When I first heard suggestions that Chinese Road and infrastructure workers were behind a great deal of the recent wave of ivory and bush meat poaching in the country i was skeptical. It sounded like a simple racist jab at some hard working people. And yet the story is everywhere. I even heard a story about KWS officers who found a whole crocodile in a Chinese Road worker freezer last week. This story like many could not be verified but what can verified is beginning to leak slowly to the press. Here is a short list of stories i picked up from a simple google search:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/kenya…
http://www.africanconservation.org/conte…
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2…
http://www.bushdrums.com/news/index.php?…
http://www.elephanttrust.org/node/541
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2…
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8 Comments
i wouldn’t be surprised. these chinese were from china,right? as they say, they will eat any thing that moves. since ivory is worth a lot of money, so there. so what did the kws officer do the chinese poachers. if kenya and other country really value their national treasure ( african wildlife ), they must inflict heavy fine and penalty against these men.
can’t say i am a racist because i am chinese too.
Sauwau, thanks for your perspective as an american i can point to my home too as a greedy consumer of illegal wildlife products. Its all gross and your point about real fines and justice is right on.
Who would administer the fines?
Not sure how the average Chinese person would react to the sight of a dying elephant or rhino, watching its tusk or horn being chopped off with pangas. I can tell you, however, that the average American couldn’t bear it. They’re just so detached from the death, that it means nothing to them. Someone needs to drag them over here, hold their eyes open and force them to watch an elephant being mowed down by an AK47. They need to watch as poachers begin hacking at it’s face with pangas before it has breathed its last breath. They need to be splattered by its blood.
I’ve spoken to a guy who bought ivory on a previous visit to Kenya. He had no idea what had happened for him to obtain that. I explained it to him, not out of malice, but out of love for my own country and its wildlife. He hung his head it utter shame and apologized to me profusely.
I honestly believe that Americans are so detached from death of any kind (including human) that they have become numb to it. All their violent action movies have pushed them so far away from the brutal reality of death, blood, and suffering, that they have no idea what its really like.
Again, I cannot speak for the Chinese, as I have never been to China, and do not have a full understanding of their culture.
But if the average construction worker can watch poaching (or perform it) with no ill effects, who’s to say that the average business man or woman back in Shanghai can’t?
Reading all the above articles makes me want to cry.
The poachers are not the real problem here. The real problem is the demand. Where there is a demand, there will be someone to provide the supply. Once the demand in China, Europe and the US has been eliminated, the poachers will no longer see the value in killing for ivory or rhino horn (bushmeat trade will continue).
Zarek,
I’m not really sure what your final thesis is but i can tell you that as an american i saw as much death as i have living in Kenya for the past six years. You have to remember that in america we have farms, woods, hunters, fisherman and plenty of wildlife in addition to the urban world and that not all americans live in a sterilized mall.
Your point though that americans couldn’t bear to see an elephant’s tusks being removed by pangas is valid but i think this might even be true for many chinese (and any other world citizen). I do not know about China but i do know that in the states and europe the awareness of conservation issues has been fertilized in the past by graphic and sad pictures – the Furadan and predator poisoning story is a classic example.
This obviously is the way forward in China,US and Europe in concert with stricter international laws forbidding utterly the movement Ivory across borders. Domestically, Kenya must jack up its punishment, specifically of those higher up the chain.
no way i can say what was in the mind of those chinese poachers. but i do know chinese or most are very practical. in other words, why not poach wildlife for the free meat! especially the kenyan government letting their illegal acts by not slamming these guys into the kenyan jails and pound them with heavy fine. having have to pay lots of hard earned money from their pockets and having to endure many days/nights in jails will scare them big time. these guys i assume are average working class people. if they can get good meat for free, why not? if they can make lots of money so easily, why not? how many of us can resist the temptation of easy or free money and meals that cost us nothing? some can due to our love and respect for the living creatures, their wilderness and the countries we so respect.
as for facing dying animals, there are worse death and living condition for the farm animals in china. that includes fur bearing animals and pets. these poor things are often skinned and boiled alive. not only food/fur/wild animals, many cats/dogs/snakes/fishes have been meeting this unbearable/cruel and uncivilized treatment/condition before and during their death.
you can call it the dark side of the human race, which also has been taking place in the american slaughtering houses and factory farms. the corporations who are run and owned by private enterprise just do not want the public/the american public ( do care and have empathy for animals most of the time unless the animals are sharks or snakes ) so that they can keep their costs down and profit as high as possible. lobbying does work regardless of what parties ( democratic or republican ).
Unfortunately the answer to that is yes! China with its growing economy and large population, demand for TCM (traditional chinese medicine) and luxury goods is high. For Africa this is a disaster as most of the demand from china is satisfied through our wildlife, illegally. Where there is demand, supply will be there to satisfy the consumers. It’s simple market dynamics. It is easy for China to prey on countries with lax regulations and laws, the bilateral agreements between countries also fuels the problem as someone in the govt always has vested interests and turns a blind eye or sweeps allegations conveniently under a rug. I’m sure China has offered a deal some govt officials found hard to turn down.
A poor population is a perfect target to convert people into poachers.
People will take opportunities to earn a living to feed their families regardless of the cost. The cost of the life of an elephant or that of a family member is hard to contest despite the work that the NGO’s are doing to try to educate the kenyan communities about the importance of wildlife but where there is an opportunity for someone to make a little bit of money to feed their families and someone is willing to pay for the ivory or rhino horn poaching seems to be a high possibility.
Poachers are poachers because someone from China, America or Europe desires a sculpture or artifact made from ivory or rhino horn. Stop the demand = no supply. It kills the incentive. Africa needs strong corruption free govts who can set good regulatory standards and strict laws to prevent foreign demand led exploitation of our precious wildlife resources.
Tumaren,
You’re right, not all Americans live in sterile shopping malls. I lived in East Tejas for 5 years. I know there are many people enjoying the outdoors and experiencing wildlife throughout the country. They, however, are generally not the ones buying illegal wildlife products (there are some exceptions). When Ivory, rhino horn and leopard skins get sent to the states, its generally not the outdoorsy types (”tree hugging” liberals, or conservative sport hunters) who are at the receiving end. More often than not, it’s the vain upperclass, wanting to adorn themselves or their homes with “exotic” skins or pure ivory piano keys. THEY are the ones so detached from death and pain. THEY are the ones so heavily influenced by television, celebrities and other such frivolous pursuits.
Kenya can jack up the penalties for poaching all they want, but if the demand in other countries does not diminish, neither will the determination of a desperate father in Tsavo, trying to make enough money to feed his kids.
That’s one of the biggest problems here. The little man trying to make ends-meet (albeit illegally) gets the shaft, while the rich, pompous big man in his Shanghai or Washington mansion is left alone. How is that fair?
amen to that Zarek. I agree totally that the big money people in the chain should always face the larger penalties. This has to be coordinated with some local laws but yes, your right, it is the big wigs that need to go down the hardest. cheers, James