Wildlife smuggling or trafficking involves the illegal gathering, transportation and distribution or animals, and their derivatives. This can be done either internationally or domestically. No one knows the true immensity of the trade of wildlife and wildlife products, but it is believed by Interpol experts, that wildlife smuggling transactions generate between 10-20 billion dollars annually.

Demand for wildlife and the products that are derived from them come in a variety of forms which consist of exotic pets, food, traditional medicine, clothing, jewellery made from tusks, fins, skins, shells, horns and the internal organs of animals. Smuggled wildlife is an increasing global demand around the world, it is estimated that the United States of America, the Peoples Republic of China, and the European Union are the countries with highest demand for smuggled wildlife. The demand in these countries are influenced by different lifestyles, cultures and regions. In Asia the demand for wildlife smuggling comes from the need of specific organs and body parts of animals, that are used in the practice of traditional medicine and as a symbol of wealth. In Africa the main demand for illegal wildlife comes from "bushmeat

Bushmeat

Bushmeat initially referred to the hunting of wild animals in West and Central Africa and is a calque from the French viande de brousse. Today the term is commonly used for meat of terrestrial wild animals, killed for subsistence or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas,...

" consumption. There is an increase in demand in Southeast Asia and this is due to the region’s economic boom. In other continents like Europe and North America, the demand for wildlife smuggling is used to create luxury fashion items, tourist souvenirs, and exotic pets.

Threats and Effects of wildlife smuggling

Animal smuggling is widely used because of cultural practices. In many East Asian (e.g. China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 etc.) societies specific animal parts are used for spiritual or healing properties. Some practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine believe that one will acquire the strength of a tiger by eating its flesh or drinking "tiger wine" which is made from the bones of the tiger and the only way to get many of these animal products is from wildlife smuggling.

Also some cultures kill wildlife for food, such as in many parts of Africa, wild animals are preferred as a source of protein and primates are considered a delicacy. It is believe that up to 40 000 monkeys are killed and consumed each year in Africa alone. Many of these primates are killed by bushmeat hunters who supply these game animals to markets all over Africa, Europe and the United States.

Economic

In many developing countries animal smuggling provides a stable source of income and livelihood for the hunters and traders. Many say that small - scale hunters ad traders do not have any other alternatives for generating sustainable level incomes. But also wildlife smuggling persists on the black - market because there is a low risk of prosecution and relaxed penalties associated with smuggling wildlife. Also there are high profits associated with wildlife smuggling, this is driven by the high demand for wildlife illegal wildlife and wildlife products. As the demand of wildlife products increase so does the value and consumers are willing to pay greater amounts, this leads to greater financial rewards for the smugglers.

Health

Disease - the spread of animal - borne disease is a prominent threat that is posed by wildlife smuggling, which effects both human health, causing social and economic harm, as well as threatening indigenous wildlife and natural ecosystems.
According to the Government Accountability Office, nearly 75% of emerging diseases that reach humans come from animals. But the link between wildlife smuggling and the rise in animal borne disease is still questioned because wildlife smuggling is mostly an unrealized threat.

Diseases believe to have originated and spread by wildlife smuggling

• SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) - This virus infects both humans and wildlife. Experts suspect that the SARS virus originates in the People’s Republic of China, where a civets (wild cats common to the Chinese trade.) came into contact with humans.
• Avian influenza - Avian flu or (H5N1) is a highly pathogenic virus and can infect humans through contact with infected wild birds, but transmitted through human - poultry interaction as well. Avian flu can be commonly found in live bird markets and can be widely spread through wildlife trade or smuggling again from People’s Republic of China.
• Monkeypox - Monkeypox can be commonly found in wildlife in Africa, and it can spread to other wildlife and humans. In one case Monkeypox was introduced to the United States when rodents were legally imported from Africa. These rodents transmitted the disease to prairie dogs in a pet store, in turn these prairie dogs transmitted the disease to humans.

Environmental

• Biodiversity - illegal wildlife smuggling directly effects the biodiversity of different ecosystems. Because certain animals are more desired by smugglers there is a visible decline in the population of these species. This in turn throws off how the ecosystems functions, and populations as populations of the desired animal plummet other populations thrive, causing an imbalance in the ecosystem.
• Invasive species - Illegal wildlife smuggling may cause the introduction of invasive and harmful species into an ecosystem. The introduction of such animals can cause considerable economic and environmental damage to an ecosystem by endangering or threatening indigenous species. Such introduced species often find their way into the pet trade and are often banned from being imported if it is found that they are a threat to humans, agriculture or ecosystems.

International control measures

• Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System
• Interpol
  Interpol
  Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
  
  

CAWT (Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking): CAWT was established in 2005 by the U.S. Department of State as a voluntary public - private coalition of like - minded governments and organizations that share the common goal of ending the illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife products. CAWT currently includes 6 governments and 13 international NGOs. Together they are working towards curbing the demand by raising public awareness of the problem of wildlife smuggling and trade, limiting supply by building international cross - border law enforcement and by mobilizing high level political support by convincing influential decision makers to take action.
ASEAN - WEN: FREELAND Foundation

Freeland Foundation

The Freeland Foundation is an international non-governmental organization working across Asia on both environmental conservation and human rights and is headquartered in Asia...

 (then WildAid Thailand) and TRAFFIC Southeast Asia supported the Government of Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is composed of ten Southeast Asian countries, to establish the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN - WEN), in 2005. This Network oversees cross - border co operations, joint wildlife law enforcement capacity building, and represents an effort to strengthen the collective law enforcement capacity of the ten ASEAN countries. ASEAN - WEN is the largest regional wildlife law enforcement collaboration in the world. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

United States Agency for International Development

The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...

, FREELAND Foundation and TRAFFIC Southeast Asia continue to provide support to ASEAN - WEN.
SAWEN: The South Asian Enforcement Network was also created with the help of CAWT and Traffic International. In 2008 South Asian environment ministers agreed to create SAWEN under the support of the South Asian Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP). SAWEN countries composed of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have all committed themselves to work together to give mutual cooperation, technical support and information exchange to combat wildlife crime.
CITES: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is a conventions the attacks the supply side of illegal wildlife. Its aim is to end illegal wildlife and to ensure that international trade does not threaten endangered species.

Australia

Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

’s wildlife is protected from export under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Ecuador

Latin America is extremely vulnerable to wildlife smuggling because of its immense biodiversity. Ecuador, the second smallest South American country is home to 1600 species of birds, this is more than the entire continental United States. In South America there are many rare and colourful birds such as the Scarlet Macaw, which are in high demand for wildlife smugglers. Most animals stolen in Latin America often end up in Europe, the United States and Japan. In Ecuador there is no lack of laws against wildlife smuggling, but there is a lack of resources, which means that conservation is not a first priority. It is a hope in Ecuador that a turn to tourism will become an alternative to hunting and illegal trade of rare and endangered wildlife.

External links

• Wildlife crime at Interpol
  Interpol
  Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
  
  
• ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network - intergovernmental network to suppress wildlife crime
• FREELAND Foundation - group working internationally to stop wildlife smuggling
• EIA 25 yrs investigating wildlife smuggling, reports etc
• EIA (in the USA) reports etc
• TRAFFIC - wildlife trade monitoring network (a joint programme between the IUCN and WWF)
• Environment Canada - Wildlife smuggling
• Havocscope wildlife smuggling market - data and additional statistics on Wildlife Smuggling