GLOBAL POACHING THREAT
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Poaching is currently the main driver toward the extinction of many of our planet’s critically endangered species. Once a species’ ability to naturally re-generate its population is exceeded by mortality, extinction becomes a real threat.
Many endangered species have become the target of human exploitation. The factors that drive this exploitation revolve essentially around a lucrative market that is fuelled by unscrupulous end users. On the frontline are the indigenous poachers, and the middle ground is run by wildlife contraband networks that act as the conduit for illegal goods to end users - the market. ESPA aims to provide protection for the endangered species that have become the target of human exploitation. ESPA’s role is to redress that balance and secure the future of threatened species. 
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Rhino and Elephant
Animal contraband is big business. The current value of rhino horn on the black market is in excess of $60,000 a pound - more than gold, platinum, or conflict diamonds. It has the highest value of any illegally traded type of contraband. Rhinoceros are literally on the edge of extinction as criminals progressively see rhino as a high-return but soft target. Horn smuggling is significantly less risky than trafficking conflict diamonds or hard drugs. The illegal ivory trade has also tripled in the past two decades. Ivory is now valued at over $2,000 a pound in Asian markets. Thousands of elephants are being illegally and inhumanely killed across Africa to supply the black market. The present decade has already seen a subspecies of western black rhino become extinct in West Africa. Vietnam lost its last Javan rhino to poachers, while Mozambique lost the country’s remaining 14 rhino poached in the Limpopo National Park in 2013. All species of rhino could become extinct in the wild by 2024 if the present attrition rate isn’t reversed. Rhino deaths are close to overtaking births; when they do so, it will signify the countdown to extinction of the species. This is already the case for certain elephant populations such as Gabon’s Minkebe National Park. More than 10, 000 elephants have been killed here during the past decade, reducing the herd by more than 60% as deaths far outstrip births. It’s is a similar story for elephant populations in Chad, Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, South Sudan and other vulnerable range states.
Great Ape
Bushmeat poaching is a significant threat to lowland gorilla populations. Gorillas are sought after as food (bushmeat) for the wealthy elite. Their remaining body parts are sold on to the black magic medicine trade, known as “muti” or “juju”, as magical charms or invincibility potions.
In the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, poachers kill an estimated 5% of the gorilla population each year. This has had a devastating effect on this once-increasing population. There are few protected areas within the eastern lowland gorilla’s range. Due to civil unrest in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, the eastern lowland gorilla is severely threatened by poachers. Even in the protected areas, overstretched rangers struggle to enforce porous park boundaries. Conflict and political instability continue to hamper the effective conservation of all Congo’s National Parks gorillas. The remaining population of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra has also been reduced by a third during the last decade by poaching and other illegal killings. Habitat loss due to both legal and illegal deforestation brings orangutans into conflict with unscrupulous palm oil planters, and opens up new areas to poachers. Hundreds of infant orangutans are taken alive each year for the illegal pet trade. This is done by shooting or trapping the mother and taking the traumatized youngster into captivity. The survival rate of these young apes is abysmal. Five orphaned orangutans die for every one that reaches the market. Many die from injuries sustained following the fall from the forest canopy when their mother was shot. Orangutans are also poached for food; as many as 1,000 per year are killed for local consumption.
In the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, poachers kill an estimated 5% of the gorilla population each year. This has had a devastating effect on this once-increasing population. There are few protected areas within the eastern lowland gorilla’s range. Due to civil unrest in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, the eastern lowland gorilla is severely threatened by poachers. Even in the protected areas, overstretched rangers struggle to enforce porous park boundaries. Conflict and political instability continue to hamper the effective conservation of all Congo’s National Parks gorillas. The remaining population of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra has also been reduced by a third during the last decade by poaching and other illegal killings. Habitat loss due to both legal and illegal deforestation brings orangutans into conflict with unscrupulous palm oil planters, and opens up new areas to poachers. Hundreds of infant orangutans are taken alive each year for the illegal pet trade. This is done by shooting or trapping the mother and taking the traumatized youngster into captivity. The survival rate of these young apes is abysmal. Five orphaned orangutans die for every one that reaches the market. Many die from injuries sustained following the fall from the forest canopy when their mother was shot. Orangutans are also poached for food; as many as 1,000 per year are killed for local consumption.
Big Cats
In the past 10 years, more than 1,000 tigers have been killed to meet consumer demands in Asia for their skins and body parts. The body parts and bones (known as sets) from a single animal can bring as much as $50,000 on the black market. Tiger bones have been used in traditional Asian medicine as a ‘cure-all’ for various ailments for more than a millennium. Tiger poaching is conducted by increasingly sophisticated and well-armed criminal gangs across all tiger range states and is estimated to be worth around in excess of $20 billion a year. The illegal Asian medicine trade cannot supply an increasing demand for tiger parts; therefore it has turned to lions as a popular substitute. In the Republic of South Africa, lion bones sell for around $165 a pound, making a full skeleton of a mature lion worth about $6,000. The bones can be legally sold from a legitimately shot cat under license, or a deceased captive cat with the relevant export documentation. However, the legal market only contributes about half of the lion bones currently leaving the country, and poaching is responsible for the rest. Fragmented populations in other lion range states are extremely vulnerable and no reliable data is available as yet to determine the threat, but it is of major concern.
Great White Shark
The great white shark has long been a focus for negative media attention since the release of Jaws, an American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel. Unfortunately the species occasional lethal interaction with humans periodically reinforces this negativity. As a consequence of the exaggerated threat to human safety, and its legendary trophy-fish status, the species is actively targeted by unethical sports-fishers, and commercial drum-liner fishermen trophy hunting for jaw and fin-sets. Targeted exploitation of great white sharks is primarily aimed at trading the jaws as high value trophies or teeth as curios for the black-market, and its fins for the oriental fin trade. Illegal fishing of the species in the Mediterranean for human consumption has been reported, with the commercial catch sold illicitly as smooth hound.
In South Africa offers of $20,000-$50,000 have been made for great white shark jaws and $600-$800 for individual teeth. Apart from their size, great white shark products in the form of curios and fins are boosted in value because of notoriety. A fin-set from a large great white shark may be valued at over $1,000. Unfortunately, as with rhino horns and elephant tusks, the high value of great white shark products encourages: poaching, clandestine trade, and violations of protective laws (Compagno 2001). Additional mortality, associated with beach net-entanglement and indiscriminate drum-lining in tourist areas, are also thought to be significant factors in this species rapid decline. There is little doubt that the effects of the continued removal of these predators from the marine ecosystem will be catastrophic. The current rate of great white shark exploitation exceeds the ability for population rejuvenation of this species.
In South Africa offers of $20,000-$50,000 have been made for great white shark jaws and $600-$800 for individual teeth. Apart from their size, great white shark products in the form of curios and fins are boosted in value because of notoriety. A fin-set from a large great white shark may be valued at over $1,000. Unfortunately, as with rhino horns and elephant tusks, the high value of great white shark products encourages: poaching, clandestine trade, and violations of protective laws (Compagno 2001). Additional mortality, associated with beach net-entanglement and indiscriminate drum-lining in tourist areas, are also thought to be significant factors in this species rapid decline. There is little doubt that the effects of the continued removal of these predators from the marine ecosystem will be catastrophic. The current rate of great white shark exploitation exceeds the ability for population rejuvenation of this species.