Updates

A Wildlife-Snaring Crisis in Asian Forests

Due to unsustainable levels of hunting, wildlife in Southeast Asia is facing an extinction crisis, a group of scientists, including WCS's Tony Lynam, writes in Science Magazine.

Homemade snares, constructed from wire or cable, are the predominant method used in this killing. Snares are cheap and they kill indiscriminately, "killing or maiming any individual that encounters them."

Though law enforcement removes hundreds of thousands of the devices from protected areas each year, the authorities have struggled to keep up. Snares are so cheap to produce, they're easily replaced.

The authors urge legislative action to penalize the possession of these snares and the materials used to create them within protected areas. "Without such reforms and their enforcement," they write, "the specter of 'empty forests' will become even more likely."