How can we stop the extinction of many animals in Africa when it is so profitable for the pouchers?
Many of Africa's animals have parts that are used in their medical practices and also by China. Tusks, gall bladders, horns are all in great demand and sell for hundreds of dollars. Many of the countries trying to stop their populations of these animals from becoming extinct have little money to expend on protecting these animals and most depend on donations from people around the world who are concerned. These animals are a gift to everyone and should be protected by the UN just as much as people are. Once they are gone there will be no bringing them back.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.One item I have not seen here is the use of bush meat to feed what is the world's fastest growing population, Africa. It's not just poachers but locals who, increasingly, encroaching on jungle areas and reducing the habitat. At the 1994 UN conference in Cairo, Egypt the phrase "No matter one's cause it is a lost cause if we don't come to grips with human population growth" was used a lot. Little has changed and we are now living in the sixth great extinction of species (plant and animal).
JackPedigo
Level 9
Dec 12, 2018
0
Religion is working against population controls, they want as many followers as possible to support the idea..
Put a bounty on the poachers and set the bounty hunters loose...
SpikeTalon
Level 9
Dec 12, 2018
0
You are talking about people who survive on $25 a month. You think thats going to work? And whos gonna put up the bounty?
@273kelvin Didn't really mean that as a serious suggestion, though it is somewhat tempting...
@273kelvin While not as popular perhaps, I do think your idea below would work. Hunting could be used effectively.
@SpikeTalon You would have to charge really big money. All the local officials would have to get a cut. Making sure the cash filtered down might be the biggest problem.
No amount of education is going to affect the perceptions of those who truly believe in the medical properties of these products regardless of how unfounded the claims may be, or those who rely upon the perceived character enhancements of trophy hunting big game to feel like a real man. Trump's administration allowed the NRA to affect the reversal of the ban on trophy hunting of endangered species citing BS claims that the infusion of funds into local conservation programs would ultimately benefit the survival of the species. Major flaw in this reasoning is that no big money game hunting company is the least bit concerned with conservation and we have zero ability to regulate the use of those funds. Proper laws to protect the animals are hugely beneficial. Still leaves the problem of poachers, and that's one that countries will have to deal with internally. Greater funding and on the ground resources are going to be integral to that success. Though I'm more fond of @Piece2YourPuzzle suggestion of shooting them.
Amzungu
Level 8
Dec 12, 2018
1
Properly managed hunting could be the only answer. I know its abhorrent and disgusting but unless you make these animals a more valuable resource than what their bodies bring. Then the extinction will continue unabated. A local poacher will get about $100 for a weeks work. That dentist payed $14,000 to shoot that lion.
Just a thought but there are more elk in the US now than when the white men came.
@273kelvin Disgust and abhorrence aside, I'm not convinced that even properly managed hunting would have the desired impact on conserving threatened species. I get it for population management. But for conservation, unless you're funneling those high price tags directly to legitimate conservation efforts (which may have been the intention but certainly is not the reality) how exactly will it slow the roll of poachers or halt the decline of species?
@Amzungu2 If you have some limp dick, more money than brains idiot splashing out $10,000s to kill these things. Then theyre are worth keeping around. The economic incentive is there. Just as tourism provides that in more stable countries like Kenya. If the local king fish is getting his cut of a fat wad then he will want to keep the gravy train rolling and not wipe them out.
@273kelvin I understand the rationale. I just don't believe it will translate into reality. The only reason the more effective and sustainable solution of focusing on tourism as Kenya does, is because the most problematic countries aren't stable enough to support it. What makes you believe they are stable enough to properly manage a hunting based solution and not just take the money as fast as they can get it for as long as the resource is available and then turn to the next trending get rich scheme once it's depleted?
@Amzungu2 I don't know if or how it will work but whats happening now surely isnt
@273kelvin we can agree on that. I've spent a lot of time in Maasai Mara, Kenya... countless hours watching prides of lions and families of elephants, and it greatly saddens me to think that greed may rob my children and so many others of that same amazing opportunity. I'm supportive of any effort that works.
@Amzungu2 What I an saying is try and get that greed working to keep them around
Your posting did not include the market for "bush meat"...many snares that catch, kill and maim unintended larger game. As long as there is poverty in Africa, the disadvantaged will view the animals as resources to mitigate their poverty. If I was one of them (the impoverished African), I would be out setting snares. So, logically the answer is, in part, raising the income of the native peoples who rely on bush meat/poaching. Or kill them off...that would work also. The U.N. is not likely to be the answer...the individual countries "own" the resources including the animals...we would not tolerate the U.N. telling us how to manage our Wild Horses or Deer.
In all, the large fauna is likely going to go extinct no matter what we do because the base cause is human over-population, and no one is going to do anything about that.
dahermit
Level 7
Dec 12, 2018
0
Educate people and stop buying the products.
CaroleKay
Level 8
Dec 12, 2018
2
Education or not ..the world still harbours idiots .. We live in a sad world where some will not learn ..or try to change their practises....
Unfortunately, cultural practices are difficult to change. Although meat production in the US is consuming vast quantities of water and has destroyed much of the native flora and fauna in the US, people continue to eat meat and other animal products. A mass extinction is underway, and it seems impossible to stop. My hope is that soon it may be possible to revive species using stored DNA or sperm and eggs, which are being saved for many species.
How well has that worked so far as relative to Elephants and Rhinos?
I have not bought nor do I know of others who have purchased Elephant or Rhino products, so apparently education is key.
Start shooting the poachers.
Piece2YourPuzzle
Level 8
Dec 12, 2018
3
They actually are shooting them but not enough shooters to go around
When the "poachers" are the majority of a local tribe harvesting bush meat?
@dahermit That's a different situation. I'm talking about mainly those that do it for sport.
Send out hit squads to shoot the poachers. ?Unfortunately there are too many gun toting idiots who want to pay for the privilege of having a picture taken beside beautiful creatures which increasingly are becoming endangered species....a sad indictment of the human race .....
Jaydee123
Level 5
Dec 12, 2018
3
Regulated "Sport Hunting", has never resulted in the extermination of any species. It is the illegal hunting, trapping (bush meat snares), that are threatening the mega fauna...and the root cause of the is human overpopulation.
How do you feel about "hunters" in general? How would you distinguish between someone like a typical Michigan deer hunter and someone who does it for "sport"?
You will like my answer less than any, licensed hunting. I know its abhorrent but it may be the only way. You have to make these animals valuable to the locals. Some of which are surviving on $25 a month. From what I read that dentist spent $14,000 to kill that lion. That kind of money could make the difference Managed hunting could revive the population and local economy.
I know many will say that tourism is a better solution but that won't work everywhere. If you want to make that trip you will go somewhere like Kenya not Zimbabwe.
273kelvin
Level 8
Dec 12, 2018
2
I doubt you will like my answer .... Farm them as a food source. Look what that has done for chickens, cattle and buffalo (American bison).
Normanbites
Level 7
Dec 12, 2018
0
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