• Illegal hunting, killing or capturing of animals

• Taking a wild animal without a license or permit, use of a prohibited weapon or trap, taking outside of the designated time of day or year, and taking of a prohibited sex (male/female) or life stage.

• Animal products, such as hide, ivory, horn, teeth and bone, are sold to dealers who make clothes, jewelry and other materials from them

• Medicinal purposes (horns, bones)• Bushmeat : Illegal hunting of animals such

as apes, gorillas, antelope or crocodiles for the purpose of food

• Elephant ivory has been used by humans for millennia for various purposes

• In the 19th and early part of the 20th century mass demand for items like billiard balls and piano keys led to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of elephants

• The Chinese market demands unusual products from endangered animals (tiger parts, gall bladders from bears, rhino horns, etc.)

• The Chinese government is either unwilling or unable to make any real attempt to control trade in these items

• Snare wire: cable wires of different lengths which are tied on trees to trap animals (usually around the neck)

• Spears and dogs: traditional method involves chasing and spearing animals with the assistance of dogs

• Pitfalls: pits are dug to trap large animals such as elephants, buffaloes and zebras.

• Between 1979 and 1989, the worldwide demand for ivory caused elephant populations to decline to dangerously low levels

• During this time period, poaching fueled by ivory sales cut Africa's elephant population in half

• In 1977, 1.3 million elephants lived in Africa; today the population is about 470,000

• Some experts have predicted the extinction of wild African elephants by 2020

• In 1989 the U.N.’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), effectively banned the ivory trade

• At the time an average of 200 elephants were killed every day in Africa

• Poaching almost ceased after the ban, but it is now on the increase once again, felling an average of over 100 elephants per day

• Over the last few years, CITES has allowed limited sales of ivory stockpiles, mostly from elephants that died of natural causes

• Critics suggest that this has fed consumer demand and created opportunities for the black market to mask its operations

• While some countries petition to be allowed to sell their ivory stockpiles, others burn them

• Kenya burned 5 tons of ivory this year ($16 million on the black market), though they have about 60 tons stockpiled

• Ivory poaching is fuelled by poverty, political instability and civil unrest coupled with the easy availability of weapons

• The world financial crisis has made things even worse - many African nations have had to cut back on their anti-poaching operations, giving illegal wildlife traders even more incentive to profit from their operations

• One of the best ways to alleviate human-wildlife conflicts is to give people a reason to keep the local wildlife alive and healthy

• If the elephants are a big tourist draw, then it is in the country’s best interest to protect them

• If tourism employs locals, then the elephants put money directly into the local communities

• Rhinos for their horns, and tiger bones & claws – believed to be medicinal

• Gorillas & Apes – for bushmeat (considered a delicacy)

• Crocodiles - bushmeat