Profile of a poacher

The word poacher derives from the French pocher, which means to bag or put in a bag. In Botswana, and Africa in general, poaching is as old as the continent itself.

"In the past, it was commonplace for the rich, royals and men in villages to poach, but in most cases it was just for meat and animal skins, which they used to supplement their diet at home. But now poaching has become big business in that trans-national syndicates are running big poaching missions in Botswana, Kenya and other areas teeming with wildlife," says a wildlife expert who prefers anonymity.