Poaching

For the culinary term see poaching (cooking).

Poaching is illegal hunting or fishing. It may be illegal because:

• The game or fish is out of season.
• The animal is on restricted land.
• The means used are illegal (for example, baiting a field while hunting quail)
• The animal or fish is protected by law (see for example the Endangered Species Act)

Historical aspects

Poaching was a form of hunting unique to the poor, especially during the eras when hunting was a privilege reserved (in Europe) to landowners—and therefore to the richs and aristocrats: in France, between the Middle Ages and the 14th century, hunting was legally restricted to the nobility. In the 16th century, killing a deer (a royal animal) was punishable by death. These privileges were abolished in the French Revolution.

Threat to wildlife

Organized poaching threatens extinction for a number of species, especially those which produce valuable. Elephants are hunted for their ivory, rhinoceros for their horns, tigers for their skin, and so forth. Those perceived as dangerous, such as wolves, are also threatened by illegal hunting. See endangered species.

Modern Terminology

The verb is also used nowadays to refer to the act of hiring employees which were already employed by another company (especially a competitor) or trying to do so by offering contracts to already employed persons.

See also

• Black Act

fr:Braconnage