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Poachers for Dinner...

PhantomWolf

Penultimate Amazing
PhantomWolf
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[url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/105282229/lions-eat-poachers-in-african-game-reserve]stuff.co.nz[/url] said:
"Two .. possibly three" poachers have been eaten by lions in a game reserve in Africa.

Human remains were found in South Africa's Sibuya Game Reserve by a ranger, Reuters reported.

It was believed the victims were rhino poachers as an axe and rifle were amongst the remains - poachers "use the rifle to shoot the animal and the axe to remove the horn", Sibuya owner Nick Fox said.

"They strayed into a pride of lions - it's a big pride so they didn't have too much time," Fox told AFP.

"We're not sure how many there were - there's not much left of them."
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Is it wrong of me for laughing?
 
PhantomWolf said:
Is it wrong of me for laughing?
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They're the low end of the food chain (literally in that area) in the poaching trades, but absent the possibility of inviting the pride to the Chinese Traditional Medicine Convention in Huangxiang next month,... this'll have to do.
 
RolandRat said:
Yes it is. Actually getting pleasure out of people dying is not a good thing. You don't know why those people were poaching.
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Personally I don't care why they were poaching, poachers are nearly the lowest form of life, I'd call them scum, but that's an insult to innocent pond scum. As far as I'm concerned three less poachers and a pride of satisfied lions is a win for the good guys.

And BTW, it's not like poachers don't have options. Reserves are always looking for more Rangers to protect the animals, it just doesn't pay as well and poachers would rather get the bigger bounties off killing endangered animals than getting a wage and protecting them. As I say scum, I rate them at just above drug dealers.
 
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PhantomWolf said:
Personally I don't care why they were poaching, poachers are nearly the lowest form of life, I'd call them scum, but that's an insult to innocent pond scum. As far as I'm concerned three less poachers and a pride of satisfied lions is a win for the good guys.

And BTW, it's not like poachers don't have options. Reserves are always looking for more Rangers to protect the animals, it just doesn't pay as well and poachers would rather get the bigger bounties off killing endangered animals than getting a wage and protecting them. As I say scum, I rate them at just above drug dealers.
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Wow, that's a more primitive response than one might normally expect here.

No, poachers aren't scum. They're local villagers who scrape a living in slash-and-burn agriculture who have been offered life-changing amounts of money by an intermediary for a Chinese or Vietnamese criminal. They're just as much victims as the animals they've been paid to kill. The gaols of Africa are full of them, but the Chinese and the Vietnamese don't ever seem to get caught.

Your fantasy about poachers' options is just silly. Years of training go into being rangers in game parks, one of the most sought-after and prestigious jobs available to rural Africans, and an entry requirement to that training is the ability to read and write. You might want to take a quick look at literacy levels in rural Africa before making any more ill-informed comments.
 
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After having just seen Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom, I think bringing back dinosaurs, especially carnivorous ones through DNA science, is a bad idea. :)
 
MikeG said:
No, poachers aren't scum. They're local villagers who scrape a living in slash-and-burn agriculture who have been offered life-changing amounts of money by an intermediary for a Chinese or Vietnamese criminal. They're just as much victims as the animals they've been paid to kill. The gaols of Africa are full of them, but the Chinese and the Vietnamese don't ever seem to get caught.
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One could use the exact same excuse for feeling sorry for drug dealers, that they are dirt poor and the gangs offer them loads of money to sell death to kids. They still choose to to it, no one puts a gun to their heads and threatens to kill them and their families if they don't. No one makes them carry grenades and be willing to murder anyone that gets in their way either.

I wouldn't mid seeing some of the Asians and Arabs paying for the animal parts to end up inside one either to be honest, the lot need to be behind bars.

Your fantasy about poachers' options is just silly. Years of training go into being rangers in game parks, one of the most sought-after and prestigious jobs available to rural Africans, and an entry requirement to that training is the ability to read and write. You might want to take a quick look at literacy levels in rural Africa before making any more ill-informed comments.
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Actually it is about a year, used to be 6-8 weeks, but with it becoming more dangerous because poachers are quite willing to try and kill rangers if they get the chance. It's also 80% paid for by the governments and the other 20% can come from organisations or sponsorship.




http://wildlifecollege.org.za/
 
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I'm also of the camp that feels uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating the death of a human being, but not because I don't know what led them to poaching - rather because I value human life inherently.

I'd have much preferred to have seen these poachers caught, arrested, tried and convicted to community service under strict supervision with a rhino conservation organisation, with jail terms for breaches of parole.
 
arthwollipot said:
I'm also of the camp that feels uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating the death of a human being, but not because I don't know what led them to poaching - rather because I value human life inherently.

I'd have much preferred to have seen these poachers caught, arrested, tried and convicted to community service under strict supervision with a rhino conservation organisation, with jail terms for breaches of parole.
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I feel the same, but I also believe in "live by the sword, die by the sword": they took the fight to Nature and Nature fought back. So while it's unfortunate all around, the victims don't merit quite as much sympathy as they'd otherwise be entitled to.
 
PhantomWolf said:
It's also 80% paid for by the governments and the other 20% can come from organisations or sponsorship.




http://wildlifecollege.org.za/
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And most the 80% paid by government comes from the sale of legal hunting licenses, taxes paid on hunting trips, trophy permits.

Poachers are not only killing the animals, but they are putting legal hunting at risk. This not only means that the money used to train rangers will dry up, but the landowners who are able to make money by maximizing the amount of trophy animals on their land for legal hunting, will be forced to convert that land to coffee, sugar or other cash crop because legal hunting is being forced out.
 
arthwollipot said:
I'm also of the camp that feels uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating the death of a human being, but not because I don't know what led them to poaching - rather because I value human life inherently.

I'd have much preferred to have seen these poachers caught, arrested, tried and convicted to community service under strict supervision with a rhino conservation organisation, with jail terms for breaches of parole.
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Take it up with the Pride. Perhaps they would be willing to listen to your ideas on the proper forms of justice.
 
There's billions of extra humans on the planet, zero extra rhinos. People who are trying to kill rhinos dying is a good thing.
 
I see poachers as despicable vandals destroying irreplaceable objects of beauty and awe that "belong" to the entire world. Worse than if they had invaded the Louvre and torched all the works of art for a few dollars; poachers destroy living creatures that can feel pain and fear. And they leave all the rest of us, and the Earth, diminished as a result.

The reasons that drive them into poaching may help us understand better how to prevent it, but they do not even slightly justify it. No more than justifying murdering people for their pocket change. Frankly I doubt most poachers come from the most poor and desperate; poaching requires some money and some resources. But even if it were those who possessed absolutely nothing seeking only to feed their families, poaching is to me as unacceptable as would be murder. And in practice poaching is no solution to poverty; there is not enough endangered wildlife to help more than a tiny fraction of the many poor people who live and suffer in these regions.

BTW I do blame the higher ups even more than the people with the rifles.

That said I do not celebrate the death of anyone. But neither will I mourn the people described in the OP. It does appeal to my sense of justice. Too bad their sponsors were not with them at the time.
 
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