{"id":164902,"date":"2020-05-14T20:25:04","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T18:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/?p=164902"},"modified":"2022-01-30T14:52:14","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T13:52:14","slug":"filthy-bloody-business-poachers-kill-more-animals-as-coronavirus-crushes-tourism-to-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/filthy-bloody-business-poachers-kill-more-animals-as-coronavirus-crushes-tourism-to-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Filthy Bloody Business:\u2019 Poachers Kill More Animals as Coronavirus Crushes Tourism to Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Tate is supposed to be in South Africa right now helping to fight off poachers who hack horns off rhinos and kill elephants for their ivory tusks.<\/p>\n

But since the country announced a national lockdown in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Tate is stuck in the U.S. He can\u2019t join his team out in South Africa\u2019s wilderness and can\u2019t meet with private donors in the U.S. for his anti-poaching nonprofit organization, which is seeing donations dry up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a helpless feeling,\u201d said Tate, a 35-year former Marine and the founder of VetPaw, a group of American military veterans who fight poachers in a remote private reserve in the far north of South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoaching doesn\u2019t stop just because there\u2019s a virus \u2014 if anything, it picks up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although poaching is not uncommon in Africa, poachers during the coronavirus pandemic have encroached on land they wouldn\u2019t normally visit and killed rhinos in tourism hot spots now devoid of visitors and safari guides.<\/p>\n

In Botswana, at least six rhinos have been poached since the virus shut down tourism. Botswana\u2019s security forces in April shot and killed five suspected poachers in two incidents.In northwest South Africa, at least nine rhinos have been killed since the virus lockdown. All the poaching took place in what were previously tourism areas that were safe for animals to roam.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bloody calamity. It\u2019s an absolute crisis,\u201d Map Ives, founder of Rhino Conservation Botswana, a nonprofit organization, said of poaching across the continent.<\/p>\n

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File photo of skulls of White Rhinos and the snares that have entrapped them stand as a stark reminder of the ongoing battle in South Africa to protect these majestic, gentle giants of the African bush. Ilan Godfrey | Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are still rangers in the African reserves, but the loss of tourist vehicles in parks provide poachers a significant advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe poachers have been emboldened because the playing field is in their favor and they won\u2019t have as many problems moving around,\u201d said Ives, who has lived on the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana for four decades but is stranded in South Carolina due to travel restrictions.<\/p>\n

Highly organized illegal poaching threatens to send black and white rhinos, elephants and other African wildlife into extinction over the next several decades. The black rhino population has plummeted 97.6% since 1960 and the lion population is down 43% in the last 21 years, according to the World Wildlife Fund. At least 35,000 African elephants are killed each year and roughly only 1,000 mountain gorillas and 2,000 Grevy\u2019s zebras remain on the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are professional and adept at running off with rhino horns in minutes and dodging security forces. They are masters at evading detection,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a filthy bloody business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Botswana\u2019s booming tourism industry collapsed because of the virus lockdown, Ives has seen an anecdotal rise in rhino and bush meat poaching incidents. His company is running short of cash as donations dry up amid the global lockdown, and that may result in reduced patrols as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost hundreds of sets of eyes and ears in the delta,\u201d Ives said.\u201cI\u2019m sure poachers know this \u2014 they watch these camps closely and see tourism activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Africa\u2019s $39.2 billion tourism industry is also vital in funding wildlife conservation efforts across the continent.<\/p>\n

Africa received 62.5 million visitors, creating 9.1 million direct jobs in travel and tourism sectors in 2015, according to estimates from the African Development Bank.<\/p>\n

Funding from sources like national park fees and safari rides are vital to wildlife conservation in Africa.<\/p>\n

But now people working in tourism are being laid off because of the pandemic and national parks that provide wildlife a safe place from poachers are losing revenue. All three national parks in Rwanda have temporarily closed, along with Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kruger National Park in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people struggling in Africa, a lot of private reserves that have helped save a few species including rhinos,\u201d said Tate. \u201cNow they don\u2019t have that ecotourism they depend on, it\u2019s gone. There\u2019s going to be a lot of damage done from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a major concern that as the coronavirus harms African economies and sharply raises unemployment levels, people will become desperate for income streams and pursue poaching to make a living.<\/p>\n

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The rangers of the dog squad search a motorcycle taxi for pangolin scales or hunting ammunition in the Dzanga-Sangha Park, in Bayanga, on March 14, 2020. The 4 species of African pangolins are present in the Central African Republic and protected by law since 2019. Florent Vergnes | AFP | Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Africa reported a 43% jump in coronavirus cases over the last week, according to Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization has warned that the continent of 1.3 billion people could become the next epicenter of the outbreak, potentially pushing 30 million people into poverty.<\/p>\n

Conservationists expect that in addition to professional poachers killing more animals, countries across Africa will experience a massive surge in bush meat poaching by average people since it\u2019s cheaper to kill animals for meat than to buy it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do criminals commit acts of crime? They do it because they\u2019re desperate and it\u2019s a quick easy means for money,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cPoaching is no different. There\u2019s a lot of desperate people out there because of the virus and [poaching] will absolutely pick up.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> was first published by CNBC on 24 April 2020.<\/p>\n

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