tenderloin
06-09-2009, 09:01 AM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/09/MN9C180V4D.DTL&tsp=1
Game wardens across California are finding that hard economic times can be deadly for animals, which are being killed, captured and sold on the black market or butchered for valuable body parts in unprecedented numbers, state officials said.
The illegal trapping and sale of wildlife is more difficult than ever to prevent because the number of game wardens has steadily dwindled due to budget cuts, said Nancy Foley, chief of enforcement for the California Department of Fish and Game.
"What we're seeing is a tremendous increase in the amount of poaching for profit," Foley said. "It's across the board, from reptiles and amphibians to abalone, bear, deer. Every wildlife species that we have in the state is being illegally commercialized in some part of the state."
The illegal sale of California wildlife and wildlife parts generates an estimated $100 million a year, second only to the illegal drug trade, according to department officials.
The problem is not expected to improve, with California facing a $24.3 billion budget deficit that, among other things, may result in the closure of 219 state parks and the laying off of the rangers who patrol that land.
Among the cases game wardens have investigated are the following:
-- Late last month, 11 people were arrested and 120 citations were issued in Sonoma and Mendocino counties after an elaborate ring of abalone poachers with headquarters in a hotel room was discovered.
-- In February, two people were arrested in Monterey County after they were caught with 51 black abalone, a federally listed endangered species.
-- In February, five antelope were fatally shot near Susanville by someone driving along a country road. The shooter just left the animals, two of which were pregnant, one with twins, Foley said.
-- In 2007, Huong Tovan, 54, of San Diego was arrested by Redding undercover agents and charged with soliciting the killing of bears in Shasta County so he could buy their gallbladders. A gallbladder-processing operation was discovered when wardens arrested Tovan, who had a passport and tickets to fly to Southeast Asia, Foley said. Bear gallbladders are used for medicinal purposes in Southeast Asia and can fetch $2,000 an ounce.
-- In Sacramento, a man was arrested after investigators used DNA evidence to identify the meat from 28 separate deer that had been shot in Calaveras, El Dorado and Placer counties, Foley said. He was selling the carcasses from his house for up to $150 a piece.
Marine life sold to markets
Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy said that over the past five to eight years, profiteers have illegally taken vast quantities of freshwater clams, abalone, salmon, turtles, snakes and amphibians and put them up for sale in food markets, including San Francisco's Chinatown, or sold them to collectors.
Poachers have also been arrested for illegally killing dozens of deer beyond the one- or two-per-year limit or for wholesale killing out of season, often just for the animal's antlers.
The penalty for poaching deer and waterfowl in California is a maximum six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine, but many poachers have gotten off with barely a slap on the wrist, Foy said. He said some of the most egregious deer poachers have been fined as little as $150 and given probation.
Studies have shown that wildlife officers catch only between 1 and 5 percent of all violators. It is remarkable, Foley said, that so much illegal activity is stopped in California with so few game wardens, but clearly many poachers don't get caught.
California has only 230 game wardens - down from 325 in 2001 - to cover 159,000 square miles of land, including 1,100 miles of coastline. State fish and game wardens also have the authority to protect state wildlife in federally protected waters as far as 200 miles out to sea.
Wardens down, citations up
But even with fewer wardens, 14,543 citations were issued last year for a variety of offenses including poaching or the illegal sale of animals and animal parts. That's compared with 7,571 citations in 2001 when there were more wardens.
"Over the last year and a half we've seen a marked increase in poaching and in people just killing animals and leaving them there for no apparent reason," said Foley, who has 22 years of experience working as a game warden. "I don't think it is a need to put food on the table. It's usually for greed and money and because people know we have a shortage of game wardens in the state."
Less funding for parks
The number of game wardens in California is the lowest per capita in the United States, Foley said.
Florida, which has a similar marine component to California's but a lot less land to cover and fewer people, has 750 game wardens. Texas has 550 wardens, she said.
Poaching has thus far not been a major problem in the California State Parks, said spokesman Roy Stearns, but that could change. The latest deficit reduction proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would cut, within two years, the annual $150 million in general funds the park system receives. That would mean layoffs of 1,500 to 2,000 maintenance workers, park superintendents and rangers.
Poaching "certainly could become a concern if we reduced law enforcement and some people decided to take advantage of the situation," Stearns said. Park rangers work closely with fish and game wardens on wildlife issues, he added.
Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation, said closing the parks would endanger wildlife and the ecosystem because criminals could not be kept out.
Preying on unique species
"Poaching of wildlife and also plants is going to become an issue," Goldstein said. "There will be human impacts, wildlife impacts and habitat impacts."
The lack of rangers and wardens would also presumably give the international black market, which preys on California's natural resources, free reign.
"We have some species that you can't find anywhere else in the world," Foley said. "We don't have enough of them to allow people to just come here and take them."
Wardens can't keep up with illegal animal trade
230
Number of California game wardens, down from 325 in 2001. To compare, Florida has 750 wardens.
159,000 Square miles of land California's wardens must cover, including 1,100 miles of coastline. Florida wardens cover 53,927 square miles of land and 2,276 miles of shoreline.
14,543 Citations issued in 2008 by California game wardens. They issued 7,571 citations in 2001.
1 to 5 Percent of violators California wildlife officers catch.
Source: Chronicle research
Game wardens across California are finding that hard economic times can be deadly for animals, which are being killed, captured and sold on the black market or butchered for valuable body parts in unprecedented numbers, state officials said.
The illegal trapping and sale of wildlife is more difficult than ever to prevent because the number of game wardens has steadily dwindled due to budget cuts, said Nancy Foley, chief of enforcement for the California Department of Fish and Game.
"What we're seeing is a tremendous increase in the amount of poaching for profit," Foley said. "It's across the board, from reptiles and amphibians to abalone, bear, deer. Every wildlife species that we have in the state is being illegally commercialized in some part of the state."
The illegal sale of California wildlife and wildlife parts generates an estimated $100 million a year, second only to the illegal drug trade, according to department officials.
The problem is not expected to improve, with California facing a $24.3 billion budget deficit that, among other things, may result in the closure of 219 state parks and the laying off of the rangers who patrol that land.
Among the cases game wardens have investigated are the following:
-- Late last month, 11 people were arrested and 120 citations were issued in Sonoma and Mendocino counties after an elaborate ring of abalone poachers with headquarters in a hotel room was discovered.
-- In February, two people were arrested in Monterey County after they were caught with 51 black abalone, a federally listed endangered species.
-- In February, five antelope were fatally shot near Susanville by someone driving along a country road. The shooter just left the animals, two of which were pregnant, one with twins, Foley said.
-- In 2007, Huong Tovan, 54, of San Diego was arrested by Redding undercover agents and charged with soliciting the killing of bears in Shasta County so he could buy their gallbladders. A gallbladder-processing operation was discovered when wardens arrested Tovan, who had a passport and tickets to fly to Southeast Asia, Foley said. Bear gallbladders are used for medicinal purposes in Southeast Asia and can fetch $2,000 an ounce.
-- In Sacramento, a man was arrested after investigators used DNA evidence to identify the meat from 28 separate deer that had been shot in Calaveras, El Dorado and Placer counties, Foley said. He was selling the carcasses from his house for up to $150 a piece.
Marine life sold to markets
Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy said that over the past five to eight years, profiteers have illegally taken vast quantities of freshwater clams, abalone, salmon, turtles, snakes and amphibians and put them up for sale in food markets, including San Francisco's Chinatown, or sold them to collectors.
Poachers have also been arrested for illegally killing dozens of deer beyond the one- or two-per-year limit or for wholesale killing out of season, often just for the animal's antlers.
The penalty for poaching deer and waterfowl in California is a maximum six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine, but many poachers have gotten off with barely a slap on the wrist, Foy said. He said some of the most egregious deer poachers have been fined as little as $150 and given probation.
Studies have shown that wildlife officers catch only between 1 and 5 percent of all violators. It is remarkable, Foley said, that so much illegal activity is stopped in California with so few game wardens, but clearly many poachers don't get caught.
California has only 230 game wardens - down from 325 in 2001 - to cover 159,000 square miles of land, including 1,100 miles of coastline. State fish and game wardens also have the authority to protect state wildlife in federally protected waters as far as 200 miles out to sea.
Wardens down, citations up
But even with fewer wardens, 14,543 citations were issued last year for a variety of offenses including poaching or the illegal sale of animals and animal parts. That's compared with 7,571 citations in 2001 when there were more wardens.
"Over the last year and a half we've seen a marked increase in poaching and in people just killing animals and leaving them there for no apparent reason," said Foley, who has 22 years of experience working as a game warden. "I don't think it is a need to put food on the table. It's usually for greed and money and because people know we have a shortage of game wardens in the state."
Less funding for parks
The number of game wardens in California is the lowest per capita in the United States, Foley said.
Florida, which has a similar marine component to California's but a lot less land to cover and fewer people, has 750 game wardens. Texas has 550 wardens, she said.
Poaching has thus far not been a major problem in the California State Parks, said spokesman Roy Stearns, but that could change. The latest deficit reduction proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would cut, within two years, the annual $150 million in general funds the park system receives. That would mean layoffs of 1,500 to 2,000 maintenance workers, park superintendents and rangers.
Poaching "certainly could become a concern if we reduced law enforcement and some people decided to take advantage of the situation," Stearns said. Park rangers work closely with fish and game wardens on wildlife issues, he added.
Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation, said closing the parks would endanger wildlife and the ecosystem because criminals could not be kept out.
Preying on unique species
"Poaching of wildlife and also plants is going to become an issue," Goldstein said. "There will be human impacts, wildlife impacts and habitat impacts."
The lack of rangers and wardens would also presumably give the international black market, which preys on California's natural resources, free reign.
"We have some species that you can't find anywhere else in the world," Foley said. "We don't have enough of them to allow people to just come here and take them."
Wardens can't keep up with illegal animal trade
230
Number of California game wardens, down from 325 in 2001. To compare, Florida has 750 wardens.
159,000 Square miles of land California's wardens must cover, including 1,100 miles of coastline. Florida wardens cover 53,927 square miles of land and 2,276 miles of shoreline.
14,543 Citations issued in 2008 by California game wardens. They issued 7,571 citations in 2001.
1 to 5 Percent of violators California wildlife officers catch.
Source: Chronicle research