Experts say poaching up ahead of New Year

As Khmer New Year approaches, poachers begin to swarm the Kingdom’s forests, looking for quick cash or more meat for their holiday feasts or simply taking advantage of the lax law enforcement, conservationists say.

Conservation officials and NGOs from across Cambodia said illegal hunting spiked in the few weeks before every Khmer New Year, and villagers in Preah Vihear province yesterday confirmed that many of their neighbors had homemade rifles and were making more for pre-holiday hunting.

“It happens every year, about a month before Khmer New Year,” said Ross Sinclair, the country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

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