This article comes from the WeChat public account: nut shell (ID: Guokr42) , author: Barley, head Figure: vision China
When they found the rhinoceros with its horns cut, the rhinoceros was dead.
This happened in South Africa last month. To avoid the spread of the new crown epidemic, South Africa announced the closure of the border in late March. But comes along with the blockade, is increasingly serious poaching.
Rhino911 staff trying to rescue rhinos | Nico Jacobs
The non-profit organization “Rhino911” provides helicopter transportation for rhino rescues. After South Africa announced the blockade, they received news about rhino poaching almost every day. Sometimes, they can bring back the rhino cubs who have lost their mother; but sometimes-as mentioned above, when they arrive, the rhinos will no longer work.
Under the epidemic, poaching grows
During the epidemic, human activities decreased, and pictures of rivers becoming clearer and animal activities becoming more popular on the Internet, as if the natural world was being cured by the epidemic. However, peopleThe impact of such self-isolation on nature is far from simple and ideal. In some ways, the situation is even getting worse. After the outbreak, many countries have discovered that poaching is rapidly increasing.
Rhino911 received the news that rhinos needed rescue almost every day after the blockade was announced in South Africa. Last Sunday, they rescued an 11-month-old rhino cub | Facebook: @ Rhino911
South Africa, after the blockade was imposed at the end of March, nine rhinos were killed in the northwest.
Botswana, at least 6 rhinos have been killed since the blockade.
Nepal. In a national park, three endangered gangster crocodiles (Gavialis gangeticus) were killed in another national park One elephant was found electrocuted.
Austria, 27 protected raptors were hunted in March alone.
Cambodia, 3 Great Ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea) was poisoned on April 9th. This is an extremely endangered bird, basically only living in Cambodia, the number is less than 300. In other words, when the three great ibis were killed, the number of this species also lost 1%.
Rangers are dealing with dead giant ibis | WCS
—— The above are just poaching cases known to us. Perhaps there are more animals that were silently killed when we did n’t find them.
The tourism industry is stagnant, people and animals are in trouble
Although hunting of wild animals never stops, the situation has improved in the past few years. However, this good trend seems to quickly reverse to the bad because of the epidemic. To make matters worse, Many recent poaching cases have occurred in national parks and nature reserves—these were supposed to be relatively safe places.
This change is closely related to the stagnation of tourism caused by the epidemic.
In many wildlife reserves, tourism is an important source of economy. According to data from the World Tourism Organization, more than 67 million tourists visited Africa in 2018, creating an output value of US $ 194.2 billion; for some countries, tourism is a pillar industry. In Cambodia, many tourists visit the reserve in order to watch the Great Ibis, and have brought in more than US $ 100,000 in income over the past decade.
The big ibis is an important reason for tourists to visit the reserve | Phann Sithan / WCS
The income is very important for the operation of nature reserves and animal protection organizations. They are used toPay staff salaries to maintain ground patrol vehicles and aerial surveillance aircraft. At the same time, the tourism industry provides millions of jobs for local people, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of animal protection.
However, after the outbreak, measures such as border closures, flight suspensions, and suspension of protected areas have made the tourism industry nearly zero overnight. The resulting chain reaction made the animal the ultimate victim.
No visitors in the reserve
Generally speaking, poachers will not choose to start in a crowded place. Tourists and guides in the reserve are invisible deterrents to poachers.
Now there are no tourists in the reserve, and the task of patrolling the vast unmanned land can only fall on the patrolmen. In the words of a head of the reserve in Botswana, this is like “the patrolman lost a leg.”
Protected Area | Harshil Gudka / Unsplash
Protect the organization without money
The economic loss is undoubtedly huge. The Ol Pejeta Reserve in Kenya expects that they will lose 70% of their business this year and lose $ 3 million; in response, they have to cut the salaries of their employees and suspend the use of some transportation within the reserve. Such a situation is by no means an isolated case: Mankwe Wildlife Reserve in South Africa cut off 30% of the salary of its employees, Enduimet Wildlife Management District in Tanzania fired 10 staff, and the famous Virunga National Park in Congo was grounded. Used to monitor the aircraft.
Government agencies still have an annual budget as a source of funding, butMost private protected areas and civil protection organizations are very dependent on tourism income. This is like putting most of the eggs in the same basket, and the risks are exposed in this outbreak; as some scholars have said, it is necessary to diversify the sources of funds for the protection of animals and plants-but the most urgent problem is that animals Can we escape the poacher’s gun.
Patrolmen and working dogs assisting patrols | Twitter: @HelpingRhinos
Many conservation organizations have stated that they will do their best to maintain their work. But in fact, the number of staff involved in anti-poaching has decreased, and the number of deterrent motor vehicles and aircraft has also decreased. These may make poachers more rampant.
More and more shotguns aiming at animals
Due to the epidemic, poachers also seem to have more “reasons” for poaching. Not only is the stagnation of the tourism industry, but the economic downturn caused by the epidemic has caused many people to face the pressure of survival-especially for those who were originally poor.
Some people who lost their income picked up their shotguns and re-targeted the creatures in the natural world. They not only poached for rhino horns and ivory that could be exchanged for high prices in illegal transactions, but also for animal meat. In addition to rhinos and elephants, there may be giraffes and antelopes. The latter category is regarded as meat for local consumption, and hunters either eat it by themselves or sell it to others-this is always cheaper than buying meat on the market; not to mention, the price of food on the market may also be due to the epidemic. And rose.
Giraffes may be hunted as food | Charles J Sharp / Wikimedia Commons
Poaching is wrong; but for people who are not full, animal protection seems to be an excessively high moral requirement.
Of course, there are those who are already poaching. They are more likely to see this as a business opportunity and increase the behavior of hunting animals. The armed guards clashed with poachers, and several casualties also broke out with recent poaching cases.
The chain reaction of human society is pushed to the end. Those who are harmed are animals that do not yet understand what is happening in human society-they may face more shotguns and less protection.
Rhino in Ol Pejeta Reserve | Twitter: @wildwarriors
According to the situation in previous years, June to October is the peak season for many protected areas. Because of the blockade and economic downturn caused by the epidemic, the peak season this year may be completely deserted.
Will the animals live freely on their land when the epidemic has passed and tourists have been welcomed back into the reserve?
References
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