Illegal Wildlife Trade
About the Illegal Wildlife Trade
The illegal wildlife trade involves hundreds of millions of individual plants and animals and tens of thousands of species. Smuggling ranges from live animals and plants to supply the pet and horticulture trades, to wildlife meats for ‘luxury’ foods for the wealthy and Traditional Asian Medicine, to wildlife derivatives like ivory, pelts, and bones to make curios, clothing, and medicines. (1)
Rich in biodiversity, Southeast Asia is a source, transit and destination region for the illegal wildlife trade - which is devastating the region’s biodiversity. Populations of many Southeast Asian wildlife species, including tigers, Asian elephants, pangolins and freshwater turtles and tortoises, are declining sharply due to their high commercial value in the illegal wildlife trade. (2) The pangolin is the most heavily traded mammal while big cats and their body parts are still regularly found in trade. (3)
National parks and protected areas in countries like Cambodia are being emptied of their wildlife to sustain the black market trade in exotic pets and wildlife derivatives. The main drivers of the illegal wildlife trade include demand for:
"The international illegal wildlife trade is valued between $5 and $20 billion annually (1) and contributes to the extinction of 30,000 species a year, or 3 species per hour." (4)
- Timber and rare plant species.
- Bones, scales, and other animal derivatives used for traditional medicines.
- Live animals to be bought as exotic pets and for zoo exhibits.
The United States is estimated to buy 1/5 of illegal wildlife products on the planet, making the U.S. the second-biggest consumer after China. (5) Illegal wildlife products such as bushmeat and bear bile are for sale in markets in U.S. cities.
Growing affluence and economic growth in East and Southeast Asia has increased demand for natural resources, including an increased demand for wildlife. (6)
The illegal wildlife trade poses a myriad of threats. It jeopardizes the survival of plant and animal species, disturbs the delicate balance in ecosystems, introduces non-native invasive species, acts as a conduit for emerging zoonotic diseases, and it has been linked to other security threats such as human trafficking, drugs, arms smuggling, and terrorism. Profits from the trade are large, though usually never for the rural harvester, while the risk of detection, arrest, and/or prosecution remains minimal. (7)
Estimated retail value of selected wildlife products in Asia's illegal wildlife trade: tiger skin, $1,300-$20,000; tiger bones, $3,300-$7,000; bear gallbladder, $250-$8,500; one monitor lizard (spp.), $20,000. (8)
1 Congressional Research Service, ‘International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Threats and U.S. Policy’ , February 2009
2 TRAFFIC report, “What’s Driving the Illegal Wildlife Trade,” 2008
3 ASEAN-WEN, ‘Illegal Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia Fact Sheet’ , March 2009
4 Wilson, E.O., ‘The Sixth Extinction’ , June 2001
5 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Annual Reports, FY2000-FY2006
6 ASEAN-WEN, ‘Illegal Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia Fact Sheet’ , March 2009
7 World Bank, ‘Going, Going, Gone...The Illegal Wildlife in East and Southeast Asia’, 2005
8 Congressional Research Service, ‘International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Threats and U.S. Policy’ , February 2009
