The Problem of Poaching in Zimbabwe - Essay Example

Poaching In Zimbabwe Zimbabwe a country situated in the Southern part of Africa has been battling with the menace of poaching for decades. According to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority, in 2013, poachers killed 20 rhinos, and this culminated to a drop of 66% compared with the previous year. Furthermore, this is compared with 84 rhinos killed in 2008 and 60 killed in 2013. The number of rhinos has decreased from 2000 in 1980 to 750 in 2014 (The Citizen1). Poaching has been blamed on the locals, but cases of poaching have declined in the past two decades. Neighboring South Africa now faces a greater challenge than Zimbabwe because cases of poaching are on the rise. About 1000 rhinos were killed in South Africa in 2013 alone (The Citizen1). Poaching in Zimbabwe has become a great challenge to the Zimbabwean government due to the high demand of rhino and elephant horns in Asia the Greatest market being China. In Asia, the rhino horns are greatly respected and taken as a status symbol and have medicinal value (The Citizen1). The cases of poaching have dropped in Zimbabwe in recent years because the conservation authorities in Zimbabwe have adopted stern measures including conviction and jail terms for poachers. Additionally, they have also taken steps to track the animals via satellite and relocated the animals to safer sanctuaries. Poachers use various tactics to kill the animals like poisoning and shooting. According to the wildlife conservation of Zimbabwe, more than 300 elephants were poisoned using cyanide in 2013 alone. Zimbabwe has a major poaching problem caused by the outside influence of China and that of neighboring African countries. However, there have been efforts made by the Zimbabwean government and other organizations, like the United Nations, to stop poaching. Furthermore, due to the increasing wealth in Asian countries China Inclusive, the demand for rhino horns and ivory has gone up. This is because these goods are the status symbol of wealth, and there is a ready market by African buyers who serve as dealers to Asia. Due to the increased demand of Ivory in Asia, poaching in Africa increased in 2011 and 2013 (Hsdl.org 1). Research has shown some rogues terrorists collude with government officials in Zimbabwe to execute poaching. Consequently, ivory smuggling in Zimbabwe is executed by high confidence traffickers who use sophisticated networks to move ivory from local areas to ports of exit accelerated by corruption of the border insecurity. In Zimbabwe, these networks are related with illegitimate weapons and drugs (Hsdl.org 1). Consequently, poaching has created a significant military and police challenge in Zimbabwe. The rapid economic development of China has led to a sharp increase of the private consumption of ivory. Most of the Chinese consumers of ivory believe that they are purchasing legal ivory and are unaware of any illegal activities involved towards acquisition (Hsdl.org 1). China is the leading market for smuggled ivory, and it has many industries for ivory products (Gabriel, Hua and Wang 1). The biggest trading partners of ivory into China include Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and Botswana (Gabriel, Hua and Wang 1). Despite the ban of the ivory trade in 1989 by the international community, the ban was short-lived, and the illegal trade continues. Research study conducted by IFAW shows that China Still operates the illegal trade raising concerns on Chinas commitments in the preservation of the endangered species such as elephants and rhinos. The survey conducted on September and November 2011 in five cities in the Eastern part of Chinas Seaboard shows that many of the Ivory outlets operating in those cities are unlicensed hence operating the business illegally. Consequently, of the 158 outlets visited by IFAW, only 58 outlets had licenses, and 101 were operating illegally (Gabriel, Hua and Wang 1). In this scenario, there are a big number of industries of ivory processing industries in China thus affecting Zimbabwe and other African countries negatively. On the other hand, South Africa also has influenced Poaching in Zimbabwe. In the wake of intensive poaching in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean government took stern measures by ensuring the safety of elephants and rhinos. The government of Zimbabwe moved all the elephants and rhinos from high-risk areas to smaller safer sanctuaries thus drastically reducing the cases of poaching in Zimbabwe. On the other hand, poaching in South Africa has greatly increased due to the reduction of poaching in Zimbabwe. Now criminal gangs are turning their eyes to South Africa, which hosts the largest number of rhinos in Africa. According to Nadelmann when poaching was suppressed in Zimbabwe, it reemerged in South Africa (Welz Adam 1). Additionally, in October 2010 the government of South Africa adopted the dehorning strategy through the department of environmental affairs (DEA) as one way of reducing poaching in the country. Later on that strategy has been adopted by neighboring Zimbabwe and currently, the Zimbabwean authorities are using the dehorning method on a large scale (Lindsey and Taylor 1). The strategy in Zimbabwe as it has led to the reduction of cases of poaching (Welz Adam 1). Following the 1989 ban of the ivory trade, most countries in Africa started enacting laws that could be used to deal with the issue of poaching. In Zambia, poaching was also on the rise in Luangwa Valley but the Zambian government has taken critical measures to curb the situation. Furthermore, according to the Zambian conservation authorities and research studies that have been conducted In Luangwa valley shows that poverty is one of the factors contributing to poaching amongst the locals (Gulland and Williams 1). Additionally, the Zambian government passed stern penalty to poachers found poaching in Luangwa valley between the periods of 1970-1985. Individuals caught poaching could be sentenced in groups and sent to jail. In 1989, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) secured an agreement (Lemieux and Clarke, 451). The agreement was to ensure there was a total ban the international Ivory Trade (Lemieux and Clarke, 451). The result was a rise in population of elephants and rhinos. The research analysis conducted between 1979 to 2007 shows that in some of the 37 African countries with populations of elephants poaching have increased (Lemieux and Clarke 453). When we compare poaching of the past and the current poaching trends, in the past poaching was specifically for food purposes and was only done in small scale. Poaching nowadays has become a criminal act. Poaching involves the killing and theft of endangered species, overfishing, illegal harvesting of exotic timber, and the supply of exotic animals and birds to furnish the ingredients of the Asian food and Medicine. Moreover, the illegal trade has presented a threat to the natural biodiversity amongst many African countries. Hence, it has prompted the creation of anti- poaching strategies like the creation of ministries of wildlife and fisheries department to control fishing and prevent poaching. Additionally, due to the measures taken by various government conservation agencies it has led to violence between the law enforcement officers and the traffickers and poachers. Following the CITE ban on ivory in 1989, detailed studies in Zambia and Botswana have shown that the effectiveness of the Ban depends on the conservation policies, pressures on human population and the enforcement resources. Following the ban, the research shows that the number of elephants decreased in West and Central Africa but increased in Eastern and Southern Africa (Lemieux and Clarke, 456). The prediction of the results suggests that poaching increased in central and West Africa because these countries have local markets that deal with the illegal ivory trade. Corruption and civil war amongst African countries have fuelled the increased cases of poaching. Countries that are involved in a civil war are unlikely to effect the CITE ban on ivory trade. Additionally, corruption has enabled the poachers and traders to move ivory across the international borders (Lemieux and Clarke, 455). Corruption can also lead to the misuse of the money that is aimed towards the conservation of the elephants thus endangering the species of elephants rhinos. CITES ban on ivory trade has succeeded in many African countries (Lemieux and Clarke, 455). However, the ban has not been successful in every country. Some of the main reason that led to increasing poaching in these countries includes the civil wars. For example, in Africa like DRC most elephants have been killed in the eve of the war (Patel 3). Additionally, there are unregulated markets that have given traders and poachers loopholes to continue with the illegal activities. The Zimbabwean government has put large tracks of land for wildlife use and conservation. Wildlife is viewed as a major economic activity in Zimbabwe and poaching in Zimbabwe is considered an extractive use of wildlife and is illegal in Zimbabwe (Duffy 1). Additionally, the state is not the only sector that is affected by poaching. The local communities are also affected because poaching breaks the hunting laws and the norms of the private sector. Consequently, the legislative provisions of the Zimbabwean government have empowered the state control of the wildlife resource use. The 1975 Parks and Wildlife Act have empowered the national wildlife staff and the police to undertake the anti-poaching strategies (Duffy 2-4). The war on poaching in Zimbabwe that started in 1980 to 1990s got recognition and support from the Zimbabweans and the international community (Duffy 4). The reasons of poaching in Zimbabwe were not immediately pointed out by the research, but poverty is one of the main causes of poaching in Zimbabwe. Most of the poachers come from neighboring countries. Most of the countries that surround Zimbabwe are poor thus causing a stream of poachers into Zimbabwe to hunt for the white gold. Due to the increase of commercial poachers in Zimbabwe, the government has taken steps to differentiate between commercial poachers and hunters for noncommercial purposes. The government has provided incentives to the local communities that are living around the parks so as to prevent the poaching menace. Most of the local people were dislocated from their ancestral land to create the game reserves. Consequently, this created a conflict between the government and the local people. Due to the coercive powers of the state, it has taken all the wildlife resources for its benefit. In this scenario, it has created conflict to other organizations that intend to use the same resources, which the state terms them illegitimate. Consequently, commercial poaching in Zimbabwe is mainly focused on rhinos. In the 1980, Zimbabwe had the largest and the most secure populations of rhinos (Hill 1-2). When poaching started in 1980s, the number of rhinos in Zimbabwe greatly reduced. From 1984-1991 959 black rhinos and 260 elephants had been poached. The poaching in Zimbabwe increased from 1980 to 1990 due to the number of reasons that range from economic, social, and political processes of neighboring countries. Consequently, the political instability in Zambia contributed to the rise in poaching in Zimbabwe (Hill 1-2). In the 1980s, the Zambian economy was at its roots, and the Lusaka outskirts became the recruiting center to train and send poachers to hunt for the rhinos in the Zambezi valley. Due to economic hardships in Zambia, poaching provided an alternative source of income to the young men who wanted to earn more. Poaching went high and in 1988, the poachers from neighboring Zambia were reported poaching in the Safari area and Binga district in Zimbabwe. Moreover, in order to hunt in Chizarira, Chet and Hwange poachers have to get the assistance from the locals to execute the vise. The other factor that is contributing to poaching in Zimbabwe includes the illegal smuggling of small arms into the country. The arms are used by criminal gangs and poachers to carry illegal activities in the country. The Zimbabwean minister for defense in 1990 declared that poaching had become a military operation. Poaching at one go can lead to the death of dozens of elephants. Moreover, from the 1980s onwards poachers were using sophisticated weapons than those used by conservation patrol officers. Conflict between the poachers and guards led to many causalities on both sides. Hence, the Zimbabwean government adopted shoot to kill strategy. The strategy had not been adopted in any country, and rangers had to protect their lives thus it led to the death of many poachers (Duffy 8). The shoot to kill strategy was used by the government to protect the rangers from being charged with murder. On the other hand, there was a complaint from the locals and the human rights organizations that the shoot to kill strategy was a violation of human rights (Duffy 9). Amnesty International was the leading organization that was against the shoot to kill strategy (Patel 4). Poachers were only suspects and were not given a chance to defend themselves (Duffy 15). Therefore, they called upon the government of Zimbabwe to change the clause. Additionally, the government of Zimbabwe launched an operation called operation save our heritage. The operation involved the use of military officers to guard the wildlife most of them who had withdrawn their vigil from the Limpopo and Tete corridors. In conclusion, poaching in Zimbabwe is one of the major challenges facing the impoverished country that is struggling to preserve its flora and fauna. Poaching in Zimbabwe has been orchestrated by the neighboring countries like Zambia. China has a negative influence on Zimbabwe’s Elephant and rhino population because it offers the greatest market for ivory products. Due to the collapse of the Zambian economy in 1980’s most Zambians moved to Zimbabwe’s Limpopo valley and engaged them in poaching. Additionally, due to tougher regulations adopted by the Zimbabwean government against poachers, poaching has greatly increased in South Africa. Furthermore, South Africa adopted the dehorning strategy. Zimbabwe has also adopted the same strategy and has reduced cases of poaching by a greater percentage. Finally, if the poaching strategy will not be implemented fully, it will lead to the extinction of elephants and rhinos in the African countries. Works Cited Duffy, Rosaleen. “The Role and Limitations of State Coercion: Ant Poaching Policies in Elephant Poaching In Africa” 49 (2009): 451-471. Print Gabriel, Grace, Hua, Ning and Wang, Juan. “Making a Killing.” IFAW. Web. 10 Gulland, E and Williams, M. “A model for Incentives for Illegal Exploitation of Black Rhinos and Elephants Poaching pays in Luangwa Valley Zambia.” Journal of Applied Ecology 29.2 (1992): 388-401. Print Hill, Kevin. “Conflicts over Development and Environmental Values: The International Ivory Trade in Zimbabwes Historical Context.” Florida International University. Web. 11 November 2014. < http://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/key_docs/Hill-1-3.pdf>. Hsdl.org. “Wildlife Poaching Threatens Economic, Security Priorities in Africa.”www.hsdl.org. Lemieux, Andrew and Clarke, Ronald. “The International Ban on Ivory Sales and Its Effects on Lindsey, Peter and Taylor, Andrew. “A study on the Dehorning of African Rhinoceroses as a Tool to Reduce the Risk of Poaching.” Posted October 2011. Web. 11 November 2014. . November 2014. < http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Making%20a%20Killing.pdf>. Patel, Trizia. “The War Against Poaching in Africa: Learning from our mistakes.” Elizabethburleson.com.Web. 11 November 2014. . The Citizen. “Zimbabwe Rhino Poaching Drops in 2013, 750 Animals Remain.” Citizen.co.za. Web. 10 November 2014. . Web. 10 November 2014. . Welz, Adam. “The War on African Poaching. Is militarization Fated for fail. Posted August 2013.” Yale.edu. Web 11 November 2014. . Zimbabwe.” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 17, 1, 1999. Print Read More