Poaching, Hunting.. Money

Remember the blog by John Platt? In one of his blog posts, he wrote about how Bornean closed leopards have been heavily threatened by poaching. The species are under protection of Brunei's Wildlife Protection Act in terms of killing and selling. However, local hunters were mostly blinded by profits and have little knowledge of such regulation.

Bornean closed leopards

In fact, Brunei is not the only place troubled by poaching. Bornean closed leopards are definitely not the only species affected by poaching as well. Rate of extinction, according to MacArthur and Wilson, is determined primarily by species' population size. This comes into the equation of extinction. Due to widespread poaching/hunting of certain species, their population sizes fall unnaturally. Logically, if rate of death of these species is greater than the rate of reproduction, extinction occurs.

Profit, as I mentioned, is the main driver for poaching and hunting. Emerging demand for tiger bone for Chinese medicinal practices has added pressure on already endangered species. There has been a staggering fall of 95% in world tiger population since the 20th century. Current estimate is as few as 3200 compared to 100,000 before 20th century. Despite the implementation of Project Tiger in 1973, poaching pressures have continued to mount, with practices spreading from Siberia to India. 

Probabilities of extinction due to poaching 5, 10 and
15 tigers per year for 3, 6 and 9 years. 

A study conducted by Kenny and his colleagues regarding the reproduction system of tigers demonstrates the relationship between the probability of extinction and the duration of poaching. Three main ideas were captured: 

1. Increase in duration of poaching leads to higher probability of extinction

2. Probability of extinction rises as the pressure of poaching increases

3. With fewer tigers poached over an extended period, probability of extinction is lower 

The third idea is perhaps the most interesting. Poaching is less likely to lead to the event of extinction if, say 5 tigers were being poached per year for a period of 12 years, in comparison to 15 tigers being poached per year for a period of 4 years. In other words, poaching and hunting of species will not be as alarming a problem now if it were sensibly managed.

Let's just bear in mind that humans once again, have contribute to another factor to push species to their limits. WWF produced a short clip to raise awareness on illegal trading, especially on tigers. 

"If the merchants wanted tigers, I would hunt tigers, if they want other animals, I would hunt them too." - Plot Chien, Ex-poacher

Although the concept of income generation through hunting still exist (Economics 101: Price of tigers/parts of tigers is determined by its rareness, more endangered - higher prices), some poachers have joined the campaign of Zero Poaching to stop poaching and protect the habitat for other animals. Will the action of conservationists and governments be sufficient to stop the multi-billion industry of global illegal animal trade? With only 32 rangers in two protected areas over 6000 kilometres, can they the prevent extinction of tigers in time?