Understanding the illegal tradeWhat is poaching?
Wildlife under siege The threat to our animals
Poaching includes illegal hunting, capturing, and the killing of wild animals.
With the human population rising at a rapid rate and the illegal trade of wild animals and their body parts being a very profitable source of income, the risk of poaching is increasing daily.
More and more conservation areas are required in order to stabilize the decimation of all species, making every conservation corner such as Blue Canyon Private Game Reserve a vital space to conserve.
Devastating Consequences
The sad reality is, that everyday hundreds of animals are poached worldwide for their skins, scales, horns, claws and other unimageable body parts which are used for medicinal purposes which are deemed to be worthless and “myths” among many cultures.
The above has led to many animal species being threatened and placed on the endangered species list. In South Africa, right on our door step, these species include rhinos, pangolins, and vultures.
The greatest threat to our wildlife is the reduction in suitable habitat for the diversity to survive, a system to stabilize and for ecosystems to sustain themselves.
Exploring the impact What are we up against?
Greed. Money. The illegal trade in wildlife globally on an annual basis is estimated to be worth more than $23 billion! That’s more than the legal global trade in diamonds! Trading in rhino horn is worth $1 billion alone.
The demand for rhino horn on the black market has led to a massive increase in poaching with horrific images of rhino found dead with their horns hacked off, sometimes while they are still alive!
