Reference no: EM133303169
Assignment:
The Milo Reservation is a 2000 square kilometre game reserve in sub-Saharan Africa. It is home to the many varieties of southern African mammals, including both the endangered white and black rhinoceros. Every year, tens of thousands of tourists visit from all over the world seeking to spot the famous "Big Five" - lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant.
Rhino horns have an extraordinary value on the black market. Many commentators liken horns to being as valuable, gram for gram as gold or even cocaine. As such, Rhino numbers are declining due to poaching and the Milo Reservation has fallen victim to rhino poaching on a number of occasions. The situation is so bad that the reproductive rate of rhinos can't keep pace with the level of poaching, and even in protected game reserves such as Milo, rhinos could face extinction.
Poachers use various means to get into the reservation and there are suspicions of collusion and bribes being paid. Such is the value of rhino horns that it is conceivable that there are a number of weak links also in the local community, which, for the most part survive on subsistence wages and benefit little, if at all, from the presence of the reservation (in fact, many local inhabitants were relocated from their ancestral villages when the reservation was created some 40 years ago). Moreover, out of every 1,000 locals who apply to become game rangers, fewer than 20 ultimately make it through the selection process. The International criminal gangs behind the trade in rhino horns are adept at exploiting any weak links or discontent in local communities.
Perimeter fences are easily penetrated, vehicles can remain inside the Reservation after closing each day and there are no weapons searches. Such is the funding and technology available to the poachers that they have even been known to use helicopters. The rhinos are very easy to approach and both live ammunition and tranquilisers are used to take them down.
1. Analyse the case study and determine which crime motivations are applicable to the Milo Reservation case (right) and explain the rationale for your determinations. You should select and apply four, explaining how each is relevant to the case.
The RAT theory
The rational choice theory
The Broken window theory
Crime pattern Theory
2. You must consider in this task the crime motivational theories relating to both the local community and the international gangs who benefit most from this trade.