals?
There are many reasons for why people poach animals.
History:
People have hunted animals for over 40,000 years. In the past hunting has helped humans many different ways such as leadership, community formation, language development, and tool use. Mostly people relied on hunting for food, the agricultural revolution (around 10,000 years ago) made the need for survival hunting go down in most parts of the world. But hunting has continued for many reasons, and poaching remains a big problem all across the world.
For money:
Many animal projucts such as hide, ivory, horns, teeth, and bone are sold for money to people who make cloths, jewelry, and other materials out of the animal parts. people also kill animals for meat to put in markets. For example in Congo monkey meat is sold in markets, and many parts of North America, different types of deer are killed for food.
Hobbies:
Hunting is a hobby to many people in many different nations. Even though most of it is controlled, in many countries illegal sport hunting in becoming very common.
Religious and cultural value:
Multiple animals have religious value as well as being used in witchcraft. for example in places in uganda the king sits on a leopard skin. Many tribes find the leopard skin to be a symbol of magic, so many witch doctors use them to show off their "powers". Animals are also killed for reasons like cleansing a bad omen, asking the gods for rain, etc.
Medicine and weapons:
Animals are used for medicine in many places. For example, people from Lendu in Eastern Congo think that a lions liver can cure skin diseases, but its also used as poison. Tribes use snakes venom on the end of their spears and arrows.
No matter what the reason all forms of poaching and hunting have led many species to extinction.
People have hunted animals for over 40,000 years. In the past hunting has helped humans many different ways such as leadership, community formation, language development, and tool use. Mostly people relied on hunting for food, the agricultural revolution (around 10,000 years ago) made the need for survival hunting go down in most parts of the world. But hunting has continued for many reasons, and poaching remains a big problem all across the world.
For money:
Many animal projucts such as hide, ivory, horns, teeth, and bone are sold for money to people who make cloths, jewelry, and other materials out of the animal parts. people also kill animals for meat to put in markets. For example in Congo monkey meat is sold in markets, and many parts of North America, different types of deer are killed for food.
Hobbies:
Hunting is a hobby to many people in many different nations. Even though most of it is controlled, in many countries illegal sport hunting in becoming very common.
Religious and cultural value:
Multiple animals have religious value as well as being used in witchcraft. for example in places in uganda the king sits on a leopard skin. Many tribes find the leopard skin to be a symbol of magic, so many witch doctors use them to show off their "powers". Animals are also killed for reasons like cleansing a bad omen, asking the gods for rain, etc.
Medicine and weapons:
Animals are used for medicine in many places. For example, people from Lendu in Eastern Congo think that a lions liver can cure skin diseases, but its also used as poison. Tribes use snakes venom on the end of their spears and arrows.
No matter what the reason all forms of poaching and hunting have led many species to extinction.
Effects of poaching:
The loss of endangered species on because of poaching has a tremendous effect on the habitats that thee animals live in. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), says that Tigers are in the most danger of extinction. The WWF estimates that there are less than 3200 tigers left on the earth. Within the tigers ecosystem they are at the top of the food chain. The loss of tigers will have a complex consequince on their ecosystem, resulting in the large scale growth of prey animal population.
The loss of endangered species on because of poaching has a tremendous effect on the habitats that thee animals live in. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), says that Tigers are in the most danger of extinction. The WWF estimates that there are less than 3200 tigers left on the earth. Within the tigers ecosystem they are at the top of the food chain. The loss of tigers will have a complex consequince on their ecosystem, resulting in the large scale growth of prey animal population.