scholarly journals Surviving the Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia: Reforming the ‘Disposal’ of Confiscated Live Animals under CITES

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 439
Author(s):  
Shannon N. Rivera ◽  
Andrew Knight ◽  
Steven P. McCulloch
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Wildlife Crime ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Live Animal ◽  
Wild Fauna ◽  
Animal Management ◽  
Demand Reduction ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
In Captivity

Increased focus on the illegal global wildlife trade has resulted in greater numbers of live animals confiscated by authorities, increasing the need to manage these animals responsibly. Most wildlife seizures take place in Southeast Asia, with global demand for live animals fuelling much of the trafficking. Guidelines for the ‘disposal’ of live specimens are provided by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), although individual Parties must implement provisions through national laws and regulations. ‘Disposal’ is the term used for the management of illegally traded wildlife upon confiscation. Confiscated live animals can be euthanised (i.e., killed), repatriated to their native country and released, or kept in captivity. This study investigates barriers to proper care and disposal of confiscated live animals in Southeast Asia, where roughly one quarter of the global multibillion dollar illegal wildlife trade takes place. Interviews were conducted with 18 professionals working within conservation, wildlife crime, and confiscated live animal management. Eight limitations to the proper care and disposal of confiscated wildlife were identified: (1) political will, (2) policy, (3) funding, (4) capacity, (5) expertise (6) attitudes and behaviours, (7) exploitation, and (8) corruption. Based on interviews, we propose seven key reforms to support the efficient and humane management of illegally traded wildlife for national authorities and CITES parties. These are wildlife seizure management, legislative support, enhanced political will, demand reduction, global participation, registry of rescue centres, and terminology change. This research highlights major barriers to the proper care and disposal of live confiscated animals and proposes key reforms to improve the conservation of threatened species and the welfare of millions of illegally traded animals.

scholarly journals Assessing the extent of access and benefit sharing in the wildlife trade: lessons from horticultural orchids in Southeast Asia

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMY HINSLEY ◽  
DAVID L. ROBERTS
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Wild Fauna

SUMMARYThe equitable sharing of benefits from natural resources is a key target of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Trade in its native species is one way in which a country can potentially benefit from its natural resources, and even small-scale traders can now access global markets online. However, little is known about the extent of benefit sharing for many products, and the extent to which the appropriate processes and permits are being used. We surveyed online trade in a lucrative and widely sold product in Southeast Asia (horticultural orchids) to assess the extent of access and benefit sharing. In total, 20.8% (n = 1120) of orchid species from the region were being sold. Although seven out of ten countries were trading, five had very little or no trade in their native species, and the majority of recently described endemic species being traded from non-range states had no reported Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora exports from their country of origin. We suggest that addressing access and benefit-sharing gaps requires wider recognition of the problem, coupled with capacity building in the countries currently benefitting least: Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. The priority should be to increase botanical capacity and enable these countries to better control the commercialization and trade of their native species.

LIVE ANIMAL ASSESSMENT OF MEAT EFFICIENCY OF BULL-CALVES ABERDINANGUSS BREEDS IN THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (90) ◽  
pp. 94-100
Author(s):  
G.S. Shekhovtsev ◽  
◽  
I.P. Prokhorov ◽  
A.N. Pikul ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Live Animal ◽  
Animal Management ◽  
Bull Calves

scholarly journals Reptile smuggling is predicted by trends in the legal exotic pet trade

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Stringham ◽  
Pablo García‐Díaz ◽  
Adam Toomes ◽  
Lewis Mitchell ◽  
Joshua V. Ross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Lag ◽  
The United States ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Live Animal ◽  
Pet Trade ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
The Us ◽  
Disease Risks ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Species Being

Western countries are less frequently implicated in illegal wildlife trade (IWT), contrasted with other transnational consumers, yet substantial evidence suggests that they contribute prominently. Live animal smuggling presents a suite of biosecurity concerns, including invasive species and disease risks. Here, we compared the live alien reptile species smuggled to Australia (75 species) to the legal trade of live reptile species in the United States (US) and constructed a Bayesian regularized model to predict the species most likely to be of greatest future smuggling risk to Australia. Australia has particularly strict import laws barring the entry and keeping of alien reptiles and maintains detailed biosecurity seizure records. Almost all smuggled reptile species were found in the legal US exotic pet market (98.6%), and we observed an average time lag of 4.2 years between a species first appearing in the US market and its subsequent detection in Australia. A species popularity in US pet stores, popularity on international online markets, and the number of years in US import-export records were all positively associated with the probability of species being smuggled to Australia. Our predictive model provides a much-needed early-warning guide for future biosecurity enforcement of the IWT and provides a framework for anticipating future trends in wildlife smuggling.

CITES-listed Wildlife Trade of the Czech Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-8
Author(s):  
Nikola Sagapova ◽  
Radim Dusek
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Endangered Species ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Endangered Plants ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Wildlife Species ◽  
Wild Fauna ◽  
Increasing Trend

Wildlife trade involves many animal and plant species and their products. CITES (Convention on International Trafe in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) aims on protecting endangered plants and animals from being overharvested for the purposes of international trade through system of regulations, permits and monitoring. CITES Trade Database is a tool dedicated for the evidence of international trade of endangered wildlife species. We used records from the CITES Trade Database to conduct the analysis of the legal wildlife trade in the Czech Republic in the period 2008-2018. A total amount of 12,615 shipment records were extracted from CITES Trade Database. Amongst most imported taxons belong mammals (mostly genuses Ursus and Panthera) and reptiles (primarily genuses Varanus and Triocerus), while most exported taxons are birds (prevailing genuses Platycercus, Polytelis and Falco) and mammals (especially genus Lemur). While the export records showed an increasing trend, the imports were culminating around the average level of 642.3 records per year and lowest amount in the last year of the period. We emphasise smuggling of snowdrops and tigers and their products, which were reported to be seized, but with lack of records in legal trade.

scholarly journals Trade in non-native, CITES-listed, wildlife in Asia, as exemplified by the trade in freshwater turtles and tortoises (Chelonidae) in Thailand

2007 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Nijman ◽  
Chris R. Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Endangered Species ◽  
Retail Price ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Freshwater Turtles ◽  
Wild Fauna ◽  
The World ◽  
Conservation Concern ◽  
International Wildlife Trade

In 1973 the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was called to life as to regulate the international wildlife trade, and to prevent species becoming (economically and biologically) extinct. The trade in freshwater turtles and tortoises in Asia is so huge that it threatens the survival of many species. In 2006 and 2007, during three surveys at Chatuchak market in Bangkok, Thailand, we recorded a significant trade in non-native CITES-listed freshwater turtles and tortoises to be used as pets. We documented a total of 688 individuals of 19 species from different regions of the world, many of which are globally threatened with extinction. Most commonly recorded were three species of tortoise from Madagascar and Africa, i.e. Radiated Tortoise Geochelone radiata, Spurred Tortoise G. sulcata and Leopard Tortoise G. pardalis. Five species were listed on CITES Appendix I, precluding all international trade, and an additional six Appendix II or III-listed species that can be traded albeit regulated, were not registered as being imported into Thailand in the last six year. CITES I-listed species were not more expensive than CITES II or III listed species, nor was there a relationship between retail price and numbers of turtles observed. The large number and availability of illegally sourced animals indicates a blatant disregard for law and authority by traders both from Thailand and from exporting countries. We conclude that the trade in these species, in such significant volumes, is of serious conservation concern, and in order for CITES to be more effective it is imperative that Parties recognize the scale of the international trade in freshwater turtles and tortoises and respond accordingly.

scholarly journals Opportunistic or Non-Random Wildlife Crime? Attractiveness Rather Than Abundance in the Wild Leads to Selective Parrot Poaching

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Romero-Vidal ◽  
Fernando Hiraldo ◽  
Federica Rosseto ◽  
Guillermo Blanco ◽  
Martina Carrete ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
High Demand ◽  
Wildlife Crime ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Large Scale Survey ◽  
First Time

Illegal wildlife trade, which mostly focuses on high-demand species, constitutes a major threat to biodiversity. However, whether poaching is an opportunistic crime within high-demand taxa such as parrots (i.e., harvesting proportional to species availability in the wild), or is selectively focused on particular, more desirable species, is still under debate. Answering this question has important conservation implications because selective poaching can lead to the extinction of some species through overharvesting. However, the challenges of estimating species abundances in the wild have hampered studies on this subject. We conducted a large-scale survey in Colombia to simultaneously estimate the relative abundance of wild parrots through roadside surveys (recording 10,811 individuals from 25 species across 2221 km surveyed) and as household, illegally trapped pets in 282 sampled villages (1179 individuals from 21 species). We used for the first time a selectivity index to test selection on poaching. Results demonstrated that poaching is not opportunistic, but positively selects species based on their attractiveness, defined as a function of species size, coloration, and ability to talk, which is also reflected in their local prices. Our methodological approach, which shows how selection increases the conservation impacts of poaching for parrots, can be applied to other taxa also impacted by harvesting for trade or other purposes.

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