Help stop wildlife crime

Wildlife crimes such as poaching, trafficking and exploitation threaten animal populations, damage ecosystems, and harm communities that rely on environmental resources.

What's the issue?

Wildlife trafficking is a global crime that involves the illegal capture, transport, breeding, sale, and/or exploitation of animals and plants as food, pets, tourist attractions, ingredients for traditional medicine, and commodities such as clothing and accessories. Hundreds of millions of plants and animals are caught from the wild or harvested for these purposes each year. Much of this trade is legal, but a significant proportion is illegal, exploitation-based trade which we refer to as “trafficking.”
Due to its illegal nature, it’s impossible to accurately quantify wildlife trafficking and how much money exchanges hands in the process, but experts estimate it to be in the hundreds of millions (if not billions) of U.S. dollars annually. Regardless, overexploitation represents the second-largest direct threat to wildlife, after habitat loss.

Overexploitation

Illegal wildlife trade can lead to overexploitation, severely threatening endangered species and disrupting fragile ecosystems. Overexploitation occurs when natural processes can’t replenish resources quickly enough to keep up with the rate of consumption. As human populations grow, so does the risk of overexploitation.
Keystone species such as elephants, rhinoceroses and tigers are well known victims of illegal wildlife trade, but it threatens many more, lesser known species as well. Pangolins are believed to be the most widely illegally traded mammal, yet many people have never even heard of this animal.
In addition to decimating animal populations that perform essential ecological functions, the wildlife trade has introduced invasive species which can prey on or compete with native species for resources. This is especially problematic when an invasive species is introduced to an environment similar to its native range. Examples of this are pet Burmese pythons which have been released and are now considered a major pest in the Florida Everglades.

Animal Well-being

Illegal wildlife trafficking prioritizes profit over animal well-being. To avoid getting caught, traffickers often keep live animals in deplorable conditions for breeding and transport. Live birds are commonly crammed into small containers, such as plastic water bottles, for smuggling across borders.
Animals are often hunted or captured in environmentally damaging ways, such as cutting down an entire tree to retrieve fledgling birds. Other animals may suffer psychologically; examples include young primates separated from their mothers.
Non-target species are also harmed. On land, a variety of animals are caught in snares intended for game like musk deer and duikers. Snares are known as silent killers of wildlife, indiscriminately capturing and injuring any animal that gets caught. Similarly, marine animals like dolphins and turtles are incidentally caught in fishing gear.

Impacts on Human Communities

Wildlife trafficking is often part of the same criminal networks involved in drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. Corruption and weak judicial systems allow these criminal networks to continue with little concern for consequences. This, combined with high profit margins, make wildlife trafficking a low-risk, high-profit business compared to drugs, arms, and human trafficking.
- - These criminal networks incentivize local people to drop out of the formal economy by contracting them as poachers or recruiting them to provide food and accommodations or serve as guides to locate desired species. Poachers, who are often impoverished locals, are usually the only ones caught, further devastating local communities while leaving the true orchestrators free to continue operating.
Rangers on the frontline of protecting wildlife are especially at risk. Approximately 100 rangers are killed on the job every year. Nearly half of those are killed by poachers.
Illegal wildlife trafficking undercuts the livelihoods of local peoples by threatening to deplete animal populations. The presence of wildlife is essential to the wildlife tourism industry which provides employment in hotels/lodges, transportation, tours, and cultural performances.
- - According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, wildlife tourism represents 80% of total annual sales of trips to Africa. Wildlife-based tourism accounts for approximately 12% of Kenya’s GDP and 17% of Tanzania’s GDP. Imagine the economic impact on these countries if this industry were to collapse due to loss of biodiversity.
Millions of people around the world rely heavily on the continued availability of local wildlife resources for meat protein, fuel, and traditional medicines.

What is zoo Atlanta doing to help?

Conservation South Luangwa

In 2018, Zoo Atlanta announced a new, long-term partnership with Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) to protect African elephants and other species impacted by wildlife trafficking. Based in Zambia (southern Africa), CSL works to prevent illegal wildlife trade through anti-poaching patrols, aerial surveillance, and detection dogs trained to find ivory, animal skins, ammunition/firearms, and certain species targeted for wildlife meat.
- - In 2018 alone, CSL confiscated two live pangolins, 100 elephant tusks, 478 snares, and 855 kg (1,909 pounds) of wildlife meat. They also trained 92 new wildlife police officers to help curb poaching.
CSL is committed to working directly with local people to safeguard their livelihoods while engaging them as advocates for wildlife conservation. In addition to directly employing people in local communities, CSL supports communities in protecting their crops from elephant raids via elephant-proof grain stores and chili blasting. CSL also purchases chilis grown by program participants, further supporting their livelihoods.

Quarters for Conservation (2016-2023)

Zoo Atlanta’s Quarters for Conservation program supported numerous conservation organizations, several of which focus on reducing illegal wildlife trade.
- - Asociación Armonía (2019-2020 program year) works in Bolivia to educate and engage local people in protecting blue-throated macaws from poaching for the exotic bird trade.
  - The Tiger Conservation Campaign (2017-2018) works to combat habitat loss, poaching, and retaliatory killing of tigers.
  - Elephants for Africa (2016-2017) works to protect Earth’s largest land mammals from habitat loss, ivory poaching, and the growing conflict between elephants and local farmers.

What can you do to help?

When traveling, don’t purchase items that could potentially be made from animals or plants. This includes ivory, shells/corals, tortoise shell jewelry, medical treatments, and exotic animal cuisine (meat, eggs, alcohol, etc.).
Be wary of places that profit from allowing people to have experiences involving direct contact with wildife. Red flags that indicate a facility may not provide the best care for animals include advertising opportunities to ride an elephant, interact with a young primate, or take a photo with a tiger or lion cub. These are not natural behaviors for these animals and the animals are not choosing to voluntarily participate in these activities.
- - Photo opportunities involving grown animals (e.g. tigers, lions) are especially concerning because these animals are often drugged into docility.
Respectfully reach out to organizations or social media accounts that allow showcasing or posting content which glamorizes the trade of wildlife and products made from wildlife.

Additional Information

Why is there demand for illegal wildlife trafficking?

The exotic pet trade has been on the rise, partially due to popular culture and social media perpetuating beliefs that these animals make good pets.
Traditional Asian medicines use animal parts like tiger bones, bear bile, and rhino horn. These “ingredients” are believed to have healing properties to help with ailments ranging from aiding lactation to curing cancer. Most of these treatments have not been methodically researched or scientifically proven to have any effect.
In some areas, eating exotic animal meat or owning products made from endangered species is considered a status symbol. For example, pangolin meat and even fetuses are consumed in China and Vietnam to symbolize wealth.
Wildlife is exploited around the world as tourist attractions. Ironically, people who consider themselves “animal lovers” are especially susceptible to unwittingly supporting the exploitation of animals during these experiences.

Pangolins

Found in Asia (four species) and Africa (four species), pangolins are the only mammals with keratin scales. All eight species are at risk of extinction. They are heavily traded for their scales, skin, and meat. The scales are used in traditional medicines in some cultures, while the skin is used to make leather goods. In China and Vietnam, pangolin meat is considered a luxury and indication of economic status.
Pangolins are known as “scaly anteaters” for their body armor and specialized diet of mostly ants and termites. Although pangolins fulfill a similar ecological role as anteaters, they are not related. This is called convergent evolution.

Recommended resources for additional information

References

Conservation South Luangwa. (n.d.). CSL Annual Report 2018 [PDF]. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56ec3b690442625503c916f7/t/5c6f5ffd652dea80043be271/1550802964940/Annual Report 2018_CSL.pdf
IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2019 from https://www.pangolinsg.org/
Phys.org. (2018, July 31). Over 100 wildlife rangers died in duty in past year: WWF. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from https://phys.org/news/2018-07-wildlife-rangers-died-duty-year.html
Robinson, J.G. (2015, March 31). Livelihoods, Jobs, and the Illegal Wildlife Trade. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2015/03/31/livelihoods-jobs-and-the-illegal-wildlife-trade/
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from https://rspo.org/about
Stop Wildlife Trafficking. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2019, from http://stopwildlifetrafficking.org/
World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Illegal Wildlife Trade. Retrieved June 18, 2019, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade
Worldwide Fund for Nature. (n.d.). Unsustainable and Illegal Wildlife Trade. Retrieved June 19, 2019, from https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/wildlife/problems/illegal_trade/
Zoo Atlanta. (2018, July 24). Exciting New Commitment to Elephant Conservation (Press Release). Retrieved June 18, 2018, from https://zooatlanta.org/press-release/exciting-new-commitment-to-elephant-conservation/
Zoo Atlanta. (n.d.). Quarters for Conservation. Retrieved June 19, 2019 from https://zooatlanta.org/conservation-action/quarters-for-conservation/

Updated May 2020

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