This activity won't stop until the last elephant is dead. What with all the corruption by the bureaucrats, the wild life doesn't stand a chance in Africa.

Troy: Kill not only the poachers, but the a$$holes who buy the ivory.

Tell ya what burgerboy. We'll got "back" to africa if you take ya nasty butt back to europe. since that is where your people come from. M"KAY??!!!

People like you need to be taken out behind the shed, shot, buried. No marker for your family. and if the animals dig you up and snack on you, oh well. No big deal or loss.

> Troy-2251798 Poachers should simply be killed.

Well, I agree, but it's still a difficult thing - because if punishment is fatal, then the poachers start shooting the Wildlife Enforcement people too, and you have a full-on armed conflict. Maybe that is what we need, but it'll get escalated by the bad-guys fastest, who are already prepared to do anything for the $.

However - I tend to agree - death penalty upon conviction, or commuted to 25 years in prison ONLY IF the poacher turns evidence on his upstream connections.

Troy: Poachers should simply be killed.

That's too simplistic a solution. If they could find them, which they can't, they would just be replaced by more. Someone in China is paying them very well to wreak this unmitigated slaughter.

Catherine: Buergermeister is a troll whose goal is to get you excited. Don't feed the troll.

When will people learn that elephant tusks, rhino horns, shark fins, bear paws, and other animal parts have NO magic power or ability to increase virility? Education seems useless in superstitious people and those with irrational beliefs.

"People who believe in absurdities will commit atrocities."

I am 100 percent in hunting and would love to go hunting POACHERS

I will bring my own rifles and ammo and could even bring some for a friend who likes to hunt poachers

@Dorkwadd: What is stopping you?

Do onto Poachers as they do onto Animals.

Buergermeister

Too bad for the elephants! But, we have a lot of, they call themselves African- Americans, that could go back to Africa...Them jerks are not doing any good here by collecting money from the government without doing anything for it.

Buergermeister,

Your username says much.

Are you a member from the 3rd Reich that is still on the run, and in hiding? How did you manage to duck the Nuremberg Trials?

Who hangs on your wall? A picture of Hitler?

You are telling African Americans to "go back to Africa."

Guess what, if everyone went back to their homeland, only the Native Americans would be left, here.

Deservedly you should be the first "to go!"

Every time I watch the horrors of what mankind wreaks on this planet, this prophecy comes to mind. And, only when Mankind recognizes that this planet is worth more than the blood money they get for these animals and tusks will things change.

Only when the last tree has been cut down, when the last river poisoned, and when the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that you cannot eat money~~~Cree Indian Prophecy.

yep - if they catch them or anyone with the tusks take them back to the spot they slaughtered the elephants, give them a fair trial and then execute them. They could escape execution if they turn over those directly responsible and provide the names of the buyers that sponsered the kill.

I once read about a head of a regional Fed bank here in the U.S. who was so proud of her collection of ivory carvings. There were pictures in the magazine of it all in her Fed office. I was totally dumbfounded. Because of who she is, the position she holds, and the money she makes, she feels she is above any moral issues that she might have considered but didn't. The magazine was a banking magazine i found on a coffee table at an American Airline Credit Union in the Dallas area, so I am sure it was accurate. I certainly would like to know who she was because there are plenty of those who think they are privileged who need an education.

And, take a look at the Trump Boys, they just went over to Africa and with ALL their money BOUGHT their way into buying hunting ENDANGERED SPECIES. Money trumps, ethics. /s

Traci - When will people learn that elephant tusks, rhino horns, shark fins, bear paws, and other animal parts have NO magic power or ability to increase virility?

They will not be permitted to learn, as long as there is money to be made from animal exploitation.

What? It looks like they are racially profiling the Chinese! Where are the protestors?

Shoot the poachers then hunt down the middlemen and shoot them too. And if you can go further up the chain so be it.

GOP is an endangered species.

Effing poachers. Effing Asian market that will stop at nothing to get ivory for their effing chopsticks. Seriously.

China could stop this by making Ivory against the law in China and really cracking down. They will not, however. These giant animals are doomed.

When are these disgusting, ignorant people going to learn that soon there will BE no more animals to poach. First rhino's, now elephants, next _____— , whatever makes $$$ in stupid China (population of billions) where they'll kill anything and eat anything. This is so sickening.

More time in jail for all law breakers might change their minds. 2 years for poaching? How about 2 years for hiring illegals!

It seems the asian communities seem to contain the highest populations who believe in the "absurdities" as another poster said so well. Lion paws, tiger penises, bones, etc. all contain various forms of health to mostly sexual benefits they believe. In the video that mentions Prince William as an advocate for the animals of Africa, they said a million chinese are in Africa now and there is an upswing of this terrible poaching and officials DO directly say many chinese have been caught trying to smuggle tusks and such back to china. Now lion paws is the rage. These less than human, irrational asains need to get a clue. But they never will. Has been their culture for hundreds of years. They have no respect for life whether human animal or four legged, two legged animal or crawling creature. Poachers are more than heartless and are ruthless killers. They will never give up killing until the last one is gone, for the almighty dollar or sheckel they might get paid for their most cowardly actions. Throw them to the Lions.

Scheissburgermeister, you lead the pack, please. I will stay here as my family has always called the American Plains and the Palouse of the inland Northwest home. For millennia. You on the other hand, by your own reasoning, do not belong here. You don't belong anywhere I can think of, for that matter. JCC and Confused: wrong vine guys. This isn't about illegal aliens, and to be totally non-PC for a minute, and before any amnesty international types start wailing about the poor villages who survive by this illegal and disgusting form of trade: why not start (with force if necessary) sterilizing the poor starving people in order to stop them from breeding more poor starving people? Amazing they don't have the energy to feed their kids but they have the energy to make more.

good luck with that!

best way to acheive it is dont read or listen to news

Very well said, Annie.

It is truly sad. Elephants are such intelligent and spiritual creatures. Man is becoming so greedy, heartless and spiritless. Money is a root of evil. Some day the world will operate in another manner for the current one simply is not working.

Boy Annie, I second that. I usually have a lot to say on this and related matter, but I am just sick to death about this. DO I quit my job and go over there myself? My words are meaningless withought action.....

We CAN all make a difference but we need synergy. We can start here, locally, and I have seen things happen. It is election season. I shine a light on animal abuse (like cockroaches) via education and working with lawmakers and it works. This horrible poaching is enormous and world-wide, so I d/k what we can do, but we can start here with our own critters. One Suffolk County Legislator proposed, and got passed, many underdog bills (for humans and animals), including the first Animal Abuser Registry in the U.S. Other jurisdictions, then copied many of the laws and/or found support for their proposals, incl the ban on non-hf cell phones while driving (I know, we need a lot more enforcement everywhere and even hf is dangerous, add in texting, apps, web surfing, and I am sure there are cases of porn while driving (so what about needing two hands?)...). There was a bill he didn't think he could get enough votes for, so he "tabled" it for the next time, tweaked to help it pass more readily. However, they had the usual public meeting before a vote on another underdog bill, where each person is allowed to speak for 3-5 minutes (depends on vote). I brought a client and her little girl went up to the podium with pictures of her and her now-gone dog. The tabled bill was untabled and passed, along with the one we went there for. Sure, we need a lot more enforcement, and resources for such, and NYS, like most states, has lousy anti-animal abuse laws so DAs have a major problem getting convictions even if they had the budget. But it is a start, and we hope for copying. The news is supposed to be here this week to film a segment about another big problem and heard about me from some other animal law work I did-access with Service Animals, compounded by too many people abusing the law and claiming their pets are Service Animals. This is just like the disability discrimination lots of disabled folks face which is exacerbated because of phonies, so that entities go the complete opposite way, try to justify it, knowing few people can go up against their expensive packs of lawyers in court, and hurt everyone (plus, of course, they save tons of money-can you hear me now, big bully telcom?). I apologize for digressing but we should use every opportunity we have to shine a light on issues we care about, besides, of course, the economy, job situation, etc. I am an underdog advocate-human and animal, although I have to work regular cases to pay so my own rescues don't become homeless (Foreclosure Defense, Family Law, litigation, Estate Planning, of course incl Pet Trusts, etc.) Animals are the ultimate underdogs, and innocent to boot. The animals sought after for their "sexual prowess"-granting body parts (and shark fins to show off one's wealth by getting the soup) really are major major underdogs. BTW, a kind person is MUCH sexier than these uneducated idiots to all the people I know. And just remember-anyone who hurts an animal will hurt a human-it has been proven time and time again by the FBI, the judges that see the violence against humans cases, DAs and other law enforcement.

Well said Annie I totally agree! And sandra.brooks I feel the same. Only difference is I'm retired (very low income pension). If some one wanted to pay for my trip there (and eventually back) I'd be willing to sit out there all night to protect these beautiful animals. Just give me a shotgun and let me have at 'em. I'm NOT all talk and no action. I'd definitely do it. No question about it. Why don't they have guards protecting them?

Don't kill the poachers, Cut off their nose and let them live in shame and torment and as a reminder to others that would think about the consequences of their greed

Or cut their arms off!

chinese are scummy capitalist pigs!

Actually, they should be blinded in one eye, and nerve bundles going to their arms should be severed. That would slow them down, and be a better deterrent than death.

Maureen, you are wonderful. Woodshed, I love that idea. and then we could let our military practice shooting live targets. Nothing lost.

Joe, see my previous post. We're on the same path. What could the world possibly lose? It's a win-win-win-win-win. (the elephants would win, soldiers in training would win, the country sending the soldiers would win, humanity would win, and the chinese would be pissed (a major win))

The US won't help, all their resources are going to help the ILLEGALS live happily in the US.

The native Americans did hunt the buffalo but they used every bit of the animal for one thing or another, it was the white man who slaughtered them just for the fun of it and let the meat to rot. Killed millions of them till the population was down to about 200 left thus starving the native Americans.

cdviking1

While agreeing with most of your post I have to comment on your supposed cause of the American Bison's near extinction. The Native Americans depended on the herds for survival and hunted only for as much as they needed to survive. The herds health and the tribes health were linked.

The systematic attempt at driving the American Bison into extinction was the result of government polices which encouraged their destruction as an adjunct to driving the Plains Indians into starvation and submission.

Nice attempt at rewriting history though.

I agree with you to some extent but from what I read the native Americans would sometimes drive the buffalo off of cliffs and it would not be possible to use all that meat without it spoiling. But we have to share the blame too. We surely mistreated the native Americans forcing them onto reservations. And I believe the film SOLDIER BLUE with Candace Bergen documented that on how our military raped and murdered the innocent women and children.....from my memory it was the Sand Creek Massacre........

cdviking - We share the blame??? Go to Google images and type in the phrase "bison massacre by white man" and look at the piles of skulls, pelts and carcasses that were amassed just for the hell of it. The decline of that particular animal species was due to white man and white man alone.

Don't be ignorant ! the buffalos once millions was masacre for the europeans colones with the agree of the government and not for food or skin because they think, killing the buffalo the native indians will be vanisshed after them and left empty the land for a take over to them, evil plan for the europeans in america !

@cdviking -- I have wondered for YEARS why "Soldier Blue" never never airs. I've told so many people about it and they've never heard of it.

Where do you get your information? It was the white settlers that killed the buffalo population off due to greed and as a way to defeat the Native Americans. Here's something to educate you from pbs.org:

But it was that arrival of vast waves of white settlers in the 1800s — and their conflict with the Native American residents of the prairies — that spelled the end for the buffalo. Among the earliest waves of settlers were trappers and traders, people who made their living selling meat and hides. By the 1870s, they were shipping hundreds of thousands of buffalo hides eastward each year: more than 1.5 million were packed aboard trains and wagons in the winter of 1872-73 alone.

The commercial killers, however, weren’t the only ones shooting bison. Train companies offered tourists the chance to shoot buffalo from the windows of their coaches, pausing only when they ran out of ammunition or the gun’s barrel became too hot. There were even buffalo killing contests. In one, a Kansan set a record by killing 120 bison in just 40 minutes. “Buffalo” Bill Cody, hired to slaughter the animals, killed more than 4,000 buffalo in just two years.

Some U.S. government officials even promoted the destruction of the bison herds as a way to defeat their Native American enemies, who were resisting the takeover of their lands by white settlers. One Congressman, James Throckmorton of Texas, believed that “it would be a great step forward in the civilization of the Indians and the preservation of peace on the border if there was not a buffalo in existence.” Soon, military commanders were ordering their troops to kill buffalo — not for food, but to deny Native Americans their own source of food. One general believed that buffalo hunters “did more to defeat the Indian nations in a few years than soldiers did in 50.” By 1880, the slaughter was almost over. Where millions of buffalo once roamed, only a few thousand animals remained.

I apologize, it appears white man massacred Buffalo's by the millions, though I heard somewhere Buffalo's were also driven off cliffs by the native Americans on occasions. Most probably white man massacred many more from the proofs submitted above.

Either way we mistreated the native Americans forcing them onto reservations against their will. I actually had a close relative who looked exactly like Buffalo Bill Cody who appeared in the Hollywood movies.

Annie you can get a DVD copy of SOLDIER BLUE used for $3.24 plus postage from AMAZON.COM........................

In retrospect it seems as if some of these African nations though poor could afford to purchase a few of the old Viet Nam Huey jet copters mount M-60'S on them and take these Elephant poachers out forthwith.................

lol, typo correction " I had a close relative who appeared in the Hollywood movies who looked exactly like Buffalo Bill Cody. " In retrospect it appears that Buffalo Bill was not the true hero he was made out to be. Poor defenseless animals did not stand a chance being such an easy target. I wish they could leave them alone perhaps they could make a comeback. It is the same correlation our government is rounding up the wild horses placing them in pens. What are they going to do with them turn them into dog food or adopt them out? Or just drill more oil wells in these areas where the pony's and horses were once allowed to run free?

They are shipping them to Mexican slaughterhouses, sometimes Canada, although they might re-open horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. They do the same thing with horses bought at auction for as little as $5. A rescuer here in Suffolk (Long Island), only 23, buys them, brings them back here, rehabs them, then adopts some out, some are used for pet therapy (Northport VA Hospital and nursing home a couple of blocks away from Project Sage Horse Rescue), and some are used for horseback riding lessons for kids. The goal is to use those funds to keep the rented farm going. T. Boone Pickens' wife, Madeleine (sp?) is working on the Mustang situation, among others. Part of the problem is we let cattle famrers use fed land, free, for grazing. They did their lobbying thing claiming the Mustangs are eating "their" grass. Funny thing-Mustang, symbol of America and countless products, being rounded up from their freedom, not hurting anyone, and sent to a horrible place for slaughter. I heard horse meat goes for the price of veal in certain countries-you guess which is the biggest market?

Thanks Carol, either way it seems as if what they are doing is illegal, unlawful under 18 U S C 242. I wish you would have been my attorney. My mother meant her estate to go to me by her LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT but 7 different Attys. milked it down like an "OPEN BOOK" for their own and Judge Steven Ford of Newberry, MI. (just GOOGLE it) was on board in the jury trial during same time frame he perpetrated all that XXXX onto the female employees at the Mackinac County courthouse in St. Ignace, MI.

My bro. and sis. fight it out in court, they did not need the money, my bro. fmr. worldwide magazine publisher in NYC area of 35---40 different publications including Pres. and CEO of largest national USA publishers Russell Johns Associates Limited out of Clearwater, Florida, Times Mirror Inc. (Popular Science), HEARST CORP. (Popular Mechanics) and many more, lived in Tarrytown, Yonkers now I think Irvington, my sis. a teacher with master's degree.

I know your area, I pulled 48 ft trailers in 48 states for 10 years, I picked up a load in Mineola and other places in L. I. too over the years but always come back here to northern Michigan is where my heart is.................

yeah.......as if what the Chinese need is an aphrodisiac. More sex equals more people.

Maybe it will be discovered that dried human penis is an aphrodisiac....Hmmm...yeah, that's the ticket....

Yes, I agree. I know it seems like EVERYTHING is made in China these days but I think this is something that needs to be discussed. Those people caught smuggling should be thrown in jail in whatever country they are caught but I'm sure the govenment is afraid of making China mad and losing investments. They need to at least detain them for a couple of days to shake them up. Maybe an Ivory penalty that can be used to support the cost of having more patrols and there was talk of using drones as well.

There are some environmentalists that have been effective in China. It's a place to start if those horrific photos of the slaughtered elephants and poor rhinos stumbling about. Unfortunately, in China, the environmentalists can be rounded up and then who knows what happens to them?

I've read that there is also demand in Japan for netsuke and personal chopsticks. I grew up there as I'm Japanese and American (biracial). Environmental acitivists there won't be rounded up for speaking out or protesting. Maybe if we can get Japan to cooperate. I think those horrific pictures will be very effective there.

"Because the bleeding heart liberal socialist Democrats are convinced they can make the playing field level and save the people of those counties if we have a a 90 percent trade unbalance with any country"

Umm, I don't think we're doing trade with China to save the people. It all has to do with lower costs. Companies are always looking for ways to produce goods cheaper. Isn't that what everyone believes in, let the market forces work naturally? (although for some reason Republicans think it is their exclusive idea).

Walmart was able to drive a number of American companies out of business by demanding they produce goods at a certain costs or Walmart would get the part /product manufactured in China. It is unfortunately, the free enterprise system. Eventually, some goods won't be cheaper to make in China. My understanding is that there is talk of bring chip manufacturing back to the U.S.

Well, if you watch the clip from Rock Center, S Africa is thinking of going that route but their drones aren't as sophisticated as ours and then they said who would pay ? Donations? Tariffs? Penalties?