Editing Poaching (section)

{{Short description|Illegal hunting of wildlife}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Illegal hunting|making hunting illegal|Hunting ban}}
{{Redirect|Poacher|other uses|Poacher (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
[[File:Le braconnier par Frédéric Rouge.jpg|thumb|''The Poacher'' by Frédéric Rouge (1867–1950)]]
{{Environmental law}}
'''Poaching''' is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with [[land use rights]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Poaching |year=2002 |encyclopedia=Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary |edition=2nd |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-375-42599-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2005 |encyclopedia=World book Encyclopedia |volume=15 |title=Poaching |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Inc. |location=Springfield}}</ref>
Poaching was once performed by impoverished [[peasant]]s for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia =Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2010 |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/465611/poaching |title=Poaching |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |edition=15th |access-date=18 August 2013}}</ref> It was set against the hunting privileges of nobility and territorial rulers.<ref name=Krauss1997>{{Cite book |last=Krauss |first=M. |date=1997 |title=Herrschaftspraxis in Bayern und Preussen im 19. Jahrhundert: ein historischer Vergleich |publisher=Campus Verlag |chapter=Die Konfrontation mit dem traditionalen Rechtsverständnis: Raub, Holzdiebstahl, Lebensmitteltumult |pages=321–352 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnX80Q8NiSQC&pg=PA322 |isbn=9783593358499 |location=Frankfurt, New York |language=de}}</ref>

Since the 1980s, the term "poaching" has also been used to refer to the illegal harvesting of wild plants.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Power Bratton |first1=S. |year=1985 |title=Effects of disturbance by visitors on two woodland orchid species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=211–227 |doi=10.1016/0006-3207(85)90068-0 |bibcode=1985BCons..31..211P }}</ref><ref name="Muth1998">{{cite journal |last1=Muth |first1=R. M. |last2=Bowe |first2=Jr. |year=1998 |title=Illegal harvest of renewable natural resources in North America: Toward a typology of the motivations for poaching |journal=Society & Natural Resources |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=9–24 |doi=10.1080/08941929809381058 |bibcode=1998SNatR..11....9M }}</ref> In agricultural terms, the term 'poaching' is also applied to the loss of soils or grass by the damaging action of feet of livestock, which can affect availability of productive land, water pollution through increased runoff and welfare issues for cattle.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cuttle |first1=S. P. |editor1-last=McDowell |editor1-first=R. W. |title=Environmental Impacts of Pasture-based Farming |date=2008 |publisher=Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International |isbn=978-1-84593-411-8 |pages=36–38 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoPW4zoFhGMC |access-date=19 February 2016 |chapter=Impacts of Pastoral Grazing on Soil Quality}}</ref> Stealing [[livestock]], as in [[cattle raiding]], classifies as [[theft]] rather than poaching.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=August |first1=R. |year=1993 |title=Cowboys v. Rancheros: The Origins of Western American Livestock Law |journal=Southwestern Historical Quarterly |volume=96 |issue=4 |pages=457–490}}</ref>

The United Nations' [[Sustainable Development Goal 15]] enshrines the sustainable use of all wildlife. It targets the taking of action on dealing with poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna to ensure their availability for present and future generations. <ref>{{Cite web|title=Goal 15 targets|url=https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-15-life-on-land/targets.html|access-date=24 September 2020|archive-date=4 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904001634/https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-15-life-on-land/targets.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>