Poaching kills hundreds of thousands of animals annually, causing not only population-level conservation harm but immense individual suffering through cruel killing methods.
Poaching causes severe welfare harm beyond population depletion. Snare injuries are often non-lethal initially — animals may drag snares for days before death or rescue. Shooting with non-lethal calibers leaves animals to die slowly. Orphaned young of poached elephants and rhinos show trauma responses requiring years of rehabilitation. The scale of poaching suffering is a welfare crisis alongside the conservation crisis.