Illegal animal trade, once a high-profile environmental concern, has largely taken a back seat to climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution as a threat to biodiversity. Despite being out of the spotlight, however, so-called wildlife trafficking is a big business. The U.S. Department of State estimates that black-market trade in illegal ivory, snake skins and venoms, live birds, primates, tiger parts, rhino horns, and other wildlife and wildlife products generates between 10 and 20 billion dollars per year. China is the number one destination for such products; the U.S. is number two.
The targeted animals are increasingly threatened by poaching, and many are critically endangered in the wild. But species conservation isn't the only reason that wildlife trafficking has been drawing increased attention recently. Rather, the alarm is of a relatively new sort: national security.
The black market trade in endangered animals, once a crime committed by small groups of local poachers, has become dominated by organized crime syndicates. Like the conflict diamond trade that has funded brutal wars in Sierra Leone, trade in wildlife provides a steady stream of unreported money--some of which, it seems clear, is supporting civil war and terrorist organizations.
Wildlife trafficking by organized crime rings has generated enough attention that the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing last week to examine the subject.
The Changing Illegal Ivory Trade
Illegal ivory, the most commonly trafficked animal product, sells for $400 per pound on the black market. Regulations on legal ivory trade have been loosened since the late 1990s, after African elephant populations rebounded from previous lows due to heavy poaching. Still, the illegal variant is on the rise, according to TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network of WWF and IUCN. Regulations have become impossible to enforce amid the upheaval of civil war in many parts of Central Africa.
And the illegal trade has taken on a different tenor. Although the number of seizures of ivory has remained relatively constant since the 1990s, the size of these seizures has grown significantly. The number of seizures of more than a ton of ivory increased from 17 between 1989 and 1997 to 32 between 1998 and 2006.
Large-Scale Ivory Seizures, 1989-2006
Large-scale seizures have become far more frequent and somewhat larger in scale since 1998. The total weight represented by these seizures more than doubled from 34,061 kg in 1989-1997, to 76,084 kg in the nine years from 1998 onwards.
Source: EarthTrends, 2008 using data from TRAFFIC, 2007
Movement of such huge quantities of ivory necessitates a level of organization not previously seen in international wildlife trafficking. Similarly large shipments of illegal coral, snakeskins, and conch shells have also been confiscated recently. In addition, the illegal cargo is being concealed in more advanced ways than before, such as elaborately camouflaged built-in ivory compartments on ships--all of which points to the involvement of well-coordinated criminal groups. A TRAFFIC report points out that such an elaborate enterprise likely indicates collusion with local law enforcement and regulatory officers at border crossings and seaports.
Given the proven difficulty in regulating illegal animal trade, it's unclear how its well-organized criminal element will be successfully battled against and regulated. But it is clear that the stakes are higher than they used to be--not just animal welfare but human welfare has been pulled into the trade.
Top photo by diabolikkitsuney via Flickr
RELATED LINKS:
Newsweek article, 3/1/08: "Extinction Trade"
Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking
TRAFFIC Report: The Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and the Illicit Trade in Ivory
EarthTrends
Searchable Database: Trade in Species, by Country
