Is Poaching Ever Sustainable? (8-minute Video)

Zambia's Lunga Busanga Game Management Area (GMA) borders the Kafue National Park to the north. Fico Vidale Safaris is the concession holder of the area. Poaching is a problem across Africa, and in this area, meat poaching, both commercial and subsistence, is the biggest concern.

As human populations grow, more and more pressure is placed on the area's natural resources.

With the increased anti-poaching patrols, the poachers have resorted to entering the area at night and hunting with headlamps. They will shoot at any eyes they see with their homemade muzzleloaders made by the local village gunsmith.

The poaching is very indiscriminate, and sometimes, they end up shooting a lion or a leopard.

Once the animals are down, they load up as much meat as possible and return to the villages before daybreak.

There's also a lot of poaching with dogs closer to the villages where they target baboon troops.

Overfishing is also an issue, as mosquito nets are used to catch all sizes of fish in the swamps where the fish breed.

So, just how sustainable is this kind of poaching?