Poachers

Poachers are individuals who illegally hunt, trap, capture, or harvest wildlife or plants in violation of laws and regulations. The term typically refers to activities targeting protected or endangered species, but can also cover illegal harvesting of non-target species and plant materials, including rare orchids or timber, across land, freshwater, and marine environments.

Motives and techniques: Common drivers include profit from illegal trade (ivory, rhino horn, tiger parts), meat for bushmeat markets, traditional medicine, pet trade, and sometimes subsistence for local communities. Poaching methods range from foot patrols resulting in ambush, snares and traps, firearms, poison, and fishing with dynamite or longlines, to modern techniques using drones, night-vision gear, or mislabeling shipments. Poaching can be organized by individuals or networks, sometimes linked to other crimes such as smuggling or corruption.

Impacts: Poaching threatens population viability, drives extinction, and disrupts ecosystems. It undermines tourism revenue and local livelihoods, fuels corruption and conflict, and can pose public health risks from wildlife crime networks.

Legal frameworks and enforcement: Most countries prohibit poaching under national wildlife or criminal law; international trade is regulated by CITES and other treaties. Penalties range from fines to imprisonment, seizure of equipment, and asset confiscation. Enforcement is carried out by rangers, police, and coast guards, often supported by community monitors, surveillance technology, and forensic analysis.

Prevention and response: Conservation strategies emphasize anti-poaching patrols, demand-reduction campaigns, community-based conservation, and alternative livelihoods. International cooperation, capacity building, and technologies such as camera traps, DNA forensics, and real-time reporting are used to deter poaching and prosecute offenders.