My argument is simple – shooting a few poachers today only drives prices up as the replacement poachers demand more from traffikers for their dangerous work.   The Asian dealers care very little for African lives lost and so it stands that Africans should be the first to value their own lives enough (yes poachers as well as rangers) to make this an issue of national priority.  Shooting poachers is a simplistic approach and destroys our ability to track the real villains – the traffickers. 

There are many other ideas – even “flooding the market with fake horns” that should be taken into consideration BEFORE shooting the very people who may be our best hope for future conservation. I’m a wildlifer and I know that tracking animals even as large as elephants and rhinos is hard work.  You need to be hardy, ready to spend long hours in harsh hot/cold/ dusty conditions.  I would hire ex-poachers for wildlife work in a second if I had the money. 

But the point at which I differ from many Kenyans is that I DO NOT believe killing poachers is the solution.  Gettleman noted that a full on war on poachers would not solve the problem.  One facebook page that goes under the name of “Kenya Wildlife Service” (Though I’m not sure if this is the official KWS FB page), asks “Would you support a ‘shoot to kill policy’ as a way of protecting our Elephants and Rhinos?” I think this was the saddest thing I’ve ever heard of in my life!! Almost everyone said yes!  (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151343149622904&set=a.367218657903.155338.196213227903&type=1)Africa is already hair -roots deep in violence, murder, war and rape and here we are calling for more, more, more!! no wonder the world shakes its communal head at poor violent Africa.  We are perpetrating that stereotype to a tee.  Illegal Ivory and rhino horn trading will not stop just because more poor Africans were shot and killed without trial – but it MIGHT end if we work aggressively to tackle the unfounded “Chinese Medicine” claims and make it part of our global policy to put (economic?) pressure on nations that traffic Ivory and other wildlife parts.  Shame  them and then hit them where it hurts.  The problem is that as long as Africans are more than willing to shoot themselves over it, the less likely any other nation will actively get involved in pressuring China. 

All nations are entitled to their traditional beliefs and practices, but when it is deemed harmful to humanity (e.g., female genital mutilation), or to our wildlife, then it must be stopped.