G06: Ecosystem Problems & Solutions: Savannah & Poaching

Wild animals are being poached on a massive scale, with millions of individual animals of thousands of species worldwide killed or captured from their native habitats. Poaching poses a growing threat to elephants, rhinos, and other charismatic animals, as well as to smaller and more obscure creatures, like certain lizards and monkeys.

Few countries provide statistics on the number of poachers arrested or killed, wildlife illegally killed, or the number of rangers and other personnel killed in the line of duty. This page summarizes a variety of statistics available from reliable sources of hard data. PoachingFacts strives to use only a minimum of estimates based on peer-reviewed scientific studies when describing population increases or losses, preferring hard data when available.

Reports from conservationists, scientists, and enforcement officers told of savanna elephants being slaughtered at an alarming rate because of poaching, habitat loss, and human/wildlife conflict. And yet, there was no critical, seemingly fundamental data about how dramatic and extensive the decline was; data showing the true rate of extinction and how many elephants were left was not readily available.

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Information, statistics, threats on Rhino populations

Poaching is one of the most immediate threats to wild tigers. In relentless demand, their parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies, and increasingly as a status symbol among some Asian cultures.

Poaching is spiking in tandem with a rising demand in China for these high-end tiger products that are purchased by—or “gifted” to—China’s elite, a group that reportedly includes government officials and wealthy businessmen.

Growing numbers of wild lions in Africa are slaughtered for their teeth and claws, sought in Asian countries for jewelry.

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Since 2009, some 871 rangers and conservationists have died while protecting wildlife, according to the International Ranger Federation (IRF) and the Thin Green Line Foundation. Of the 100 rangers who died on the job last year in Africa and Asia, half of them were murdered by poachers.

Rhinos, for their horns. Sharks, for their fins. Elephants, for their tusks. Tigers, for their organs and skins.

The list of endangered species poached for pieces of their bodies to be sold illegally on the black market is long. Unfortunately, as these species decline and poaching becomes more difficult, the problem hasn't slowed — instead it has become more methodical, more organized and more high-tech.

WWF's new thermal infrared camera imaging and human detection software leads to dozens of arrests of wildlife criminals in Africa.

Several desperate efforts to present solutions to rhino poaching are currently being explored.
Brutal rhino poaching methods have escalated in South Africa, which is currently home to about 70 per cent of the remaining rhinos in the world.

Back in 1969 Gorongosa National Park was home to over 2200 elephants. Between 1977 and 1992 civil conflict in the country took the lives of most of these individuals. Elephant meat was used to feed soldiers and ivory was sold for the purchase of arms and ammunition. By the time peace was restored it was estimated that less than 200 individuals remained alive.