Extinction .in

Wildlife crime profound threat to nations, says report

 

 
A tiger cub rescued from smugglers in Thailand en route to China
 

The global illegal trade in wildlife

is worth $19bn (£12bn) a year and is threatening the stability of some

governments according to new research.

Carried out for conservation group WWF, a report highlights a "new wave" of

organised wildlife crime by armed groups operating across borders.

It says funds from trafficking are being used to finance civil conflicts.

The study comes as Malaysian officials captured about 20 tonnes of ivory in one of the

biggest seizures ever made.

“The bloody ivory trade has reached new heights of destruction and depravity in 2012”

Will Travers Born Free Foundation

According to Jim Leape, WWF International director

general, the report underlines the fact that wildlife crime has escalated

drastically over the past decade and now posed a greater threat than

ever.

Armed by ivory

 
A tiger testicle, described by   

the WWF as of dubious authenticity, on sale in Bangkok

"This is about much more than wildlife," he told a news conference. "This

crisis is threatening the very stability of governments. It has become a

profound threat to national security."

Rebel militia groups in Africa are cashing in on demand for elephants, tigers

and rhinos to fund civil conflicts, said John Scanlon, secretary general of

Cites, the organisation that governs the trade in endangered species.

"We saw earlier this year with rebel groups coming from Chad and Sudan going

into northern Cameroon slaughtering 450 elephants, taking the ivory for the

purpose of selling it in order to buy arms for local conflicts" he said.

He added that there had been similar issues in the Democratic Republic of

Congo.

This view was echoed by Christian Glass, spokesman for the German Federal

Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"The new wave of organised wildlife trade crime with heavily armed groups of

poachers acting cross-borders is jeopardising conservation successes we've had

in the past," he said.

The report suggests that the illicit sale of animals and plants is the

world's fourth largest illegal trade after narcotics, counterfeiting of products

and currency and the trafficking of people.

It says that two factors were spurring the growth of the trade. The first was

the absence of credible law enforcement and other deterrents that reduced the

risk to organised criminal groups. The second was increased accessibility of

illegal products via the internet.

Positive steps

Just before the report was released, customs officials in Malaysia announced

that they had made a huge seizure of ivory.

According to reports by Traffic, the shipment was en route to China from Togo and comprised some

1,500 pieces of tusks.

Sold for parts

• Hundreds of rhinos are killed everyyear for their horns, which are falselybelieved to cure a wide variety of ailments, including cancer.
• Between 2008 and 2011, gangs of poachers were said to be responsible forkilling more than 800 rhinos, according to monitoring group Traffic.
• In South Africa, home to the biggest wild population, a record 455 had been slaughtered by October 2012  

  . In 2007, 13 were killed.

• The black market value of rhino horns has soared to at least $65,000(£40,000) per kg in 2012. In 2011, it was $35,000 (£22,000).

They were discovered in wooden crates that were

deliberately designed to look like stacks of sawn timber.

Early estimates suggested the shipment was more than 20 tonnes in total. If

this is confirmed it would be one of the biggest seizures in history.

According to Will Travers, chief executive of Born Free Foundation, up to

30,000 elephants a year were being killed to fuel demand driven largely by

China.

"No part of Africa is now safe," he said.

"Across the continent, for the first time, the number of carcasses recorded

as a result of poaching exceeds the number reportedly dying from natural

causes."

"The bloody ivory trade has reached new heights of destruction and depravity

in 2012."

Capturing that many tusks at one time is a rare piece of good news for those

involved in the fight against trafficking.

Greater international co-operation is needed according to the WWF report as

is the better use of intelligence and investigative techniques. But there also

has to be a tougher response from the authorities in the countries most

affected, said John Scanlon.

"We need to deploy the police and in a number of cases we need to deploy the

military" he said, adding that the army was now being used to fight the illegal

trade in species in five African countries.

The report was based on consultations and interviews with representatives

from more than 110 governments and international organisations.