Elephant poachers to be killed "on spot" in Tanzania

[Seedersandleechers]

Arusha — STERNER punishment awaits poachers following government's finalisation of a Bill to check rising wave of poaching incidents in the country.

The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Amb. Khamis Kagasheki told this paper on Friday that the Bill is scheduled for tabling in the National Assembly next month.

Amb. Kagasheki admitted that the current law was lenient and had loopholes that culprits took advantage of."Poachers must be harshly punished because they are merciless people who wantonly kill our wildlife and sometimes game wardens, he said. He said due to the rising crime level, he could not help thinking that shooting on the spot of the culprits, could go a long way towards checking the killings. "I am very aware that some alleged human rights activists will make an uproar, claiming that poachers have as much rights to be tried in courts as the next person, but let's face it, poachers not only kill wildlife but also usually never hesitate to shoot dead any innocent person standing in their way," stated Amb. Kagasheki.

The minister was speaking at the climax of the global 'Elephant March' held in 15 countries worldwide and in Tanzania, about 3 kilometres mass walk was held in Arusha, which is the country's capital for tourism. The march started in Majengo area and wound up at the AICC Club grounds in Kijenge area.



http://allafrica.com/stories/201310070124.html


Poachers are killing 30 to 70 large elephants per day. Interesting article.

[trumad]

2. Post that was deleted above asked if the Anti-Death penalty crowd would object.

My reply was yeah---if it happened in America.

[leftyohiolib]

6. i deleted it b/c i knew that the anti-death penalty people would find a way to excuse this

death penalty and i didnt want to have a discussion about it. i also didnt realize the the anti-dp sentiment ended at the waters edge (which im sure doesnt but it sure comes in handy now.)
thankyou for proving my point
btw it is happening in america wasnt micheal vic doing this kind of things to dogs (oh well that's different b/c of ....... (fill in the blank))

[trumad]

9. you didnt prove a point

Last edited Mon Oct 7, 2013, 10:52 AM - Edit history (1)

It was a total strawman.

You pro death penalty?

[snooper2]

13. Damn, you don't have to go all hardcore LOL

I mean, there are single shots to the head or lethal injection, but PTO death!

That's fucked up!

[trumad]

15. LOL--typo and changed

I asked for PTO today for work===must be on my mind.

[Recursion]

3. Summary execution of hostis humani generis has a long tradition in international law

I'm not a fan, but the idea is hardly novel. It underlies the killing of pirates, for instance.

[jollyreaper2112]

4. Agree with sentiment

It's subject to abuse of course.

The basic problem is that we have not financially incentivized nature property. There's plenty of money in poaching and logging and destruction but not much in preservation. Preserving elephants for posterity doesn't feed my kids today. And even if I'm ruining the land and my chances at feeding myself in a year, I'm hungry now. You can't tell a starving man to not eat the seed corn.

Pretty much what you would need is an international fund paid into by wealthy nations to safeguard vulnerable poorer nations. And there would have to be serious teeth. The Chinese still love their rhino horn and tiger dongs. They have no interest in stemming demand.

The problem is nobody really gives a shit. They don't care when cultural artifacts and peoples are destroyed. It really doesn't affect our well being. The arts? Ha. Now what happens when you trash the oceans? We can't breathe. We can't feed ourselves. See? It does affect us. And we still can't get any traction on the issue.

Then again, the job of politicians in most democracies now seems to be preventing the will of the people from curtailing the activities of the rich. Success is measured by how well politicians can hold down the body politic on the pinball table while the rich get rapey.

Can we get some change up in here? I don't think so.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Good - let the punishment fit the crime. DISTRESSING PIC WARNING.

The threat of that is only only effective deterrent to their appalling practices.

Hopefully the same penalty will be applied to rhino poachers too.

[geek tragedy]

7. We're talking about preserving an entire species, so yes shoot them on sight, no warning nt

[stevenleser]

8. I'm anti DP, but I support this as a temporary measure until better measures can be found

Right now, there is no other punishment or deterrent to poaching that seems to work.

When you are out there in the wide open spaces of Africa, you understand why.

The job of effectively policing the entire habitat of elephants to protect them is daunting. Poachers feel like they have a good chance of getting away with killing an elephant and taking its tusks before rangers can get to them.

If they feel they are risking their lives and will be shot if caught, it might deter a fair percentage of them.

[joeybee12]

10. An all around sucky situation, usually the poachers are doing it for some

other person or organization, doing their dirty work...killing them sucks, nothing else is working...will this deter others? Not sure.

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. We are going to see the end of a whole lot of species in our lifetimes.

I don't see any way to stop it.

The only places these big animals will be able to survice will be in zoos.

None of the large animals are going to be able to survive the slaughter.

Makes me sick to my stomach.

[Nye Bevan]

12. I oppose the death penalty. I also oppose summary execution.

Having said that, it would seem to be an excellent idea all around not to shoot elephants in Tanzania.

[HappyMe]

14. Nothing else has worked.

I don't know if there are enough wardens out there. There doesn't seem to be any effective punishment in place.

Maybe the threat of this happening will deter poaching.

[Ranchemp.]

16. It's gotten to the point where nothing else seems to work,

so I do support this extreme measure.

Elephants are beautiful animals and need to be protected, as do all creatures and if this is what it takes to keep poachers from destroying them, then, so be it, maybe it'll deter some some from shooting such a magnificent animal.

[malaise]

17. That should eliminate some NRA members and some Royal

scumbags.

Great news.

[MoonRiver]

18. GOOD!

And may they rot in hell afterwards!