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Due to skyrocketing consumer demand, particularly from Asia, today's wildlife traffickers have the resources to outfit their henchmen with weaponry and equipment that often outmatches that of the local park rangers. The poachers doing the most damage in Africa today are employed by professional trafficking syndicates, and they enjoy a level of support and financial backing unimaginable during earlier poaching crises. The poachers' arsenal includes the expanding use of military-grade equipment like helicopters, machine guns, infrared scopes, and heavy armored vehicles.

Kenya-based Wildlife Works Carbon employs "wildlife rangers" on about 500,000 acres in and around two national parks to protect elephants from poachers. The company sells carbon credits to raise the funds needed to pay the rangers. The cash raised also goes to compensate landowners for leaving land and resources in their natural condition, and to fund educational and community projects. It's the country's pilot project as part of its belonging to the United Nations' Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation program.