• Poaching is the unlawful or illegal taking of wild plants or animals, such as though hunting, harvesting, fishing, or trapping.
• Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law.
• Poachers, unlike traditional hunters use very modem equipments such as guns that can fire more than one bullet at a time, and front a long range.
• Poaching is a serious problem today in Cameroon and the activities of poachers is seriously depleting the population of some animal species in otu forests. For example, between January and March 2012, heavily-armed foreign poachers invaded Cameroon and killed over 300 elephants in Bouba N'Djida National Park in the Northern Region of Cameroon.

What are the reasons for poaching?

• While every poacher has a different motive for their act,-today the main reason is for economic and sometimes cultural purposes.
• The animals may be killed for food, or they may be killed in order to obtain certain body parts which are sold. For example, elephants are killed for their horns (used in traditional medicine in Asia) their tusks (used to make piano keys, snooker balls etc.), rhinos are killed