THE CHALLENGE
Species at Risk
Rhino
Animal contraband is big business. The current value of rhino horn on the black market is in excess of $60,000 a kilo – more than gold, platinum or conflict diamonds. It has the highest value of any illegally traded contraband. Rhinoceros are teetering on the edge of extinction as criminals progressively see rhino as a high-return but soft target. Horn smuggling is significantly less risky than trafficking conflict diamonds or hard drugs.
Recent years have already seen a subspecies of western black rhino become extinct in West Africa; Vietnam lost its last Javan rhino to poachers; and Mozambique lost the country’s remaining 14 rhino which were poached in the Limpopo National Park in 2013.
All species of rhino could become extinct in the wild by 2026 if the present attrition rate isn’t reversed. Rhino deaths are close to overtaking births; when they do so, it will signify the countdown to extinction of the species.
Elephant
Across Africa to supply the illegal ivory trade poaching has trebled in the past two decades to supply the illegal ivory trade. Ivory is now valued at over $2,000 a kilo on Asian markets. Thousands of elephants are being illegally killed, mostly by inhumane methods with inadequate firearms; cruelty and suffering is a constant theme in wildlife persecution and theft.
Certain elephant populations are critically endangered, with more animals being killed than are being born, such as in Gabon’s Minkebe National Park, where more than 10,000 elephants have been killed in recent years, reducing the herd by more than 60%. It is a similar story for elephant populations in Chad, Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, South Sudan and other vulnerable range states.
Gorillas
Bushmeat poaching is a significant threat to lowland gorilla populations. Gorillas are sought after as food (bushmeat) for the wealthy elite. Their remaining body parts are sold on to the black magic medicine trade, known as “muti” or “juju”, as magical charms or invincibility potions.
In the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, poachers kill an estimated 5% of the gorilla population each year. This has had a devastating effect on this once-increasing population. There are few protected areas within the eastern lowland gorilla’s range. Due to civil unrest in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, the eastern lowland gorilla is severely threatened by poachers. Even in the protected areas, overstretched rangers struggle to enforce porous park boundaries. Conflict and political instability continue to hamper the effective conservation of all Congo’s National Parks gorillas.
Orangutans
The remaining population of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra has also been reduced by a third during the last decade by poaching and other illegal killings. Habitat loss due to both legal and illegal deforestation brings orangutans into conflict with unscrupulous palm oil planters and opens up new areas to poachers. Hundreds of infant orangutans are taken alive each year for the illegal pet trade. This is done by shooting or trapping the mother and taking the traumatised youngster into captivity.
The survival rate of these young apes is abysmal. Five orphaned orangutans die for every one that reaches the market. Many die from injuries sustained following the fall from the forest canopy when their mother was shot. Orangutans are also poached for food; as many as 1,000 per year are killed for local consumption.
Tigers
In the past 10 years, more than 1,000 tigers have been killed to meet consumer demands in Asia for their skins and body parts. The body parts and bones (known as sets) from a single animal can fetch as much as $50,000 on the black market. Tiger bones have been used in traditional Asian medicine as a cure-all for various ailments for more than a millennium. Tiger poaching is conducted by increasingly sophisticated and well-armed criminal gangs across all tiger range states and is estimated to be worth around in excess of $20bn a year.
Lions
The illegal Asian medicine trade cannot supply an increasing demand for tiger parts; therefore it has turned to lions as a popular substitute. In the Republic of South Africa, lion bones sell for around $165 a kilo, making a full skeleton worth about $6,000 for a mature lion. A once-legal captive lion industry has stoked demand for lion bones – which has not gone away despite the South African government outlawing the trade in captive bred lions.
This puts both captive bred and wild lions in neighbour states to South Africa at extremely high risk of being poached and laundered into the tiger bone trade. No reliable data is available as yet to determine the level of threat, but it is assessed to be a major concern.
The Great White Shark
Targeted exploitation of great white sharks is primarily aimed at trading jaws as high-value trophies or teeth as curios for the black market, and its fins for the oriental fin trade. Illegal fishing of the species in the Mediterranean for human consumption has been reported, with the commercial catch sold illicitly as smooth hound.
As a consequence of the exaggerated threat to human safety and its legendary trophy fish status, the species is also actively targeted by unethical sports-fishers, and commercial drum-liner fishermen trophy hunting for jaw and fin-sets. Unfortunately, the species’ occasional lethal interaction with humans periodically reinforces a sense of negativity, and as such the great white is not always considered a conservation priority.
In South Africa offers of US$20,000-$50,000 have been made for great white shark jaws and US$600-$800 for individual teeth. Apart from their size, great white shark products in the form of curios and fins are boosted in value because of notoriety. A fin-set from a large great white shark may be valued at over US$1,000. Unfortunately, as with rhino horns and elephant tusks, the high value of great white shark products encourages poaching, clandestine trade and flouting of protective laws (Compagno 2001). Additional mortality associated with beach net-entanglement and indiscriminate drum-lining in tourist areas is also thought to be a significant factor in the rapid decline of the species. There is little doubt that the effects of the continued removal of these predators from the marine ecosystem will be catastrophic.
The current rate of great white shark exploitation exceeds the ability for population rejuvenation of this species, so without action, extinction is an inevitability.
Okapi
This elusive relative of the giraffe is endemic to the forests of the Congo basin. It is currently threatened by extensive logging, illegal mining and the subsequent the expansion of human settlements, hunting for bushmeat to feed the demand of the expanding population in its range, and trade in its skins.
Protecting the okapi is made difficult by its shy, elusive nature, and its remote forest home, which makes conducting an accurate assessment of their numbers extremely challenging. In addition, the presence of multiple armed groups, known locally as MaiMai, around the okapi’s last strongholds further complicates efforts to protect this species and their remaining habitats.
Minke Whales
Although not classed as endangered by the IUCN, the total global population size and trend of Minke whales is unknown. This species is one of a small number targeted by commercial whaling industries in countries such as Japan and Norway. Given the historically catastrophic decline of whales after intensive whaling in the 20th century, the threat to Minke whales cannot be underestimated. Whaling is considered the biggest cause of unnatural mortality for Minkes, and this adds to the mounting pressure that these whales face in our oceans today, from bycatch to ocean acidification and marine pollution.
As keystone species, whales play a vital role in our ocean’s health. Without whales such as Minkes and the invaluable ecosystem services they provide, the delicate balance of the marine environment could be destroyed. Whaling continues with no true understanding of its impact, and the risk of losing this vital species is not one worth taking.
Rhino
Animal contraband is big business. The current value of rhino horn on the black market is in excess of $60,000 a kilo – more than gold, platinum or conflict diamonds. It has the highest value of any illegally traded contraband. Rhinoceros are teetering on the edge of extinction as criminals progressively see rhino as a high-return but soft target. Horn smuggling is significantly less risky than trafficking conflict diamonds or hard drugs.
Recent years have already seen a subspecies of western black rhino become extinct in West Africa; Vietnam lost its last Javan rhino to poachers; Mozambique lost the country’s remaining 14 rhino poached in the Limpopo National Park in 2013.
All species of rhino could become extinct in the wild by 2026 if the present attrition rate isn’t reversed. Rhino deaths are close to overtaking births; when they do so, it will signify the countdown to extinction of the species.
Elephant
Across Africa to supply the illegal ivory trade poaching has trebled in the past two decades. Ivory is now valued at over $2,000 a kilo on Asian markets. Thousands of elephants are being illegally killed, mostly by inhumane methods with inadequate firearms; cruelty and suffering is a constant theme in wildlife persecution and theft.
Certain elephant populations are critically endangered, with more animals being killed than are being born, such as in Gabon’s Minkebe National Park, where more than 10,000 elephants have been killed in recent years, reducing the herd by more than 60%. It is a similar story for elephant populations in Chad, Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, South Sudan and other vulnerable range states.
Gorillas
Bushmeat poaching is a significant threat to lowland gorilla populations. Gorillas are sought after as food (bushmeat) for the wealthy elite. Their remaining body parts are sold on to the black magic medicine trade, known as “muti” or “juju”, as magical charms or invincibility potions.
In the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, poachers kill an estimated 5% of the gorilla population each year. This has had a devastating effect on this once-increasing population. There are few protected areas within the eastern lowland gorilla’s range. Due to civil unrest in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, the eastern lowland gorilla is severely threatened by poachers. Even in the protected areas, overstretched rangers struggle to enforce porous park boundaries. Conflict and political instability continue to hamper the effective conservation of all Congo’s National Parks gorillas.
Orangutans
The remaining population of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra has also been reduced by a third during the last decade by poaching and other illegal killings. Habitat loss due to both legal and illegal deforestation brings orangutans into conflict with unscrupulous palm oil planters and opens up new areas to poachers. Hundreds of infant orangutans are taken alive each year for the illegal pet trade. This is done by shooting or trapping the mother and taking the traumatised youngster into captivity.
The survival rate of these young apes is abysmal. Five orphaned orangutans die for every one that reaches the market. Many die from injuries sustained following the fall from the forest canopy when their mother was shot. Orangutans are also poached for food; as many as 1,000 per year are killed for local consumption.
Tigers
In the past 10 years, more than 1,000 tigers have been killed to meet consumer demands in Asia for their skins and body parts. The body parts and bones (known as sets) from a single animal can fetch as much as $50,000 on the black market. Tiger bones have been used in traditional Asian medicine as a cure-all for various ailments for more than a millennium. Tiger poaching is conducted by increasingly sophisticated and well-armed criminal gangs across all tiger range states and is estimated to be worth around in excess of $20bn a year.
Lions
The illegal Asian medicine trade cannot supply an increasing demand for tiger parts; therefore it has turned to lions as a popular substitute. In the Republic of South Africa, lion bones sell for around $165 a kilo, making a full skeleton worth about $6,000 for a mature lion. The bones can be legally sold from a legitimately shot cat under license, or a deceased captive cat with the relevant documentation for export. However, the legal market only contributes about half of the lion bones currently leaving the country, and poaching is responsible for the rest. Fragmented wild lion populations in neighbouring range states to South Africa are extremely vulnerable to being laundered into the legal trade. No reliable data is available as yet to determine the level of threat, but it is assessed to be a major concern.
The Great White Shark
Targeted exploitation of great white sharks is primarily aimed at trading jaws as high-value trophies or teeth as curios for the black market, and its fins for the oriental fin trade. Illegal fishing of the species in the Mediterranean for human consumption has been reported, with the commercial catch sold illicitly as smooth hound.
As a consequence of the exaggerated threat to human safety and its legendary trophy fish status, the species is also actively targeted by unethical sports-fishers, and commercial drum-liner fishermen trophy hunting for jaw and fin-sets. Unfortunately, the species’ occasional lethal interaction with humans periodically reinforces a sense of negativity, and as such the Great White is not always considered a conservation priority.
In South Africa offers of US$20,000-$50,000 have been made for great white shark jaws and US$600-$800 for individual teeth. Apart from their size, great white shark products in the form of curios and fins are boosted in value because of notoriety. A fin-set from a large great white shark may be valued at over US$1,000. Unfortunately, as with rhino horns and elephant tusks, the high value of Great White Shark products encourages poaching, clandestine trade and flouting of protective laws (Compagno 2001). Additional mortality associated with beach net-entanglement and indiscriminate drum-lining in tourist areas is also thought to be a significant factor in the rapid decline of the species. There is little doubt that the effects of the continued removal of these predators from the marine ecosystem will be catastrophic.
The current rate of great white shark exploitation exceeds the ability for population rejuvenation of this species, so without action, extinction is an inevitability.
Okapi
This elusive relative of the giraffe is endemic to the forests of the Congo basin. It is currently threatened by extensive logging, illegal mining and the subsequent the expansion of human settlements, hunting for bushmeat to feed the demand of the expanding population in its range, and trade in its skins.
Protecting the okapi is made difficult by its shy, elusive nature, and its remote forest home, which makes conducting an accurate assessment of their numbers extremely challenging. In addition, the presence of multiple armed groups, known locally as MaiMai, around the okapi’s last strongholds further complicates efforts to protect this species and their remaining habitats.
Minke Whales
Although not classed as endangered by the IUCN, the total global population size and trend of Minke whales is unknown. This species is one of a small number targeted by commercial whaling industries in countries such as Japan and Norway. Given the historically catastrophic decline of whales after intensive whaling in the 20th century, the threat to Minke whales cannot be underestimated. Whaling is considered the biggest cause of unnatural mortality for Minkes, and this adds to the mounting pressure that these whales face in our oceans today, from bycatch to ocean acidification and marine pollution.
As keystone species, whales play a vital role in our ocean’s health. Without whales such as Minkes and the invaluable ecosystem services they provide, the delicate balance of the marine environment could be destroyed. Whaling continues with no true understanding of its impact, and the risk of losing this vital species is not one worth taking.
In summary
The poaching threat to these iconic animals – as well as many other species across the world — remains critical. Dedicated wildlife rangers and officials around the world are fighting an endless battle against organised crime and corruption, with limited funding, training and equipment. Never before has such a number of endangered species been in such a perilous state of existence.
The Endangered Species Protection Agency (ESPA) aims to address this balance by working with protected areas to provide specialist training, equipment, and expertise to APUs, park rangers, and other wildlife custodians wherever our expertise is needed around the world. We deploy our specialist operators in an active training, advisory, or investigative role, as and when necessary, working within the parameters of international law and official local enforcement at all times.
