Indian wildlife rangers to be paid reward for every poacher they shoot

[Calliegirl]

I am so for this, and happy to see a country doing more than a slap on the wrist. I wish this would spread to all countries, covering all animals.

We previously reported on wildlife rangers in Maharashtra State in India being offered protection from legal action if they take preventative shooting of poachers in order to protect tigers. Now a leading politician of the State has upped the stakes again and is offering a bonus to any ranger who shoots poachers.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) – the fourth largest part in the State assembly – chief Raj Thackeray has offered to pay rangers a reward of Rs.500,000 (just under £6,000) if they shoot a poacher found killing tigers in the forests of Vidarbha region in eastern Maharashtra...

http://wildlifenews.co.uk/2012/indi...-be-paid-reward-for-every-poacher-they-shoot/

 

[Forster]

Why are they poaching tigers? I'd rather see them do something about eliminating the root cause than use state sponsored murder to try and stop the problem.

 

[uno]

at first it sounds good, but... state sponsored murder is probably not a truly good answer. perhaps understanding and discussing the actual issue is more key. education over murder. ..lol

 

[kibbleforlola]

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

 

[Forster]

How about the middle men and traders who are making the most profit, shoot them on sight as well?

 

[mlp]

The poachers are probably really poor people. That being said, I don't feel particularly sorry for anyone involved, although I would prefer the consumers and the traders to be shot first.

 

[Forster]

Almost guaranteed the poachers are really poor people otherwise there would be more outcry about killing them. I wonder how many people (this board included), if they were living as desperately as the poachers, would kill a tiger if it meant being able to care for their children. Pretty easy to say one wouldn't unless one was in their shoes so to speak.

Anyway easy answer is they're bad evil people and deserve to die.

 

[mlp]

Almost guaranteed the poachers are really poor people otherwise there would be more outcry about killing them. I wonder how many people (this board included), if they were living as desperately as the poachers, would kill a tiger if it meant being able to care for their children. Pretty easy to say one wouldn't unless one was in their shoes so to speak.

Anyway easy answer is they're bad evil people and deserve to die.

OTOH, if they were poaching human body parts, how would you feel about them?

 

[Forster]

OTOH, if they were poaching human body parts, how would you feel about them?

They're not though and I think I understand what you are trying to convey, but try as I might I personally can't equate animals with human beings. I'm not saying that I don't love and respect animals nor am I saying that I don't get outraged at abuse and killing of animals, just that they are not people.

 

[mlp]

They're not though and I think I understand what you are trying to convey, but try as I might I personally can't equate animals with human beings. I'm not saying that I don't love and respect animals nor am I saying that I don't get outraged at abuse and killing of animals, just that they are not people.

Yeah, I know I'm abnormal in that regard.

Frankly, I don't think all of the effort and money that could be thrown at education would change the market for tiger parts, rhino horn, etc. fast enough to save the life of even one of those animals, let alone the species. Hell, men are still paying to have sex with small children because they think it's a cure for veneral diseases. And the state of mind I'm in right now, I don't care whether humans who prey on children and/or animals to "cure" their sexual problems are killed out of hand or not.

 

[Calliegirl]

Almost guaranteed the poachers are really poor people otherwise there would be more outcry about killing them. I wonder how many people (this board included), if they were living as desperately as the poachers, would kill a tiger if it meant being able to care for their children. Pretty easy to say one wouldn't unless one was in their shoes so to speak.

Anyway easy answer is they're bad evil people and deserve to die.

India has a huge amount of poverty and poor people. If killing tigers was the easiest/best/only (take your pick) way to make money, than most of them would be doing that. But tiger parts bring in huge amounts of money and these poachers are usually just greedy opportunists. They aren't doing it to feed their families, they are doing it to feed their bank accounts and often kill anyone (especially park rangers) who gets in their way.

These poachers are not as innocent as you would like them to be. Here's some recent poacher activity (notice the innocent people killed along with the animals)....
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0705-hance-okapi-massacre-update.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/201203060012.html
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...1_poachers-rhino-horn-kaziranga-national-park
http://www.escapefoundation.org/afr...highest-in-more-than-two-decades-experts-say/

Unlike decades past when poachers across the continent ran down elephants using spears, the attackers are now highly organized and armed with sophisticated weapons. Many have used grenade launchers and high-powered rifles, allowing them to kill with greater ease and outgun police and military trying to stop them, said Richard Carroll, the WWF’s Africa Program director. He has spent decades building expertise in the Central African Republic

They sure don't sound like poor people just trying to feed their families.
Shot on sight sounds good to me.

Call me heartless, but I think it's a shame they didn't shoot this guy... http://wildlifenews.co.uk/2012/indian-wildlife-police-nab-high-profile-tiger-poacher/

 

[K-II]

****, I'd shoot them for that sort of money. o__o

Mind I'm not sure what it's like in India, but in Africa they'd be shooting back and probably better armed, so maybe it's not as much as it seems...

 

[Calliegirl]

Why are they poaching tigers? I'd rather see them do something about eliminating the root cause than use state sponsored murder to try and stop the problem.

I just noticed this, I guess I thought everyone knew about poaching endangered species for the Asian market. Certain body parts of tigers, rhinos, elephants and other endangered species are believed to have magical properties by many people in Asia. It's big business and the poachers are often better armed than the rangers.
I don't know how you could eliminate the root cause. These superstitions have been ingrained over thousands of years, and the government is reinforcing these beliefs via a million dollar grant (I think that was the amount), to help keep traditional medicine (aka magical animal parts) alive.

 

[jeneticallymodified]

urgh.... so poachers are maybe gonna shoot rangers pre-emptively now before they get shot themselves... rangers are perhaps gonna be a bit trigger happy.... tigers will get a free lunch either way... that, or the bribery will just get scaled up a smidge.

 

[K-II]

I don't think the shooting in itself is new.

 

[uno]

I don't think the shooting in itself is new.

correct. Shooting has been around for centuries.

 

[das_nut]

Does a cheap gun cost less than the "reward"? Because I can think of a way that a sociopathic ranger could profit from this.

 

[K-II]

correct. Shooting has been around for centuries.

Specifically between poachers and rangers (or whatever similar term applies). Although... that might have been as well, I suppose.

Does a cheap gun cost less than the "reward"? Because I can think of a way that a sociopathic ranger could profit from this.

Less than 6000 pounds? I would think so.

 

[Sevenseas]

I wonder how many people (this board included), if they were living as desperately as the poachers, would kill a tiger if it meant being able to care for their children. Pretty easy to say one wouldn't unless one was in their shoes so to speak.

A lot of things mean being able to take care of one's children. Stealing money from other people is one way to provide for your kids. Murdering someone to steal that money is another. Becoming a part of the mafia is another. Being involved in some abusive sex trafficking operation might be another. All those mean "being able to take care of children", in the sense that getting enough money from X means being able to take care of whatever children you might have.

Taking care of kids would be a weird rationalization for those things though, for a few reasons, such as: a) in real life as opposed to intentionally rigged hypotheticals, other options usually exist b) it's not responsible even towards the kids themselves to have kids in a situation where they're, for financial reasons, guaranteed to have violent criminals for their parents.

 

[Forster]

A lot of things mean being able to take care of one's children. Stealing money from other people is one way to provide for your kids. Murdering someone to steal that money is another. Becoming a part of the mafia is another. Being involved in some abusive sex trafficking operation might be another. All those mean "being able to take care of children", in the sense that getting enough money from X means being able to take care of whatever children you might have.

Taking care of kids would be a weird rationalization for those things though, for a few reasons, such as: a) in real life as opposed to intentionally rigged hypotheticals, other options usually exist b) it's not responsible even towards the kids themselves to have kids in a situation where they're, for financial reasons, guaranteed to have violent criminals for their parents.

When one's options are limited sometimes it comes down to the lesser of evils.

I can try and find the article but one I found mentioned that in one case the poachers themselves got $15 each (4 of them) for poaching a tiger. Maybe they were just bad people but really it seems a bit desperate to me. No doubt there are bad men profiting off the trade of tigers but the desperate are going to end up just as dead. Also me thinks there are going to be peopled murdered for the bounty whether they were poachers or not.

If this is such a good idea shall we institute a bounty system in this country and reward police officers for killing suspected murders? I don't know about every one else but such a thing sends chills down my spine. The death penalty is bad enough but at least there is some semblance of due process.