4 ms·

>elephants are actually far more valuable alive than dead...Every elephant killed will earn a poacher just a few hundred dollars...a live elephant can earn more

by giarc 10y ago

>elephants are actually far more valuable alive than dead...Every elephant killed will earn a poacher just a few hundred dollars...a live elephant can earn more than a million dollars for communities involved in eco-tourism... Poachers are driven by money, why not hire them as eco-tourism guides. For them they get a stable income and no threat of death by soldier. I guess when you hire one poacher, another 10 are waiting to begin poaching...?

FreedomToCreate 10y ago
People who are willing to brutally kill an animal for a few hundred dollars, may not make the best eco-tourism guides. They obviously don't actually care about the environment and animals to begin with.
- giarc 10y ago
  Sorry for the bad source, I just did a quick search but Naples hired ex-cons, well versed in the trade of scamming tourists to help tourists avoid getting scammed. http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/33773898#33773898 http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/33773898#33773898 My thinking is they hire a bunch of poachers, basically become informants to learn the poaching trade. Lure them out with money, more than they could earn as a poacher and try to get ahead of these guys.
  - raincom 10y ago
    Thats the best strategy. An elder told me of his distant relative, who was producing counterfeit coins like 100 years ago. When he got caught, instead of sentencing him to prison, they hired him in the coin minting place.
- FooBarWidget 10y ago
  I think that is the wrong way to look at things. I think many poachers are just poor people who are trying to survive. It is a bit hard to care about the environment if your own meals aren't taken care of. If being an ecotourism guide pays better than being a poacher then it will be a good incentive to do a good job.
- crpatino 10y ago
  That's nonesense. You can brutally kill cats and (smallish) dogs, but anything bigger will fight back pretty badly. Brutalizing any animal that is twice your body size is a good recipe for getting yourself maimed or killed, even in a controled environment. Ask any slaugherhouse worker if you don't believe. Which takes us back to the economic motive. Once you realize that this people are, for the most part, not saddistic mosters but regular guys who break arbitrary rules for personal gain, you will realize that they do not care about what you care because there's nothing for them to gain there. For the most part, they care about the things the people paying the bills tell them to care about. So, why are you so afraid of the idea of being the guy who pays the bill and decides what stuff to care about? Is it that you dont want to know what price would you put to an elephant life, or it's just that you love to hate poachers?
Kenji 10y ago
I wonder if legalization would enable ivory farms, and if raising elephants could ever be paid for with ivory sales, considering they're such massive animals. Remember, an elephant pregnancy alone takes like 18 months! And the amount of food elephants need. Truly magnificent mammals.
- 35bge57dtjku 10y ago
  Someone was trying to flood the market with near-indistinguishable fake ivory.

by giarc 10y ago

FreedomToCreate 10y ago

People who are willing to brutally kill an animal for a few hundred dollars, may not make the best eco-tourism guides. They obviously don't actually care about the environment and animals to begin with.

giarc 10y ago
Sorry for the bad source, I just did a quick search but Naples hired ex-cons, well versed in the trade of scamming tourists to help tourists avoid getting scammed. http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/33773898#33773898 http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/33773898#33773898 My thinking is they hire a bunch of poachers, basically become informants to learn the poaching trade. Lure them out with money, more than they could earn as a poacher and try to get ahead of these guys.
- raincom 10y ago
  Thats the best strategy. An elder told me of his distant relative, who was producing counterfeit coins like 100 years ago. When he got caught, instead of sentencing him to prison, they hired him in the coin minting place.
FooBarWidget 10y ago
I think that is the wrong way to look at things. I think many poachers are just poor people who are trying to survive. It is a bit hard to care about the environment if your own meals aren't taken care of. If being an ecotourism guide pays better than being a poacher then it will be a good incentive to do a good job.
crpatino 10y ago
That's nonesense. You can brutally kill cats and (smallish) dogs, but anything bigger will fight back pretty badly. Brutalizing any animal that is twice your body size is a good recipe for getting yourself maimed or killed, even in a controled environment. Ask any slaugherhouse worker if you don't believe. Which takes us back to the economic motive. Once you realize that this people are, for the most part, not saddistic mosters but regular guys who break arbitrary rules for personal gain, you will realize that they do not care about what you care because there's nothing for them to gain there. For the most part, they care about the things the people paying the bills tell them to care about. So, why are you so afraid of the idea of being the guy who pays the bill and decides what stuff to care about? Is it that you dont want to know what price would you put to an elephant life, or it's just that you love to hate poachers?

Kenji 10y ago

I wonder if legalization would enable ivory farms, and if raising elephants could ever be paid for with ivory sales, considering they're such massive animals. Remember, an elephant pregnancy alone takes like 18 months! And the amount of food elephants need. Truly magnificent mammals.

35bge57dtjku 10y ago
Someone was trying to flood the market with near-indistinguishable fake ivory.