Danny the Champion of the World presents a heartwarming story of poor townspeople conspiring to steal pheasants from a villainous wealthy landowner. While the book conveys a Robin Hood–inspired fantasy of a folk hero undermining the authority of the landed gentry, the reality of contemporary animal poaching affects more than just landowners.
Classed as "wildlife crime," animal poaching—the hunting, trapping, and theft of wild or semi-wild animals—occurs across the world. In the United Kingdom, where Danny the Champion of the World is set, the most commonly poached animals include deer, carp, salmon, trout, hares, pheasants, grouse, and freshwater mussels. There is a black market trade in illegally harvested wildlife, with deer carcasses, antlers, fish, and pearls earning poachers between two hundred and twelve thousand British pounds.
Illegal and unregulated capture of wildlife threatens species with extinction, ruins ecosystems, and bears health risks, from firearms being recklessly discharged in the forest to poached animal meat being stored and transported unsafely.
In the UK, The National Wildlife Crime Unit is devoted to gathering intelligence on poachers' activities. The World Wildlife Fund also devotes resources to limiting illegal wildlife trade, which the international conservation organization considers "the largest direct threat to the future of many of the world’s most threatened species."
