How many people have died in the global conflict over wildlife?
Growing armed conflict
The statistics about the loss of wildlife around the world are staggering. “100,000 elephants were killed from 2010–2012.” Says Dr. Iain Douglas Hamilton. “And the current levels are still very high.” Thousands upon thousands of elephants, rhinos, pangolins, tigers, and more are killed every year. In the face of this crisis, the militarization of wildlife protection has come as an immediate intervention to many wildlife habitats.
We originally didn’t have firearms so we came up with a whole host of different methods. Paintball guns was one, pepper spray was another. The poacher walked down a track and we’d jump out, spray pepper balls and grab them. Then they’d change their tactics. Eventually we were allowed to carry guns.” Unfortunately, the poachers have upped their firepower too. Worth’s men were confiscating “very old-school Winchesters”. Now they are finding state-of-the art Czech rifles. (Source)
With the escalation of arms on both sides of wildlife poaching and protection, these conflicts have become increasingly deadly. How deadly? We don’t know. The reports I’ve found mainly come from scattered news articles and we lack a global framework to collect data world-wide.
When I first asked this question, “how many people have died in the global conflict over wildlife?” I very quickly realized that there is a division in those who may take count. And that difference boils down to one question…
Whose death matters?
When thinking about the loss of human life in the conflict over wildlife, I very quickly ran into the fact some people may not care to count the number of dead poachers. In the face of defenseless animals, these are the people who made a choice to kill in exchange for cash, trading some of our planet’s most precious wildlife and impacting entire ecosystems. These are the people who have chosen violence in the face of the law, attacking (and sometimes killing) the wildlife rangers brave enough to protect the wildlife we cherish.
But I ask “who are we shooting at?”
Even when considering the poachers who intended to kill wildlife and rangers, are we really set on hunting the hunters? If we want to end armed conflict over wildlife, shouldn’t we be addressing the real issues of income generation, education, social welfare, corruption, and regional destabilization of communities by armed-conflicts? How are conservation efforts instilling trust in communities when they are participating in the armed conflicts engaging neighbors and nearby communities? How could we justify it when acknowledging how many anti-poaching officers are previously poachers?
And are we able to morally justify “shoot to kill” or “shoot on sight” policies?
The poaching crisis certainly needs to move governments and civil society to act, but without taking stock of the entire situation, counting the dead on both sides of the issue, we will fail to note the scale and root causes of this issue.
Below are a few related articles I’ve found about this issue. I’ll likely try to add more. Add additional articles in the comments!
Escalation of militarization of wildlife protection:
Anti-poaching battlefield draws U.S. veterans
Their teams had made physical contact with heavily armed poachers 95 times so far this year, close to three times a week. “To illustrate the escalation of the threat, let me remind you that for the whole of 2014, there were 111 contacts with heavily armed poachers,” she said.
“In response to this escalated threat, we have stepped up our efforts, which include traditional anti-poaching policing strategies. In this regard, the utilisation of K-9 units, night capability as well as air and land capability, is now bearing fruit.”
Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/about/animals/rhino-devices-300915.htm#.VhmLDxNViko#ixzz3oCnnkhBu
Death of wildlife rangers:
Managers of Congo’s Garamba park say 3 wildlife rangers, 1 colonel killed by poachers
In the DRC, which has been riven by almost two decades of civil war and political instability, about 150 rangers have been killed in Virunga alone since 2004.
“Worldwide, about two rangers are killed every week,” says Sean Willmore, president of the International Ranger Federation and founder of the Thin Green Line Foundation, a charity that trains rangers and supports the widows of those killed in the line of duty. “But that’s only partial data,” he adds. “It could be double that amount.”
Alleged poachers:
At least 22 poachers were killed and 900 others were arrested this year in Zimbabwe, as the country moved to combat the problem of poaching…According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, the minister said out of the 22 killed, 16 were locals and the rest were foreigners.”
http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/22-poachers-killed-900-held-in-Zimbabwe-this-year-20151008-2
Alleged Rhino Poacher Killed in KZN
http://ewn.co.za/2015/09/23/Suspected-rhino-poacher-shot-dead
Armed rangers in South Africa’s Kruger Park have killed nearly 500 mostly young Mozambicans for poaching activities over the past five years, according to former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano.
Officials from the South African National Parks referred queries on Chissano’s comments made on Friday to police, who could not confirm the number of the poachers killed by Monday.
A spokesman at Kruger said data was not available on the number of poaching-related arrests made in the past year. The national parks agency says a majority of suspected poachers arrested are Mozambicans but given no figures.
Chissano, whose foundation is involved in conservation, said 82 Mozambican poachers had been killed in Kruger Park so far this year, compared with 106 during the whole of 2014 without citing the source for the figures.
“It worries me that quite a large number of Mozambicans killed in Kruger Park in poaching activities,” the former president said. “Each of these Mozambicans dead means more poverty for his family, because they can no longer count on him to fight for better living conditions.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/21/mozambique-poachers-idUSL5N11R2OP20150921
As is the funeral trade. Since 2008, some 220 poachers, mainly Mozambicans, have been killed by security forces and rangers in Kruger…
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f71d53ea-67b3-11e5-97d0-1456a776a4f5.html
6 Bengal tiger poachers killed in Bangladesh, police say
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/11/world/bangladesh-tiger-poachers/
Non-armed wildlife protection:
There are still unarmed efforts for reducing poaching.
Both women are two of the original members of the 24-strong group, South Africa’s first all-female anti-poaching team. Black Mambas was set up in 2013 to protect the private Balule wildlife reserve, a park that borders the Kruger, and its resident rhino.
Over the past two years the team, which does not carry guns, has reduced snaring by 76% in the reserve, saving the lives of rhino and putting poachers out of action.
Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/about/animals/rhino-devices-300915.htm#.VhmLDxNViko#ixzz3oCo8vTjm
Swapping guns for smart phones in the fight against poaching
New York-based nonprofit organization Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), working with seven conservation groups, has developed software aimed at helping rangers in remote locations to anticipate poaching activity rather than merely reacting to it.
The SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) application, as it is known, provides users with information on illegal hunting, telling them what happened and where. Designed to work in tandem with GPS-enabled devices, such as heavy-duty cell phones, it also allows conservation managers to map and follow a ranger’s activities.”
http://www.dw.com/en/swapping-guns-for-smart-phones-in-the-fight-against-poaching/a-18763490
