Did you know that the trade in wild animals and plants is worth billions of dollars each year? The term ‘wildlife trade’ refers to any sale or exchange of wild animals or plants, including the products manufactured from them. In many instances trade is regulated and legal but a significant part of wildlife trade is illegal and unsupervised.
This has created a niche for organised crime, with syndicates running elaborate operations in many different countries.

Exploitation of wildlife across the globe is creating massive conservation implications and driving some species to the brink of extinction. Interpol estimates that wildlife trafficking averages between 10 and 20 billion dollars per year, the third largest illegal market behind the sale of arms and drugs and comprising of millions of bird and animal species and hundreds of tons of plants and fish.

Lawful
Legal wildlife trade can contribute greatly to improving the livelihoods of citizens of a particular country and to social development. When managed correctly, legal trade is beneficial to species and to the conservation of habitats. The timber and fisheries industries are some of the largest regulated industries within wildlife trade. Even legal trade can affect conservation if stringent measures regarding pollution, overexploitation of an individual species, deforestation and the destruction of animal habitats are not closely regulated.  
CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, is one regulating body that ensures sustainability in legal trade. It is an agreement made between governments to control the trade in animals and plants to ensure that this trade does not threaten the survival of a species. Currently, there are 175 countries that belong to CITES. More than 30 000 species of animals and plants are offered some degree of protection through CITES.
Trade is not limited to live animals but also goods manufactured by animal products, including food products and clothing. Many of the species that are traded are not endangered but CITES agreements help to ensure that trade in the future is sustainable and that species are safeguarded.

Against the law
Illegal markets for the trade in wildlife include those instances where animals are killed for fashion purposes, exploited for food or medicine or captured and sold into the pet trade. The most sought-after wild animals for pets are often highly threatened. Several factors are driving the illegal trade in animals. Michele Pickover, spokesperson for Animal Rights Africa (ARA), says these include a lack of resources to police illegal trade and an inability to implement policies.
“Ineffective and weak sentences metred out to perpetrators can also be included here,” said Pickover. “There is also a lack of political will to enforce clearly illegal actions, like in the muti markets. This is often because law enforcement agencies are not willing to touch anything that is seen to be cultural in nature.”

Collectables and meat
Ivory, rhino horn and tiger skins are no longer the only commodities sought after by dubious collectors or those wanting to profit in animal products. Monitor lizards and fresh water tortoises are consumed as delicacies in Asia. Kangaroo and elephant skin products are sought-after fashion items in the west.
The demand for bush meat has also increased greatly. Researchers estimate that about one million metric tons of bush meat is consumed every year, with large mammals being the preferred meat. Hunting methods are often illegal and threatened or endangered species top the lists for the most sought-after meats. Elephant, chimpanzee, crocodile and duiker are just some of Africa’s animals being killed for meat.

Birds and insects
Animals and reptiles may be feeling the scourge of wildlife trafficking, but birds, plants, fish and even insects are also being exploited. Exotic birds, especially parrots and cockatoo species, are favourites as pets and provide a lucrative business for criminals. With its rich diversity of wildlife and plants, South Africa is a direct target. Cycads, ferns, aloes and proteas are among the plants being illegally harvested and sold. Even dung beetles and spiders are plundered and sold across our borders.

The pet trade
The illegal pet trade is as vast as it is cruel. Independent researchers estimate that between 40 and 60% of the animals taken illegally from the wild will never make it into pet shops or homes. According to the NSPCA, some die at the time of capture as methods are often inappropriate or cruel, resulting in injury or severe stress.
Other animals will die because of bad transportation and handling at depots in the exporting countries, or they are not given the right amount of time to recover from the trauma of capture. Further, wild-caught animals will die in pet shops or at the hands of their new owners. Nearly half of all birds captured will die from the shock of the capture, starvation, dehydration or illness before they even reach a pet trader.
Animal Rights Africa says that fuelling this large, illegal market are the end consumers eager to own and exhibit exotic pets. The definition given for an ‘exotic’ pet is an animal that is thought of as a wild animal and is now being kept as a pet. Michele Pickover from ARA says that this isn’t a new fad and has been in existence for many years.
“People do not understand what is involved in the cruel trade in exotic animals and in the breeding industry,” said Pickover. “This is because the animal cruelty is hidden precisely because the animal exploitation and production industries do not want people to see what it entails. The world has become a ‘global village’ and illegal and legal animal trading syndicates are thriving.”

Capture is cruel
A wild-caught animal’s journey is fraught with danger as it travels from the bush to the pet trader and finally to its new owner. Collectors are individuals hired to take animals from their habitats and package them for transportation. Many have no training and use illegal methods to capture animals, including traps and snares that may cause severe injuries or even kill the animal. Very little consideration is shown to the environment during these bush raids when unscrupulous collectors destroy indigenous vegetation to find the animals they are looking for.

Horrible condition
After the capture, animals are crated and packed for shipping or other modes of transport. They may also be kept for weeks, even months, in holding warehouses as the shipment grows to full capacity. In these instances water and food offered is minimal and conditions can be appalling with many types of animals sharing small spaces with one another. Smugglers even package animals in false bottom suitcases or wear them in vests. In some cases the smuggling of animals runs in conjunction with the drug trade, where drugs are placed in crates with animals or in false-bottomed bird cages.
Once the shipment arrives at the destination port, customs officials are required to check paperwork and permits. In many cases fewer than 5% of consignments are actually checked and officials do not know which animals require CITES import and export permits, or they sign off illegal consignments with bribes. Some countries have lax or non-existent border laws and are easy targets for criminals needing to ‘launder’ their shipments.
The animals that do eventually reach pet vendors are often in poor health. Added to the trauma of the journey and perhaps the loss of a close family group, the animal must now adapt to a new world, a human world, and get used to life in captivity...

Sources Font: Research information: Animal Rights Africa: www.animalrightsafrica.org (e-mail: info@animalrightsafrica.org); www.nspca.co.za; www.cites.org and www.traffic.org.