Real World Problem for Illegal Hunting - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theReal World Problem for Illegal Hunting. Answer: Illegal Hunting or poaching are recognized as major threat to populations of wildlife. This is the problem that is depicted in the picture. There are elephant tusks and ornaments among other things that are made out of the tusks. This illustrates the extent to which the issue has progressed. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were over 10 million elephants roaming about in the savannas and forests in Africa. However, as data from the conservancies now indicate, the elephant population has dwindled significantly to a figure less than 500,000. Recent reports on the media and news channel have reported that organized crime syndicates are responsible for the decline in the population and that the major market for the ivory is in Asia. Economic Explanation for Poaching It is vital to consider the long-term and short-term factors that push individuals to hunt wildlife. These factors often vary from one individual to the next implying that poachers of wildlife are into the practice often for different reasons. A shortfall in income is however, a common reason why individuals engage in it. The value of the resources that are being sought after such as the elephant tusks, rhino horns, animal skin, and others is also a key reason why individuals engage in poaching(Poudyal, Rothley, Knowler, 2009). Hence, profit is the underlying motive among poachers. As reported in one recent journal article, poaching makes economic sense. Poaching as depicted in the first image is a current real world problem. The illegal capture and killing of game occurs primarily in the developing countries. However, poaching is not an issue that is born out of poverty. As has been proven by experts in the field of criminology, poverty does not incite one to crime but rather the latter is opportunistic especially with regard to poaching or wildlife crime. The loss of state wildlife is a determinant of the wildlife tourists that visit the country and its environs. When the wildlife reduces, the tourists also reduce and this brings about significant losses to the gross domestic product (GDP) for the state(Poudyal, Rothley, Knowler, 2009). The uncontrolled killing of wildlife has resulted in unsustainable consumption of resources, which has greatly inhabited growth and development of the tourism industry. Since tourism provides employment for a significant number of people, a decline in wildlife tourists due to absence of wildlife wi ll lead to loss in jobs. Policies to Manage the Problem The policies that exist to combat against poaching are categorized into two groups. The first group includes all the anti-poaching programs and efforts that are aimed towards the killing of the animals. These policies include wildlife patrols, restricting access to conservancies and parks, wildlife tracking, and other measures(Minin, Laitila, Montesino-Pousols, Leader-Williams, 2014). These measures will help to combat the poachers head-on or limit their access to the endangered populations of animals they seek. The second category is the policies that focus on the trade in illegal animal products. Examples include the moratorium on the trade of ivory, intercepting the products, and the Ivory product registration and certification program(Minin, Laitila, Montesino-Pousols, Leader-Williams, 2014). The latter was responsible for monitoring imports and exports in ivory. Such policies on the illegal trade will reduce poaching because it will disincentivize poaching. List of References Minin, D. E., Laitila, J., Montesino-Pousols, F., Leader-Williams, N. (2014). Identification of policies for a sustainable legal trade in rhinoceros horn based on population projection and socioeconomic models. Conservation Biology, 29(2), 545-555. Poudyal, M., Rothley, K., Knowler, D. (2009). Ecological and economic analysis of poaching of the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Nepal. Ecological Applications: A Publication of the Ecological Society of America, 19(7), 1693-1707.