Effects Of Poaching In Africa

Poaching: A Heavy Burden on Africa

Africa is home to the planet’s most iconic and charismatic wildlife, ranging from the enormous gray elephants to the majestic golden lions and the elusive spotted leopards. People around the world know these creatures and have affection for them, but what many ignore is the huge threat that is looming for these animal species. This threat, commonly called poaching, “is the illegal harvesting of animals through capturing, catching, hunting, or killing” (“Poaching”).

Over the last decades and especially from 2000 onwards, acts of poaching have skyrocketed, leaving the populations of African wildlife in a critical situation. Much debate has arisen on whether this poaching issue should be tackled through prohibition,

De Alessi reassures this statement, saying: “… since the only result of stricter enforcement [of legal measures] would be higher prices” (De Alessi). Advocates of this argument also use past evidence regarding the effectiveness of prohibitions from international organizations like the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna). According to De Alessi, international trade bans on elephant ivory have been detrimental to elephant populations, as the prohibitions are not effective and the prices of ivory escalate under these prohibitions (De

It’s not just theory but also action and execution” (Linares). International organization and treatises like the CITES are negligent of the real elements and factors implicated in the issue, and that’s why they fail at reducing the effects of poaching on African wildlife. As expressed by Dr. Ian Player, founder of the Wilderness Foundation, in an interview, the CITES and other international treaties barely take into account the ideas and proposals from the local African organizations that are doing the actual field work of conservation and know the factors involved in the issue: “60,000 black rhino have been vanished in East Africa, has CITES saved them? I would like to ask that question, because I think you would find the answer to be ‘N-O,’ they have not saved them, but we have saved the rhino to the point that they are now. So I believe that we have got a bigger say than anybody else” (“The Last Rhino”). Additionally, the CITES ignores many of the realities and problems present in the issue of poaching and the trafficking of animal products. According to Christy, “As Somalia is to piracy, Sudan has become to elephant poaching,” with the latter