Snares: Low-tech, low-profile killers of rare wildlife the world over

By Laurel Neme On an early morning in January 2013, rangers patrolling Kahuzi-Biéga National Park, a 6,000-square-kilometer (2,300-square-mile) UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spotted a young female Grauer’s gorilla. Known to the rangers as Iragi, a name that means “lucky” in Congolese, she had a wire snare wrapped around her hand. Unable to move, she would have died where she stood without rescue. Snares can be deadly. In fact, that’s the point. Hunters and poachers around the world use rope, wire or brake cables to make these simple, low-tech, noose-like traps…

Read More