Undoubtedly, Poaching is a worldwide catastrophe that not only affects the animals being poached but also the environment and the people around them. Poaching is the illegal over-exploitation of animals and the illegal trading and selling of them wither it be killing them for a part or selling them whole. Africa for example is a continent in which its animals and people that have been strongly affected by poaching. Poaching has deeply affected Africa by changing its economy. South Africa has by far the largest population of rhinos in the world and is an incredibly important country for rhino conservation. From 2007-2014 the country experienced an exponential rise in rhino poaching – a growth of over 9,000%. (www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/poaching_statistics)
Most illegal activity occurs in Kruger National Park, a 19,485 km2 of protected habitat on South Africa’s north-eastern border with Mozambique. Kruger consistently suffered heavy poaching loses, and so in the last few years the government and international donors have channelled ever more funding and resources into securing the Park.
In 2016, figures show a dip in poaching in South Africa for the second year in a row, indicating that increased protection efforts are paying off. Although it is encouraging to see South Africa’s poaching levels fall, the losses are still extremely high. A rise in incidents outside Kruger National Park also points to the growing sophistication of poaching gangs that are gaining a wider geographical coverage and – it would seem - expanding their operations across borders.
The paper argues that people greed leads to an over exploitation of Rhino which could lead to their extinction if some drastic measures are not taken. The paper suggests strong laws and punishment for poachers in South Africa and educating people at the rural areas could tame the scourging poaching activities in the country.
