Lack of money makes catching poachers in the act of killing even harder than it already is. And, rangers are sometimes said to get more money from illegal payments to ignore the law than they do to enforce it. And, much of their equipment is broken or outdated.

Elizabeth Bennett is also with the Wildlife Conservation Society. She says the organization's funds will increase salaries and pay for new technology. GPS units for the rangers, for example, will help them find both elephants and poachers.

“When they’re going around they can record what poaching signs they see. They record what elephant signs they see, and what signs of any problems they might see. And that all gets fed into a central database to see where the real problems are, and therefore where the enforcement effort needs to be.”

When many people think of poachers, they may think of a lone villager heading going into the wild to make a quick killing for easy money. But Patrick Bergin of the African Wildlife Federation says going after the little guy has limited results.

“For every one who is apprehended there may be 15 or 20 other people behind him ready to take his place. That is not an effective strategy. ((We need to go higher up the food chain.)) There are people commissioning this and trading it. These are criminal gangs.

Mr. Bergin says poaching is organized, international crime. And he says fighting it requires national legislation not necessarily related directly to poaching.