Rhinos extinct in Mozambique, again

[Zanza]

The real problem with Africa is that it's tough place to live.  Bad climate, bad soil, full of diseases.  Africa never developed strong states because there just wasn't enough excess wealth to really subjugate tribal leaders (not to mention enemy tribes).

The fact that humans evolved there and are best adapted to its climate makes me doubt this hypothesis.

Humans might have evolved there, but clearly other regions of Earth were more suitable to create high density human civilizations, so I doubt that humans are best adapted to Africa's climate.

[Razgovory]

Don't overgeneralize, west Africa had several strong states.

When?

[Razgovory]

The real problem with Africa is that it's tough place to live.  Bad climate, bad soil, full of diseases.  Africa never developed strong states because there just wasn't enough excess wealth to really subjugate tribal leaders (not to mention enemy tribes).

The fact that humans evolved there and are best adapted to its climate makes me doubt this hypothesis.

Why do you suppose Europeans weren't able to colonize Africa in the same way they colonized the Americas.

[crazy canuck]

Bears will survive us, I think.

Not so long as there continues to be an asian market for their body parts to put the lead in some old chinese guys pecker.

[Eddie Teach]

Bears will survive us, I think.

Not so long as there continues to be an asian market for their body parts to put the lead in some old chinese guys pecker.

That's bad news for bears native to Asia (and Africa if there are any), but we have reasonably good wildlife and customs control in North America.

[crazy canuck]

Bears will survive us, I think.

Not so long as there continues to be an asian market for their body parts to put the lead in some old chinese guys pecker.

That's bad news for bears native to Asia (and Africa if there are any), but we have reasonably good wildlife and customs control in North America.

Not nearly good enough.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090811-bear-parts-trade_2.html

[Eddie Teach]

If you read that article, you'd see that most of the black bears are getting killed legally and that their population is not in jeopardy.

[crazy canuck]

If you read that article, you'd see that most of the black bears are getting killed legally and that their population is not in jeopardy.

"States like Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi have small bear populations," he said. "If a poaching operation were to be set up in one of those states, the entire populations could literally be wiped out."

[Eddie Teach]

And then we could reintroduce them from elsewhere, if having bears in those particular states were deemed important.

My point was that the species as a whole is thriving. Until Canada is as densely populated as Tennessee, they will probably continue to do so.

[crazy canuck]

And then we could reintroduce them from elsewhere, if having bears in those particular states were deemed important.

My point was that the species as a whole is thriving. Until Canada is as densely populated as Tennessee, they will probably continue to do so.

Canada also has a serious problem with poachers taking parts for the asian market.  The point of the article is that populations are currently ok but more needs to be done to keep it that way.

But five states—Maine, Vermont, Idaho, Wyoming, and New York—allow such trade freely.

The rest have a tangled web of statues that sometimes allows the trade of parts taken from bears legally killed elsewhere.

"The majority of states have already banned the trade because they realized that commercialization of wildlife parts leads to poaching," Roberts said.

"The handful that allow the trade serve as laundering points for bear gallbladders taken elsewhere."

[Eddie Teach]

I think our governments are powerful enough and have the desire to preserve wild black bears(as a species, not necessarily individuals). They're not endangered now, if they were, we'd stop letting hunters kill them legally and do more to crack down on poachers.

Also, this:

Black bear poaching in North America is simply not a significant threat to the species, said Chris Servheen, who coordinates the USFWS's Grizzly Bear Recovery program at the University of Montana.

"There may be isolated areas that it may occur, and the bill could be a benefit to that," said Servheen, who has worked extensively on the Asian bear-parts trade with conservation groups WWF and TRAFFIC.

"But the big story is that the future of Asian bears is really being threatened by the trade in bear parts, and there are almost no conservation efforts going on [in Asia]—no organizational structure, and no funding."

[Josquius]

Since the Chinese refuse to believe science I wonder if we might be able to genetically engineer rhino horn for their market...

A game ranger arrested for helping poachers in Mozambique's northern Niassa Game Reserve said on Mozambican Television TVM last week that he was paid 2,500 meticais (about $80) to direct poachers to areas with elephants and rhinos. Game rangers are paid between 2,000 and 3,000 meticais ($64 to $96) a month.

Wow.
If they were paying him big money I could understand it but a month's salary? For something that not only directly risks him losing his job if he is found out but also stands to eliminate the need for his job anyway? What a moron.

[Eddie Teach]

A month's salary is a pretty big incentive when you are poor and don't expect to be caught.

[Razgovory]

If you read that article, you'd see that most of the black bears are getting killed legally and that their population is not in jeopardy.

"States like Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi have small bear populations," he said. "If a poaching operation were to be set up in one of those states, the entire populations could literally be wiped out."

I poached an egg once, does that count?

[AnchorClanker]

That might be possible if there was enough courage in the civilized world to recolonize Africa.

China is doing that, too.  Buying up all the transport and telecom infrastructure, and buying farmland as well. 

Fear the Brave New Super Happy Dragon #47 World.