Estimated at $6-20 billion a year by Interpol, the illegal wildlife
trade has drastically reduced numerous wildlife populations and
currently has some teetering on the brink of extinction. The impact on
human communities looks to be equally drastic in the long-term, as
local resources required for sustenance hunting and tourism activities
are depleted at an unsustainable rate, and as animal viruses including
Ebola, SARS and possibly HIV may jump to human carriers during the
poaching and transporting of wildlife.
Despite the gravity of
these threats, many countries lack the resources to defend their parks
and wildlife against rampant poaching, while poachers often have few
options to earn a living legally. Illegal wildlife products are still
openly traded in many places, with buyers often unaware of the law or
of the devastation they are financing. We can change this in our lifetimes.
The
fight against the illegal trade in wildlife has achieved a rare degree
of international consensus, as have the related issues of rule-of-law,
good governance, conflict resolution and the fight against corruption.
Over 150 nations are active parties to the UN Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species, which regulates global trade
in a number of threatened species including rhinos, tigers, corals and
orchids. While opinions differ over which species should be protected,
there is agreement that regulation and protection should be effective.
Unfortunately, a lack of resources, expertise and political will -
combined with unchecked demand - mean that trade regulation and
protection of species is often weak. Regardless, the extent of these
problems is limited and addressable in an affordable way within our
lifetimes.
- Black rhino populations fell from 60,000 in 1970 to 2,500 in 1990 as poachers targeted their horns.
- African elephant numbers fell from 1,200,000 in 1970 to 600,000 in 1989 as a result of the trade in ivory.
- The Spix macaw is believed to be extinct in the wild. Most of the last individuals were trapped illegally for collectors.
- There are believed to be fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild.
- World sturgeon catches for caviar declined from nearly 28,000 to 8,140 tons between 1982 and 1994.
- An estimated 100 million sharks, skates and rays are caught every year.
- There may be fewer than 5,000 tigers surviving in the wild.
