Learn more about poaching | Rooikat Conservation

What is Poaching?

Poaching is the illegal act of killing, trapping, capturing, removing, or possessing any product derived from fauna or flora without the necessary valid permits or authorization. Essentially, it involves the illicit hunting of wildlife and plants, taking various forms globally and posing a significant concern, especially within protected zones. The primary motivations behind poaching typically stem from economic gain or meeting subsistence needs, such as acquiring food or using wood for heating and cooking.

Top Left: Most people are familiar with the crisis Rhino are facing. Unfortunately, many other species are also targeted for various reasons and using various methods. Top Right: A poacher drying meat on lines at his camp. Drying helps with preserving the meat and makes it easier to carry a larger quantity out of the protected reserve.

What are the levels of poaching?

Poaching can generally be classified into three major categories or levels:

Subsistence poaching
Commercial poaching
Syndicate poaching

All levels of poaching are equally critical as they are often interconnected, with information passing through each level. Each poses a significant threat to our natural heritage and should be approached with caution, as all poachers should be considered armed and dangerous. Subsistence poachers, often the frontline with necessary skills, may advance to higher levels and are frequently employed and supplied by syndicate poachers, who typically operate covertly. While our primary focus on snare patrols may be subsistence poaching, understanding these levels provides a comprehensive overview.

Top: A ranger holds up a gin trap that claimed the victim’s foot. Gin traps, or “slagysters” as they are locally known, are very cruel devices that can be harmful to both animals and humans. Animals have been known to chew off their trapped limbs in order to escape from gin traps.

Subsistence poaching

This type of poacher typically hunts or traps for personal and familial sustenance and is often a resident of or near the targeted wilderness area.

They are usually lone, impoverished individuals who hunt primarily for bushmeat and other resources, using traps, snares, spears, and machetes (pangas).

Occasionally, they may collaborate with one or two accomplices or employ hunting dogs.

Often residing in the vicinity of their poaching grounds, they possess extensive knowledge of the terrain, habitats, local infrastructure, wildlife behaviors, and can demonstrate advanced bushcraft skills.

They deploy snares across a wide area to maximize their catch, frequently returning under cover of darkness to check their traps.

While their primary targets are meat species, they are opportunistic and also harvest wood and plants, particularly those with medicinal value (muti-trade), including hardwoods like Combretum sp. for wood.

Excess goods may be sold, but they typically leave substantial amounts of meat to waste, taking only what they can carry.

Encounters with anti-snare patrols often result in evasion or flight rather than confrontation, though they may carry various poaching tools such as knives, machetes (pangas), spears, and axes, necessitating caution.

They often provide intelligence to commercial or syndicate poachers and may progress to higher levels of poaching or become suppliers in the trade.

Top: Bushmeat confiscated at a poacher’s camp.

Top Left: A hare caught in a snare. Unfortunately scenes like these are becoming a very common sight in our greenbelts and natural areas. Top Right: A pile of firewood collected by a poacher within a nature reserve. He fled the area after noticing patrol members.

Top: A Grey Duiker caught in a snare. From the trench it has dug with its legs, it becomes apparent how the animal has struggled trying to free itself.

Commercial Poaching

Often times much like the Subsistence poacher, but much more sophisticated.
These poachers usually poach in large volumes in order to supply market and are primarily motivated by financial gain.
Their illegal bounty may often be sold through legitimate outlets e.g. Butcheries and other meat markets.
May operate alone, or in small groups.
Makes use of traps, snares, poison, as well as a variety of weapons such as firearms.
They are usually rather well-equipped, sometimes having telescopic sights, night vision spotlights, radio communications and vehicles.
Will poach any fauna or flora that may have monetary value.
Often targets larger game such as Kudu, Wildebeest, Giraffe, and Buffalo for meat, but are opportunistic.
High-value game such as Sable and Roan are also targets and may be stolen as live specimens and sold off.
Rare flora with high monetary value such as certain succulents and cycads may also be targeted.
May pose significant danger to anti snare patrols.

Top: Commercial poachers often supply the thriving bushmeat markets.

Top: A large haul of illegally collected indigenous plants confiscated by police. Plant poaching often goes unnoticed due to it seeming benign, but some species are facing severe pressure in the wild.

Top: Kudus poached for likely resale on the meat market.

Syndicate Poaching

Driven by significant financial gains.
Sophisticated, organized, very well-equipped, and usually linked to local and international organized criminal groups.
Well organized intelligence network
Prefers to work behind the scenes, and often employs Subsistence and Commercial poachers as the boots on the ground.
Makes use of an assortment of weapons such as automatic and semi-automatic rifles, dart guns, and may even utilize helicopters and other vehicles in operations.
Specializes in poaching animals and plants of high monetary value, such as rhino, pangolin, lion and elephant.
Rare Cycads and succulents with high monetary value are also targets.
Usually professionals, frequently with a bush, military or Para-military background and training.
Often makes use of bribes. Especially in countries where corruption is rife.
May even use intimidation or murder in order to facilitate business.
Poses significant danger.

Top: An intercepted shipment of ivory. Elephant ivory is in high demand, particularly in many of the Asian countries for use as ornaments amongst other things.

Top: Two boxes of confiscated Abalone or Perlemoen as it is locally known. Abalone is a high value commodity, and is often bartered for narcotics, which are then sold on the street. The two industries often go hand in hand

Top: All Pangolins are under severe pressure from poaching and command high prices on the black market. Their scales, which are composed of keratin (same as your fingernails, and not unlike rhino horn), are believed by some to have medicinal and other magical properties. There is no modern science to support these claims.

Table indicating various species commonly targeted, and their uses.

Baboons Savanna - Muti trade

Birds of prey - Muti trade and live sale

Blesbok - Meat

Bontebok - Meat

Buffalo - Meat and live sale

Burchell’s zebra - Meat and skin

Bushbuck - Meat

Bushpig - Meat

Crocodile - Meat, skin, eggs, and live sales

Damara Dik-dik - Meat

Duiker blue - Meat

Duiker grey - Meat

Duiker red - Meat

Eland - Meat

Elephant - Ivory

Gemsbok - Meat

General birds - Muti trade and live sale

Giraffe - Meat

Grey Rhebok - Meat

Grysbok Cape - Meat

Grysbok Sharpe’s - Meat and retail live

Hartebeest Lichtenstein’s - Meat

Hartebeest red - Meat

Hippo - Meat skin and ivory

Hyaenas - Muti trade

Impala common - Meat

Jackal - Muti trade

Klipspringer - Meat

Kudu - Meat

Leopard - Skin and muti trade

Lion - Skin, bones, live sale, muti trade

Monkeys vervet - Muti trade

Mountain reedbuck - Meat

Mountain zebra cape - Meat and skin

Mountain zebra - Meat and skin

Hartmann’s zebra - Meat and skin

Nyala - Meat

Oribi - Meat

Ostrich - Meat

Pangolin - Meat, muti trade and scales

Plants - Muti trade and live sale

Reedbuck common - Meat

Rhinoceros black - Horn

Rhinoceros white - Horn

Roan antelope - Meat and live sale

Sable antelope - Meat and live sale

Small cats - Muti trade and live sale

Springbuck - Meat

Steenbok - Meat

Suni - Meat

Tsessebe - Meat

Warthog - Meat

Waterbuck - Meat

Wildebeest black - Meat

Wildebeest blue - Meat

Top Left: Snares removed from a protected area on display in the ranger camp to create awareness about the devastation this form of hunting causes.

Top Right: A Kudu that was caught in a snare in the Dinokeng Game Reserve.

What are Snares?

Snares are exceptionally cruel devices, usually constructed with nylon, cable, or wire, anchored to a sturdy object such as a tree trunk, which is then strategically sprung in a noose with the intention to catch a passing animal.

The snare works by tightening around the victim’s neck, body, or limb until there is no escape. It is often set at the height of the intended victim’s head, and thus if all goes according to the plan, the animal dies of asphyxiation. The carcass or parts thereof is then retrieved by the poacher at a later stage, often under the cover of darkness. Because the likelihood of the poacher returning to where he set snares is high, it is very important to remember that you are always to be on high alert while conducting snare patrols. All suspected poachers should be considered armed and dangerous.

Snares can inflict horrendous injuries to animals and are often the cause for a slow, agonising and painful death. They are indiscriminate killing devices, and any creature unfortunate enough to wander through may be caught. They are also able to inflict harm to animals many years after having been set and forgotten.

Top Left: Snares come in all sizes and can be constructed from various materials. Top Right: Thousands of snares removed from a protected reserve.

The Impact of Snare Poaching

Being so easy and cheap to obtain and set up, snares pose a significant risk to protected areas across the world. Poachers will usually set multiple snares in an area to increase their chances of success, and it is therefore imperative that regular and thorough sweeps are performed. It is often the case that where one snare is found, there will be others close by. Their availability and ease of use have led to wildlife numbers plummeting in many areas as the need for protein sources grow along with an ever-increasing human population. As wildlife disappears from many areas outside of protected areas, poachers are likely to focus their efforts increasingly on protected areas and game reserves. As wildlife populations decline, sustainable harvests will decline accordingly and they will become susceptible to the conservation problems associated with small population sizes (Caughley and Sinclair, 1994). The scale and apparent ubiquity of the threat posed by illegal hunting suggests that without urgent intervention to address the issue, wildlife resources will be lost across large areas of the continent, with severe ecological, economic and social impacts.

Top Left: A Lion that lost a limb due to getting caught in a snare. Some animals will often learn to adapt with their deformities, but many often perish after a long and agonizingly painful death. Top Right: An elephant that succumbed to an infected snare wound.

Top Left: A Lioness that got caught with a snare across the head. Top Right: A Zebra with a horrendous snare injury. The snare can still be seen dragging along with the animal.

Where And How Are Snares Set?

Snares are usually set in the following areas:

On well used game paths, especially in areas where natural funneling or chokepoints occurs. Poachers will often create artificial chokepoints by strategically placing vegetation to force animals to move towards their snares.
Shady areas where animals shelter from the heat of the day.
Drainage-line thickets, as these areas are well utilized by game.
Near dams and other sources of water frequented by animals.
On fence lines where animals cross or pass underneath

Top Left & Right: Multiple snares removed from within a relatively small area. Poachers often set multiple snares to enhance their chances of making a catch. Note the difference in age, with the older snares having a rusty appearance.

Top Left & Right: Two examples of snares set on game paths. Locations frequented by game are good areas to inspect for snares.

Top Left: A snare set on a road. Note the debris placed to funnel the quarry towards the snare. Top Right: A closer view of the same snare. Snares like these are often set for game birds and other small mammals such as hare.

Top Left: An ideal area for a poacher to set a snare. The path is well utilized by game, there is a strong tree to anchor the snare, and there is natural funneling due to the vegetation. Top Right: A snare set in a thicket area. Snares like these are very hard to detect.