illustration by
robert carterBY Gloria Dickie
FROM THE WALRUSWhy Canadian law enforcement is cracking down
on poachers stealing wild ginseng
ROOT
CAUSE
in september 2013, two conservation officers
with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
and Forestry were waiting along a dirt road
in rural south-central Ontario for the poach-
ers to emerge from the forest.
The previous summer, wildlife-enforcement
agents patrolling the area had stumbled upon
a patch of wild American ginseng after noti-
cing shallow holes pockmarking the ground
next to discarded plants with their roots tornrd.ca 77ENVIRONMENT