Download Commercial poaching - International Wildlife Museum

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.