The international
trade in wildlife is a serious
conservation problem. Globally,
illegal wildlife trade is often said to be the second largest
illegal trade in volume, second to
narcotics and followed by
arms and ammunition but there is no hard data
supporting this claim and recently the CITES Secretariat has
disavowed this statistic. Still, it's a serious threat to a number
of endangered and vulnerable species. Not all of the wildlife trade
is illegal: some of it is entirely legitimate, though it can put
species under additional pressure, at a time when they are facing
threats such as
over-fishing,
pollution, dredging,
deforestation and other forms of
habitat destruction. Items may be traded live or
dead.
The international illegal wildlife trade is sometimes
differentiated from
bushmeat trade by
virtue of its geographic scale and commercialization. Bushmeat,
usually but not always referring to Africa, is the consumption of
wildlife locally or nationally for protein. Sometimes bushmeat is
internationalized through trade links from Africa to Europe or
North America, but most bushmeat is consumed near its place of
origin. The international illegal trade of wildlife, conversely, is
defined by the trade of high-value wild animals and products
derived from wild animals across borders.
The international trade in wildlife is addressed by the
United Nation's Convention of International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (
CITES) which currently has 170 member countries or
Parties.
The XV Conference of the Parties of CITES is
scheduled to be held in Doha
, Qatar
in June
2009.
Illegal wildlife trade
Interpol
has
estimated the extent of the illegal wildlife trade between $10
billion and $20 billion per year. While the trade is a
global one, with routes extending to every continent,
conservationists say the problem is most acute in
Southeast Asia. There, trade linkages to key
markets in China, the United States, and the European Union; lax
law enforcement; weak border controls; and the perception of high
profit and low risk contribute to large-scale commercial wildlife
trafficking. The
ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement
Network, supported by the U.S.
Agency for International
Development and outside funders, is one response to the
region's illegal wildlife trade networks.
Notable
trade hubs of the wildlife trade include Suvarnabhumi
International Airport
in Bangkok
, which
offers smugglers direct jet service to Europe, the Middle East,
North America and Africa. The Chatuchak weekend market
in Bangkok is a known center of illicit wildlife
trade, and the sale of lizards, primates, and other endangered
species has been widely documented. Trade routes connecting
in Southeast Asia link Madagascar to the United States (for the
sale of turtles, lemurs, and other primates), Cambodia to Japan
(for the sale of
slow lorises as pets),
and the sale of many species to China.
Despite international and local laws designed to crack down on the
trade, live animals and animal parts — often those of endangered or
threatened species - are sold in open-air markets throughout Asia.
The animals involved in the trade end up as trophies, or in
specialty restaurants. Some are used in
traditional Chinese medicine
(TCM). Despite the name, elements of TCM are widely adopted
throughout East and Southeast Asia, among both Chinese and
non-Chinese communities.
The trade also includes demand for exotic pets, and consumption of
wildlife for meat. Large volumes of fresh water tortoises and
turtles, snakes,
pangolins and
monitor lizards are consumed as meat in Asia,
including in specialty restaurants that feature wildlife as gourmet
dining.
Wildlife trade in South America
Although the volume of animals traded may be greater in Southeast
Asia, animal trading in Latin America is widespread as well.
In open
air Amazon markets in Iquitos
and Manaus
, a variety
of rainforest animals are sold openly as meat, such as agoutis,
peccaries, turtles, turtle eggs, walking catfish, etc. In addition,
many species are sold as pets. The keeping of parrots and
monkeys as pets by villagers along the Amazon is commonplace. But
the sale of these "companion" animals in open markets is rampant.
Capturing the baby tamarins, marmosets, spider monkeys, saki
monkeys, etc., in order to sell them, often requires shooting the
mother primate out of a treetop with her clinging baby; the
youngster may or may not survive the fall. With the human
population increasing, such practices have a serious impact on the
future prospects for many threatened species. The United States is
a popular destination for Amazonian rainforest animals. They are
smuggled across borders the same way illegal drugs are - in the
trunks of cars, in suitcases, in crates disguised as something
else.
Veggie Revolution: Monkeys and Parrots Pouring from
the Jungle
Related organizations
TRAFFIC,
the wildlife trade monitoring network, is an international
organization dedicated to ensuring that trade in wild plants and
animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.
Wildlife Alliance is an
international conservation organization founded to address wildlife
trafficking and other crimes against nature. Among its priorities
is a regional effort in Southeast Asia to combat transboundary
wildlife trafficking, the
Association of Southeast
Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network, or ASEAN-WEN.
The
Species Survival
Network (SSN) is an international coalition of over 80
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) committed to the promotion,
enhancement, and strict enforcement of CITES.
Wildlife At Risk (WAR) is dedicated to protecting the biodiversity
of Vietnam by combating the illegal wildlife trade, raising
environmental awareness & promoting the conservation of
endangered species & their habitats.
External links
Further reading
- Christy, Bryan (2008). The Lizard King: The True Crimes and
Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile Smugglers. New York:
TWELVE (Hachette Book Group). ISBN 978-0-446-58095-3
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