Many species are affected by poaching, including illegal hunting, fishing and capturing of wild animals, and, in a recent usage, the illegal harvesting of wild plant species.[1][2][3] The article provides an overview of species currently endangered or impaired by poaching in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, and South-East Asia.
The leatherback sea turtle is globally threatened due to poaching for eggs, meat and oil.[4]Poacher, painting of Frédéric Rouge (1867-1950)
In 2007, it was estimated that parrot trappers capture about 65,000–78,500 wild parrots each year in Mexico, mainly by setting nets or by collecting nestlings from tree cavities. About 50,000–60,000, more than 75%, die before reaching customers. Between 2003 and 2006, Mexican wildlife officials did not issue permits for parrot trapping as legal permits provided cover for the illegal trade of poached parrots. Illegal trapping of wild parrots affects most of the 22 parrot species native to Mexico including:[15]
West Indian manatees were illegally hunted in the Port Honduras area in Belize at least until the end of the 1990s. Poachers were suspected to come from Guatemala and Honduras. Manatees were killed for meat, and their bones used for carving trinket and other souvenirs sold in local markets in the Yucatán Peninsula.[21] In 2002, it was estimated that about 40 manatees are killed annually along the eastern Nicaraguan coast and in inland wetlands by poachers and incidental drowning in fishing nets.[22]
African elephants are being poached for their ivory tusks – the heaviest teeth of any animal alive.[31] In October 2013 poachers were reported in the press to have poisoned more than 300 African elephants in Hwange National ParkinZimbabwe.[32] This UK Telegraph report (republished widely by other newspapers) was proven to be exaggerated, with a maximum total of 120 elephants determined by independent sources to be dead in this incident.[33] Even so, conservationists have called this the deadliest massacre of animals in Southern Africa in 25 years. African elephants continue to remain a high target for poachers and some researchers have estimated that African elephants may be extinct in 25–50 years in the wild.[34] African elephants have experienced a 60-70% decline in population in two decades, 1979–2002.[35] In 2012 alone, 13,607 elephants were poached in Central Africa, and 8,515 elephants were poached in East Africa.
Illegal poaching for African elephants has increased noticeably in 2008 and correlates with an increase in price for local black market ivory and with increased findings of illegal ivory headed to China. There is a probable species reduction of ~3% in 2011 alone.[36] Estimates of over 25,000 to 35,000 African elephants were killed for their tusks in 2012.[37][38] Despite ivory trade bans in 1989, elephant numbers continue to decline in Africa.[35] Finding and monitoring the origin of illegal ivory found could help efforts to curb and suppress poaching of African elephants.[39]InTanzania, 60% of the elephant population has been killed since 2010 and now number fewer than 44,000 individuals. In Mozambique, 48% of the country's elephants were killed in the same period. Local people kill elephants for cash, but penalties are often negligible. In central Africa, militias and terrorist groups also poach elephants, often outside their home countries. They hide inside protected areas and kill park rangers who get in their way.[40] A 2014 survey estimated that at least 100,000 elephants were killed for their ivory between 2010 and 2012. According to the survey, even if poaching stopped now, it might take more than 90 years for forest elephants to match their 2002 population."[41]
^Power Bratton, S (1985). "Effects of disturbance by visitors on two woodland orchid species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA". Biological Conservation. 31 (3): 211–227. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(85)90068-0.
^ abMuth, R. M.; Bowe, Jr. (1998). "Illegal harvest of renewable natural resources in North America: Toward a typology of the motivations for poaching". Society & Natural Resources. 11 (1): 9–24. doi:10.1080/08941929809381058.
^Dietrich, C.; Columbini, D. (2010). "Plant Poaching". Missouri Department of Conservation. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
^ abEckert, K. L. and Grobois, F. A. (2001). Status and distribution of the Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, in the Wider Caribbean Region. Pages 24–31 in: Proceedings of the Regional Meeting "Marine Turtle Conservation in the Wider Caribbean Region: A Dialogue for Effective Regional Management" Santo Domingo, 16–18 November 1999. WIDECAST, IUCN-MTSG, WWF and UNEP-CEP.
^Brinkley, J. (1991). Wildlife Managers Claim Poaching is out of Control. Rocky Mountain News, 16 December 1991.
^ abMusgrave, R. S., Parker, S. and Wolok, M. (1993). Status of Poaching in the United States – Are We Protecting Our Wildlife? Natural Resources Journal 33 (4): 977–1014.
^Zabyelina, Yuliya (2014). "The Fishy Business: A Qualitative Analysis of the Illicit Market in Black Caviar". Trends in Organized Crime. 17 (3): 181–198. doi:10.1007/s12117-014-9214-z. S2CID144270302.
^Fitzgerald, L. A., Painter, C. W., Reuter, A. and C. Hoover (2004). Collection, Trade, and Regulation of Reptiles and Amphibians of the Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion. Traffic North America, World Wildlife Fund, Washington D.C.
^Meyer, S. P. and Parker, G. R. (2003). The population dynamics of goldenseal by habitat type on the Hoosier National Forest. In: Van Sambeek, J. W.; Dawson, Jeffery O.; Ponder Jr., Felix; Loewenstein, Edward F.; Fralish, James S. (eds.) Proceedings of the 13th Central Hardwood Forest Conference. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-234. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Research Station: 281.
^Cantú, J. C. G., Saldaña, M. E. S., Grosselet, M. and Gamez, J. S. (2007). The illegal parrot trade in Mexico: a comprehensive assessment. Defenders of Wildlife, México and Washington, DC.
^Maldonado, J. R. E.; López González, C. A. (2003). "Recent records for the Neotropical River Otter (Lontra Longicaudis) in Guerrero, Mexico". IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin. 20 (2): 65–68.
^Koch, V.; Nichols, W. J.; Peckham, H.; de la Toba, V. (2006). "Estimates of sea turtle mortality from poaching and bycatch in Bahia Magdalena, Baja California Sur, Mexico". Biological Conservation. 128 (3): 327–334. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.09.038.
^Wright, S. J.; Zeballos, H.; Dominguez, I.; Gallardo, M. M.; Moreno, M. C.; Ibanez, R. (2000). "Poachers alter mammal abundance, seed dispersal, and seed predation in a neotropical forest". Conservation Biology. 14: 227–239. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.98333.x. S2CID55631134.
^Morales-Vela, B.; Olivera-Gómez, D.; Reynolds, III; Rathbun, G. B. (2000). "Distribution and habitat use by manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) in Belize and Chetumal Bay, Mexico". Biological Conservation. 95 (1): 67–75. CiteSeerX10.1.1.476.8908. doi:10.1016/s0006-3207(00)00009-4.
^Traffic North America. (2009). Wildlife Trade Control; CAFTA-DR Regional Gap Analysis Report. Traffic North America, World Wildlife Fund, Washington DC.
^Liz, V. S., Berrio, V., Lizcano, D. J. and Suárez, C. A. (2008). Perceptions and attitudes toward Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi) and Wattled Guan (Aburria aburri) in Tama Natural National Park, Colombia. Boletín De Grupo Especialistas en Cracidos 25: 30–33.
^Rubim, P., Bernardo, C. S. S. (2008). Distribution and status of Jacutinga (Aburria jacutinga) at Estação ecológica juréia-itatins, Atlantic Rain Forest, Brazil. Boletín De Grupo Especialistas en Cracidos 25: 18–23.
^Van Coeverden de Groot J, Peter (2011). "Conservation genetics of the black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis bicornis, in Namibia". Conserv Genet. 12 (3): 783–792. doi:10.1007/s10592-011-0185-1. S2CID34212499.
^"Rhino poaching update" (Press release). Department of Environmental Affairs. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
^Lindsey, P. and Bento, C. (2012). Illegal Hunting and the Bushmeat Trade in Central Mozambique. A Case-study from Coutada 9, Manica Province. Traffic East/Southern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe.