Mammal poaching is of great concern as the bush meat trade poses one of the greatest threats to Africa’s wildlife populations. Research has shown that between 1.9 and 3.5 million tons of bush meat are consumed in Central and Southern Africa annually.
Gangs of poachers target a variety of mammal species such as buffalo, kudu, eland and impala, and set snares in order to catch theses mammals as they migrate to and from food and water sources. These wire death traps cause tremendous suffering to mammals, sometimes taking the victim several days to die after having been snared.
Unfortunately, snares do not discriminate as to what animals they trap. Therefore, many larger mammals get caught in the snares causing their limbs, trunks, snouts and tails to be mutilated and infected. Predators also get caught in these snares and are often left to die.
