Throughout history, people have had different views of poachers.
Were they:
a. Starving labourers, snaring game to keep body and soul together,
OR
b. Members of gangs targeting places such as deer parks in order to sell on what they caught?
Pupils are give just a couple of minutes to think of arguments on both sides. Lower-attaining students could be given half a dozen simple statements on cards from the list below for them to work out which side of the argument would use each statement to support their argument. The rest of the class is given the full set of 9 only after they have tried to think of the arguments first.
The motivation of poachers: need or greed?
1. Rural poverty was widespread. Wages were low and their diet was worse.
2. There was a large Black Market for poached game .
3. Profits from poaching were spent in the pubs rather than on food.
4. The number of poaching gangs based in London grew steadily from 1830 to 1870.
5. The ‘enclosure’ movement of the 18th Century deprived people of land
6. Big profits could be made from the sale of game.
7. Poaching became more tempting
