Poaching is on the rise in Asia and Africa during pandemic
NEW DELHI — A camera-trap photo of an injured tigress and a forensic examination of her carcass revealed why she died: a poacher’s wire snare punctured her windpipe and sapped her strength as the wound festered for days.
Snares like this one set in southern India’s dense forest have become increasingly common amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as people left jobless turn to wildlife to make money and feed their families. Authorities in India are concerned the surge in poaching could kill not only endangered tigers and leopards but also species these carnivores depend upon to survive.
“It is risky to poach, but if pushed to the brink, some could think that these are risks worth taking,” said Mayukh Chatterjee, a biologist with the nonprofit Wildlife Trust of India.
Since the country announced its lockdown, at least four tigers and six leopards have been killed by poachers, Wildlife Protection Society of India said. But there were numerous other poaching casualties: gazelles in grasslands, footlong giant squirrels in forests, wild boars and birds such as peacocks and purple moorhens.
In many parts of the developing world, coronavirus lockdowns have sparked concern about increased illegal hunting that’s fueled by food shortages and a decline in law enforcement in some wildlife protection areas. At the same time, border closures and travel restrictions slowed illegal trade in certain high-value species.
One of the biggest disruptions involves the endangered pangolin. Caught in parts of Africa and Asia, the animals are smuggled mostly to China and Southeast Asia, where their meat is considered a delicacy and their scales are used in traditional medicine. In April, the Wildlife Justice Commission reported that traders were stockpiling pangolin scales in several Southeast Asia countries, awaiting an end to the pandemic.
Rhino horn is being stockpiled in Mozambique, the report said, and ivory traders in Southeast Asia are struggling to sell the stockpiles amassed since China’s 2017 ban on trade in ivory products. The pandemic compounded their plight because many Chinese customers were unable to travel to ivory markets in Cambodia, Laos and other countries.
“They are desperate to get it off their hands. Nobody wants to be stuck with that product,” said Sarah Stoner, director of intelligence for the commission.
The illegal trade in pangolins continued unabated within Africa, but international trade has been disrupted by port closures, said Ray Jansen, chairman of the African Pangolin Working Group.
“We have witnessed some trade via air while major ship routes are still closed, but we expect a flood of trade once shipping avenues reopen again,” Jansen said.
Fears that organized poaching in Africa would spike largely have not materialized, partly because ranger patrols have continued in many national parks and reserves. Emma Stokes, director of the Central Africa Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society, said patrolling national parks in several African countries has been designated essential work.
But she has heard about increased hunting of animals outside parks. “We are expecting to see an increase in bush-meat hunting for food — duikers, antelopes and monkeys,” she said.
Jansen also said bushmeat poaching was soaring, especially in southern Africa. “Rural people are struggling to feed themselves and their families,” he said.
In Southeast Asia, the Wildlife Conservation Society documented in April the poisoning in Cambodia of three critically endangered giant ibises for meat. More than 100 painted stork chicks were poached in late March in Cambodia at the largest waterbird colony in Southeast Asia.
“Suddenly, rural people have little to turn to but natural resources, and we’re already seeing a spike in poaching,” said Colin Poole, the group’s regional director for the Greater Mekong.