Poachers Take Rare Lion In India Poaching for the Black Market

[Watermonkey 0]

From Reuters,

AHMEDABAD, India - Poachers have killed three Asiatic lions in the rare animal's only natural habitat in the world, prompting security to be tightened in the sanctuary.
Claws, skulls and bones of the lions were missing when the carcasses were found, Pradeep Khanna, chief wildlife warden at Gir wildlife sanctuary in the western state of Gujarat, told Reuters on Monday.

"It is shocking, and a clear case of poaching," Khanna said.

The number of lions in Gir, where the lions are protected and bred in natural conditions, had risen to 359 in 2005 from 327 four years ago, a government census showed.

Conservationists and wildlife experts say about 10 lions have died in the last year, mainly from drowning and poaching.

India is already struggling to save its endangered tigers, as people invade their habitat and poachers kill them for body parts that fetch huge sums on the international black market.

I'm personally disturbed that there's a black market for "claws, skulls, and bones" from this magnificant animal and I hope the government there beefs up law enforcement to protect them from the most effecient, destructive, and dis-honerable of all preditors: Humans. How does this news and other reports just like it from other Asian countries like Thailand, other SE Asian countries, even Siberia, effect the planet as a whole, and how does it make you feel individually?
Edited March 22, 2007 by Watermonkey (see edit history)

[Yratorm, LightMage 0]

Yes watermonkey it's truly sad that this situation should exist.

 

The lion of india was mostly eradicated by british officers who wanted to take the pelts home. The only reason the lion survived at all in india was because during the reign of the british, the maharaja (king) of gir lied to the british officers who came to hunt in his domain, telling them there were no more lions left in his territory. A noble man - he single handedly saved a noble species from complete extinction.

 

I hope that security will be tightened around the sanctuary, but in asia corruption is VERY rampant, and it leaves holes in even the most seemingly secure security net. A sad state of things.

[Forbez 0]

Thats unbeliveable. How low can someone go for money?

[possible123 0]

Thats unbeliveable. How low can someone go for money?

Just a look at a history textbook will show you how low somebody can go for money.
There have been many times in history when somebody did something that was pure
evil only for their own advantage.

In the future, more things like this will happen.

It is simply the nature of some humans. Everybody reading this can take one step
to stop things like this poaching from happening by donating to charities that
support endangered species like the IFAW.

Remember the ancient Chinese proverb:

Little By Little, One Walks Far

[kraizii88z 0]

The only way this is gonna change is to change the hearts of the people who demand this product. There is no man-made, thus easily defeated, law that you can ever put into place to protect the environment or it's animals. The only sure and lasting change will be to change the people who are in the offense, they have to see what they're doing, and why it is considered unbeneficial to the ecosystem. Good luck in changing the world, whoever tries...Another thing--we have made money to be the most important, powerful energy on the planet. The drive for money, that is. It keeps one from perishing, and the fight for survival is incredibly strong. you have to think that the people who are doing the poaching are just trying to stay alive, as much as the lion, but that these people have money on their side, and what lion can stand up to the force of survival when money is involved? What's stronger, greed for money, or a mere unprotected lion? Why don't we try to change the poacher's situations, from probably extreme poverty, to a more conscientious situation. Maybe they would stop poaching, if they could afford to...

[possible123 0]

The only way this is gonna change is to change the hearts of the people who demand this product. There is no man-made, thus easily defeated, law that you can ever put into place to protect the environment or it's animals. The only sure and lasting change will be to change the people who are in the offense, they have to see what they're doing, and why it is considered unbeneficial to the ecosystem. Good luck in changing the world, whoever tries...
Another thing--we have made money to be the most important, powerful energy on the planet. The drive for money, that is. It keeps one from perishing, and the fight for survival is incredibly strong. you have to think that the people who are doing the poaching are just trying to stay alive, as much as the lion, but that these people have money on their side, and what lion can stand up to the force of survival when money is involved? What's stronger, greed for money, or a mere unprotected lion?

Why don't we try to change the poacher's situations, from probably extreme poverty, to a more conscientious situation. Maybe they would stop poaching, if they could afford to...

You make a lot of good points. However, some people will always continue poaching. I think it
is the law of supply and demand. I am sure that some poachers could take up some other
business, but they choose poaching because it brings the most money. Some people will
want a dead lion to own, and some people will go find, kill, and sell the lion to get money.

I guess that poaching is a term of respect, in some ways. You only see rare and popular animals
being poached. Nobody goes around poaching spiders ( to the farthest extent of my knowledge )
because they are easy to find and not that respected.

Even rare spiders are not poached ( again, to the farthest extent of my knowledge ). A lion would
be poached because the lion is the "king of the jungle". Some people get pleasure that they own a
dead "king".

On an off topic note, this also explains why Egyptian graves were frequently robbed of their mummies.
They are rare and respected.

[Spyda 0]

I hate how they would do such a thing killing helpless animals like that. Really sad even if the animal is as crazy as it is. I wonder if p-eople would like it if animals would come to our homes and kill us senslessly then go sells us in a markeyt for cash. That would bring fury, so why would proachers do it to them? They never lesarn and throught life there will always be people like proachers