Hi guys! Welcome to the first post of my blog! This week I will be talking about COVID-19’s impact on wildlife conservation.
In Singapore, our little urban island, we obviously do not have large forests or grasslands or simply any type of habitat endangered animals belong to. Because of this, poaching and wildlife conservation just aren’t important or largely discussed issues here. It is not surprising that many of us probably did not know how COVID-19 has impacted wildlife around the world.
Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a rise in poaching incidents in Asia and South Africa. Specifically, in central Africa, India, Cambodia and Nepal.[1] In fact, the Uganda Wildlife Authority reported “367 poaching cases across the country, more than double the 163 cases recorded during a similar period in 2019”.[2]
In India, rhinos are one of the biggest victims. The lockdown in India seems to have produced increased poaching in one of its national parks. Officials intervened in twice as many cases as they did last year.[3]
2 main reasons behind this rise in poaching are as follows:
- People’s loss of income:The lockdowns in countries have led to economic recessions worldwide.[4] This has led to people losing their jobs and thus incomes. Furthermore, people who have lost their jobs in the cities are forced to move to rural areas. As reported by experts, these people are had no choice but to commit wildlife crimes for the sake of money.[5] This may be in the form of poaching for money(such as by selling illegal animal products like the rhino’s horn) or for bushmeat for consumption.[6]
- Lack of funding: Countries often rely on income from tourism to fund wildlife conservation. For example, it is reported that revenue generated by tourism made-up most of South Africa National parks’ capital[7] The lack of tourism(due to lockdowns worldwide) has thus led to lack of funding of conservation efforts and parks are not able to effectively protect their wildlife.
As this pandemic continues, I hope that the governments concerned will step up efforts to protect the world’s wildlife. Otherwise, I fear that our already endangered species may soon cease to exist.
References
[1] https://apnews.com/9df0cc21045578ad86696bc05721c706
[2] https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/wildlife-poaching-doubles-uganda-during-covid-19-lockdown
[3] https://thelogicalindian.com/environment/poaching-attempts-rise-india-lockdown-21144
[4] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52273988
[5] https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-south-asia-sees-rise-in-poaching-during-lockdowns/a-54090081
[6] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200520-the-link-between-animals-and-covid-19
[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/science/coronavirus-poaching-rhinos.html
Hi Rachel,
What an insightful read. I’ve never considered the push factors on why people turn to poaching. I wondered if it was possible to employ affected people as some sort of guard against poaching – but funding is in itself an issue due to a decrease in tourism.
This may have worrying implications for ecotourism in the face of climate change. Would sites more affected by climate change, in turn, face lower tourists numbers and hence lack the funds to further protect the area from the effects of climate change? If anything positive comes out of this COVID crisis, I guess it may shed light on issues we may face due to climate change in the future.
Cheers,
Ee Kin
Hi Ee Kin! So sorry for the late reply, I’ve been thinking about your comment and unfortunately I’ve found myself unable to answer your questions right now. However, it has got me thinking about how climate change fits into the picture of this pandemic. Thus, I plan to do a blog post on that in the near future! Do stay tuned for that 🙂
Hi Rachel!
Thanks for the interesting read, I definitely do agree that governments should invest more towards managing the illegal wildlife market and protecting wildlife! Besides governments increasing funding and becoming stricter in enforcing regulations, what roles do individuals and organisations like NGOs play in Wildlife Conservation in the face of COVID -19? Look forward to hearing from you soon!
Cheers,
Kelly
Hi Kelly! Sorry for the late reply! To address your question, there are lots of ways individuals could contribute to Wildlife Conservation right now. Individuals could avoid purchasing goods that are a part of the illegal wildlife trade. This would result in reduced demand and thus reduced poaching. Or individuals could simply donate to Wildlife Conservation organisations! Most NGOs that are currently working to protect wildlife lack the funding to do so right now. Hence, donating could go a pretty long way.