Stressed Succulents Poachers Climate Change Are Endangering African Plants
From elephant tusks and rhino horns to tiger skins and sea turtle shells, Africa is teeming with illegal treasures that heinous hunters hang on walls and sell on black markets. These days, however, there’s a new generation of poachers on the block, and they’re not interested in prized jungle cats or precious pachyderms. Instead of endangered animals, they’re interested in endangered plants. Specifically, endangered succulents—like those that grow in South Africa’s Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, a national park in the country’s northwest corner that is a favorite destination for illegal plant poachers....