Poaching+Problems

=Poaching Problems= Africa is home to the world's most unique wildlife. Today, poaching has become a major problem in South Africa's society. Poaching is a deadly crime against wildlife. Due to their worth, millions of wild animals have been killed by poachers. South Africa has set up laws, such as, the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty to prevent poachers from continuing their violent acts. Research has proven that poachers kill animals for financial gain, pleasure, and consumption. The lack of employment and limited agricultural potential leads to people depending on natural resources.The effects of poaching is endless. The reduction of animals in the wild is one of the major consequences of poaching. Also poaching of animals have led to the outbreak of several diseases. Viruses such as, Ebola and SARS is the result of eating contaminated poached meat.

Elephants and rhinos have decreased in population the most due to poaching. In the 1960s there were over 100,00 rhinos and now there is about 4,000. Poachers usually kill rhinos to make a profit from their horns. The animals horns are used commonly in Asian countries. Elephants have become a target for poachers due to their tusks. Researcher believe in 25-50 years elephants will be extinct.

To prevent the extinction of the wildlife critical to Africa, members of the Rhino Rescue Projects developed a technique to prevent poaching. Anti-poachers inject indelible dye and a parasiticide to track and poision the horns of animals, with hopes that the horns will lose its value. This has been proven to be effective, however, it will not stop the problem.