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What is poaching and how does it affect the economy of Africa? ( Rachel Nuwer,5 October 2017) The Northern rangelands trust (NRT) was established in 2004 and supports 35 community conservancies spending 17,300 square miles in the northern and coastal Kenya
Conservation is not something the local people do purely out of altruism NRT member conservancies now benefit from some 15,000 visitors per year. The economic impacts of poaching is ecotourism, foreign aid, and boycotting.
In economic terms, the extinction of species can have a negative effect on local tourism. Due to poaching, fewer and fewer tourists are coming, and there are between 20,000-30,000 elephants being killed each year. Because of the elephant crisis poaching is causing Africa to lose up to 25 million dollars every year in loss of tourism. says Chris Roche of Wilderness Safaris, “A live animal creates employment, revenue share and economic multiplier effects,” what he means by this is that because of these animals there are jobs for the people in South Africa and that's how they make money to guide and show the tourist around south Africa and without the tourist, there will be none to go to the hotels go to the savanna and all businesses will go down because there will be no tourist there and that's what poaching is causing. Wildlife tourism attracts substantial numbers of tourists worldwide with Africa as the major wildlife viewing destination earning the bulk of its tourism revenue from such tourism. Iconic animals, such as the rhino, are major attractions for tourists to South Africa which holds approximately 80% of the World’s rhino population. However, the rapid increase in rhino poaching activities has reached a crisis point and should the rate of poaching continue to increase Africa’s remaining rhino
the population will become extinct in the wild within 20 years. How this affects tourists and tourism is still largely unknown. This study shows evidence that rhino poaching and anti-poaching measures do impact tourism in the short term and could affect future visits to Parks. Researchers looked at visitor and elephant data across 25 countries and modeled financial losses from fewer visitors in protected areas due to the illegal wildlife trade, which has caused elephant numbers to plummet by more than 100,000 in the last decade.
In South Africa, The killings are fueled by a demand for tusks and horns in Asia that has made ivory and rhino horn more valuable than gold or cocaine. Although the Chinese market is responsible for an estimated 70 percent of global poaching, 'we've also got an ivory problem here in the U.S.,' says Hemley, noting that the U.S. is considered the world's second-biggest market for wildlife products. The State Department and USAID are also asking for $28 million to address the problem by helping bolster Africa’s protected areas, training foreign wildlife officials, and other activities. In America During President Obama’s tenure, financial resources to combat wildlife crime at the State Department’s law enforcement bureau rose from a few hundred thousand to today’s $50 million level. Hybrid partnerships across the conservation-security continuum improved, for example between Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) and the Department of Defense’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The Administration also issued a comprehensive National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking. the program calls for the State Department to provide $10 million in technical assistance and training in Kenya, South Africa, and the sub-Saharan region, where elephant and rhino populations have plummeted at alarming rates. ( Amar Toor 2013) “The White House unveiled an ambitious $7 billion plan to double access to electricity in Africa over the next five
years.”On the black market, rhinoceros horns sell for around $30,000 a pound, while elephant tusks fetch approximately $1,000 a pound. ( Amar Toor 2013) “Experts say that on a global level, the wildlife trafficking market is valued at between $7 billion and $10 billion.”
While poaching is growing the rise echo tourist are rising up and boycotting the poachers.(news 24 2012) 'We have gathered more than 22 000 signatures in this petition from South African communities and other countries across the world. Government has 60 days to turn around the situation or we call for drastic action, including a boycott.' The extinction of a species can have a negative economic effect on a local community’s tourism industry. A community that relies on its wildlife to attract tourists is at great risk for economic hardship if the prevalence of poaching is high. Furthermore, a tourist boycott due to local poaching is a real threat. A boycott could have a detrimental effect on a community’s economy since restaurants, hotels, rentals, and other attractions would suffer. Although I do believe poaching is bad most of the time they don't kill with bad intentions. There is an incredible amount of money involved in poaching as items such as ivory can be thought to heal everything in some cultures so people will pay a lot of money for it, and unfortunately, some people just see the money instead of the animal. But sometimes this isn't the case very poor people may be forced to poach in order to feed their families and survive. In an article I read called “The real reasons why people poach endangered species” an ex-poacher by the name of Albert mathe says “They see all this wildlife on the other side of the fence and they see it as an opportunity to either have food for themselves or have food to sell to neighboring communities,' says Walsh. 'It's not like rhino horn where there's a massive payoff.' 'What I wanted to do was find a story that showcased both sides of the fence,' he says.they know it’s wrong but it is the only food source they have to survive. Would
Do you think it is fair for someone wishing to kill an elephant to just come in and shoot it? Or for someone who wants a tiger skin carpet to come and kill a tiger? It has no purpose, it's anti-ecological, it inflicts useless suffering to an intelligent animal, and it is immoral. Furthermore, if it was legal, there would be people killing elephants, big turtles and rhinos all around to sell their bones, bringing these species, already critically endangered, to quick extinction.
Poaching in Africa has hit the headlines many times over the years., wildlife officials in South Africa released the devastating statistic that 558 rhinos have been killed in 2014 so far, making it likely that the number of deaths will exceed 1004 recorded for 2013. And it is not only rhinos; elephants have also been hit hard with an estimated 20,000 killed in 2013. So why is poaching at an all-time high and what can be done about it? First, we need to improve security, particularly at borders between countries and at key locations in the ivory trade chain. To be effective, this needs to take a multi-country and multi-organization approach to ensure security all along the common ivory routes More support and training are needed in addition to improved law enforcement. Second destroyed its ivory stocks for the first time, sending a message to the world that trade in ivory will not be tolerated. But there is little evidence of whether this is anything more than a gesture or if it actually has any impact on poaching. And lastly, innovative drone technology is being tested to help rangers in the fight against poaching. These drones, which also operate after dark using night vision and thermal imaging, can be operated via laptop and act as an extra pair of eyes, helping to locate poachers within the reserve. More research is needed but initial trials have been positive.
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