In 50 years of conservation, we have never seen wildlife crime on such a scale.
Wildlife crime is now the most urgent threat to three of the world’s best-loved species—elephants, rhinos and tigers.
The global value of illegal wildlife trade is between $7.8 and $10 billion per year. It is a major illicit transnational activity worldwide—along with arms, drugs and human trafficking. High-level traders and kingpins are rarely arrested, prosecuted, convicted or punished for their crimes.
Even more worrying, these species cannot survive high levels of poaching for long.
I am not a trinket
Tens of thousands of elephants are killed every year for their ivory tusks. In 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the international trade in ivory. However, there are still some thriving but unregulated domestic ivory markets in a number of countries, which fuel an illegal international trade.
I am not a rug
Every part of the tiger—from whisker to tail—is traded in illegal wildlife markets. Poaching is the most immediate threat to wild tigers. In relentless demand, their parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies, and increasingly as a status symbol among wealthy Asians.
I am not medicine
At least one rhino is killed every day due to the mistaken belief that rhino horn can cure diseases. The main market is now in Vietnam where there is a newly emerged belief that rhino horn cures cancer. Rhino horn is also used in other traditional Asian medicine to treat a variety of ailments including fever and various blood disorders. It is also used by wealthy Asian as a cure for hangovers.
On the frontlines
Rangers and local communities are often caught in the crossfire of wildlife crime. Rangers like Mba Ndong Marious in Gabon have to face dangerous gangs of armed poachers to save their elephants.
Worth more alive than dead
Charismatic species like tigers are a huge tourist draw and are an important source of revenue in many countries. Here, a Bengal tiger crosses the road in front of watching tourists at Bandhavgarh National Park in India.
Click on the picture to visit the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) website for more.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
