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COMMERCIAL POACHING Commercial poaching is done for large profits gained by the illegal sale or trade of animal parts, meat and pelts. Commercial poaching exists because there is a demand for these products, caused by a lack of education or disregard for the law amongst the buyers. Many cultures believe that certain animal parts have medicinal value. Animals targeted by commercial poachers include most of the animals hunted by the subsistance poachers as well as many larger species like elephants, rhinos, leopards, bears, lions and tigers. and smaller species like turtles and other reptiles. Commercial poachers are not people who are simply trying to feed their families. Included in commercial poaching is the bushmeat trade. Bushmeat is from animals that are poached, butchered and sold for profit. Large mammals are the focus of the bushmeat trade, but smaller species like monkeys, apes and antelope are also poached. Commercial poaching also includes animals that are captured alive and sold in the pet trade. A seashell vendor in Tanzania sells seashells to tourists which have been taken from the sea alive, killing the animal inside. Bear paws and organs are sold illegally for traditional medicinal practices in China. Tiger and leopard skins that were seized from illegal traders in Nepal. Poachers have pushed some tiger sub-species to the brink of extinction.Through new technology, images of live tigers that have been taken by camera stations can be matched to tiger skins due to their unique striping patterns. This can help anti-poaching groups determine when and where the tiger was killed, and can lead to finding the poacher. Several tons of elephant tusks are smuggled in and out of African and Asian countries to sell on the black market. Leopards are being poached more in India as tiger populations decline. Their pelts are used for decorative purposes, while the bones and other parts are sometimes disguised as tiger parts and sold in China as ingredients in traditional medicines. Two conservationists sit atop a pile of illegally obtained leopard, lion and zebra pelts, which were seized from poachers in Kenya.