"Poverty and ignorance of the law are not the driving factors behind wildlife crimes in the country, according to a new study. The study, published recently in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, attempts to provide insight into the motivations of people who have taken part in poaching and the illegal trade in animal parts. While Nepal has been internationally lauded for its conservation model, there have been consistent concerns about the effects of this model on indigenous populations that once lived in symbiotic relationships with the forests and wildlife. Based on a sample of 384 individuals jailed across the country for wildlife infractions, and interviews with 116 of them, the study concludes that “despite common assumptions about the links between IWT [illegal wildlife trade], poverty and organised crime, most respondents were motivated by the desire to earn extra income and by the ease of IWT compared to other employment.” “I always wanted to learn why people pursue the illegal trade in wildlife parts and what their motives are, given that there are deterrence mechanisms like strict laws and penalties in place,” Kumar Paudel, the lead researcher of the study, told the Post over the phone from the University of Cambridge..."