Anti-Poaching – the silent war

From the eyes of a poacher, hunting wildlife by snares is cheap, easy, and nearly impossible to get caught.

They can set hundreds of traps in a day, leave for a few days, and come back to see discover their prizes. However, snares are one of the most detrimental and least sustainable forms hunting. With forest floors littered with snares, any animal can get caught and it is a slow and torturous death. As the animal struggles, the snare gets tighter and there is no escape. The abundance of snares and their indiscriminate nature has decimated wildlife in Southeast Asia.

Home-made hunting rifles

Wildlife animal parts found in a hunter camp

Many forests, once teeming with life, are now suffering from what scientists call “empty forest syndrome.” Snares, which to an outsider may appear fairly innocuous, are actually one of the greatest threats facing biodiversity.

Monkey Meat

Deer Meat

They had already collected hundreds of lethal snares and dismantled multiple illegal hunting camps when rangers from the Clouded Leopard station (Chambak) heard the sounds of a struggling barking deer. They followed the sound to discover a muntjac trapped in a snare.

When the rangers reached the muntjac, they discovered a familiar scene. The muntjac was frantically trying to escape but just could not.

The rangers, experienced in working with wildlife, carefully approached the deer, freed him from the tight rope and let him run free back into the forest. The rangers carried on and cleared the area of snares. That day, the Clouded Leopard station (Chambak) rangers collected 357 snares, dismantled seven illegal hunting camps, confiscated a chainsaw used for illegal logging, and released a muntjac and forest chicken back into the forest.