For example, while the Kenyan government continues its ranger patrols in national parks, it is different for private/community-led conservancies who take care of 65% of Kenya’s wildlife. There are many more examples and stories of the massive challenges facing wildlife-centric destinations around the world (see below).

I understand that travel might not be top of mind at this time. However, wildlife rangers need our support now to protect animals against poaching and ensure that we can visit wild and remote destinations in the future.

That is why I’m supporting the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund’s anti-poaching campaign, which is raising $20,000 until July 10, 2020 (and will also match up to an additional $20,000) to protect animals against poaching and ensure that we can visit wild and remote destinations in the future.

Help protect at-risk places and wildlife by making an online gift today. Every dollar helps keep rangers doing what they do best, protecting animals against poaching and ensuring that we can visit wild and remote destinations in the future.

Please help us spread the word about this important campaign, “Stop Poaching, Fund a Ranger”.

With gratitude,

Ruth MacRae

Poaching Examples and Stories

1. USA Today - 'A complete disaster': Africa’s endangered wildlife at risk as tourism dries up due to coronavirus. (May 15, 2020)

○     “In the time of COVID, when tourism has completely stopped, where most of our revenue comes from tourism, the revenue we need to earn to protect the rhino comes from tourism, it’s a complete disaster.”

1.  World Economic Forum (May 13, 2020) - Wildlife tourism in the pandemic: what will happen to the parks, staff and animals?

○     20 million-30 million Africans earn a livelihood directly or indirectly from tourism.

○     People are not going to sit home and starve. They will rely on what natural resources are next to them. If it's a forest, they will cut the trees. If it's a park, they will hunt the animals. If it's a river, they will over-fish

1. The Guardian- Conservation in crisis: ecotourism collapse threatens communities and wildlife (May 5, 2020)

○     Organisations that depend on visitors to fund projects for critically endangered species and rare habitats could be forced to close, according to wildlife NGOs, after border closures and worldwide travel restrictions abruptly halted millions of pounds of income from tourism.

○     Poaching for bushmeat already existed on a small scale even before the coronavirus outbreak. With more Kenyans out of work, bushmeat will be more appealing than meat sold by the licensed butcher. If the rangers have no salaries, how will they effectively monitor human activities in and out of the conservancies?

1. National Geographic - Poaching threats loom as wildlife safaris put on hold due to COVID-19
2. Conservation International - Poaching, deforestation reportedly on the rise since COVID-19 lockdowns (May 6, 2020) 

○     “In Africa, there has been an alarming increase in bushmeat harvest and wildlife trafficking that is directly linked to COVID-19-related lockdowns, decreased food availability and damaged economies as a result of tourism collapses,” said Matt Lewis, who leads Conservation International’s work on wildlife trafficking issues in Africa.

1. New York Times - Poachers Kill More Rhinos as Coronavirus Halts Tourism to Africa (April 8, 2020)

○     At least nine rhinos have been poached in South Africa’s North West province since the lockdown. In neighboring Botswana, at least six rhinos have been poached since the country closed its borders to stop the spread of Covid-19.

○     “People are being laid off in the tourism industry by the dozens in Africa at the moment,” said Andrew Campbell, the chief executive of Game Rangers’ Association of Africa. “All these things are happening because, without tourists, there is no money.”

○     In South Africa, for example, about 85 percent of 2018 funding for the country’s wildlife and public lands management authority, South Africa National Parks, came from tourism-related sources

○     Map Ives, the director of Rhino Conservation Botswana, shares her fears. “We can expect not only poaching of rhinoceros and elephant and other iconic animals, but we can also expect a spike in bushmeat poaching across the continent,” he said. “There are going to be a lot of people that are not earning a living and they will turn on the natural world and you cannot blame them. These are hungry people.”

1. National lockdowns, border closures, emergency visa restrictions, quarantines and other measures put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus have severely constricted Africa’s $39 billion tourism industry.
2. World Wildlife Fund approximated that 5,000 black rhinos exist in the wild, making them one of the most critically endangered species on the planet. Their relative, the southern white rhino is near threatened with numbers estimated around 20,000, while the last male northern white rhino died in March—only two females remain in the world.
3. Anti-Poaching Costs (costs vary per country)

○     $65 will purchase a spare battery for a radio, crucial for rangers to keep in touch and track poachers.

○     $110 will equip an anti-poaching scout with a GPS unit.

○     $150 – $300 will cover one anti-poaching scouts salary and rations for one month on patrol.

Photos provided by Adventure Travel Conservation Fund. Ranger with Poaching Snares by Marcus Westberg.