Poachers target SA’s succulent treasure chest

Writer: Dr Anina Lee.

This headline in TimesLIVE caught my eye. We are used to reading about poachers in the Overstrand targeting abalone and, further north, poachers targeting elephants and rhinos. But tiny succulents?

Let’s think for a moment about the motivation behind poaching, which is somehow different from stealing.

Poaching only exists if there is a market for the poached items. The market is created by a willingness to buy. For instance, Chinese buyers of rhino horn and abalone traditionally had the mistaken belief that they had medicinal value, but today the market is driven more by a desire to display wealth.

In the case of SA’s tiny succulents, the driving force is partly wealth display and partly the obsessive nature of collectors – to ‘go one better’.

Click below to read more. (The full article can be found on page 8)