scholarly journals Economic value of illegal wildlife trade entering the USA

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258523
Author(s):  
Jia Hao Tow ◽  
William S. Symes ◽  
Luis Roman Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Uncertainty Range ◽  
Illegal Wildlife Trade ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Trade Prices ◽  
Global Estimates ◽  
Comparable Magnitude

Illegal wildlife trade is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Understanding its economic value is a first step to establishing the magnitude of the problem. We develop a dataset of illegal wildlife trade prices and combine it with seizure data to estimate the economic value of illegal wildlife trade entering the USA. Using 2013 as a reference year, the results reveal that the economic value of illegal wildlife trade entering the USA was, using a conservative scenario where potential outliers were excluded, US$3.2 billion/year (uncertainty range (UR) 5th and 95th percentile of US$0.6–8.2 billion/year) and, without excluding potential outliers, US$4.3 billion/year (UR of US$1.3–9.6 billion/year). Our results for the USA alone are of a comparable magnitude to the lower bound of commonly used global estimates of the economic value of IWT of uncertain origin, suggesting that the global economic value of IWT is currently underestimated and requires an urgent revision.

scholarly journals Zoos consenting to the illegal wildlife trade – the earless monitor lizard as a case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Vincent Nijman
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Illegal Wildlife Trade ◽  
Speaking Out ◽  
Lacey Act ◽  
Foreign Law ◽  
Monitor Lizard ◽  
The Usa ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Monitor Lizards

The illegal wildlife trade has direct relevance for zoo management, animal acquisition and disposition and it has no place in modern zoo management. Zoos must not only act within the law of the country in which it is based, but they should also follow the rules and intentions of international trade regulations and, where relevant, domestic laws of the animal’s country of origin. After its rediscovery in 2012, zoos in Asia and Europe started displaying Bornean earless monitor lizards (Lanthanotus borneensis), the ‘Holy Grail of Herpetology’. Earless monitor lizards have been legally protected in each of its three range countries for over four decades and, over this period, no specimen has ever been legally exported. However, the illicit trade in the species is thriving and individuals become more affordable. Using publicly available data, I present a timeline of how and from where a total of 16 zoos acquired their earless monitor lizards, including from private individuals and non-accredited zoos. Apart from one zoo in Japan (since 2012) and one zoo in the USA (since 2021), all non-range country zoos that currently display the species are based in Europe. Their absence prior to 2021 in US zoos (despite an increasing illegal trade) could be explained as the acquisition of earless monitor lizards would have been in violation of the Lacey Act (1900) that requires buyers to ensure that imported or purchased wildlife has not been taken in violation of any foreign law. While there is no evidence that any of the zoos, their directors or their staff have broken any laws – no-one in the zoo community has been convicted for illegally trading earless monitor lizards – with more zoos speaking out against the illegal wildlife trade, it is imperative that zoos behave in an exemplary manner and set high standards. At present, some zoos do not meet this standard.

Clouded Leopard Neofelis nebulosa (Griffith, 1821) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in illegal wildlife trade in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 17229-17234
Author(s):  
Yadav Ghimirey ◽  
Raju Acharya
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Illegal Trade ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Clouded Leopard ◽  
Illegal Wildlife Trade ◽  
Neofelis Nebulosa

We document trade of the Clouded Leopard Neofelis nebulosa in Nepal based on pelt seizure reports published in wildlife trade reports and in newspapers.  Just 27 cases in three decades seem little to suggest targeted illegal trade of the species, the seizure information in recent years indicate that illegal trade of Clouded Leopard body parts is still taking place.  Hence an in-depth assessment is necessary to understand properly the intensity and magnitude of illegal trade on Clouded Leopard in the country.

scholarly journals Anthropomorphic Strategies Promote Wildlife Conservation through Empathy: The Moderation Role of the Public Epidemic Situation

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3565
Author(s):  
Dan Yue ◽  
Zepeng Tong ◽  
Jianchi Tian ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Linxiu Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Behavioral Intention ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Illegal Wildlife Trade ◽  
The Impact

The global illegal wildlife trade directly threatens biodiversity and leads to disease outbreaks and epidemics. In order to avoid the loss of endangered species and ensure public health security, it is necessary to intervene in illegal wildlife trade and promote public awareness of the need for wildlife conservation. Anthropomorphism is a basic and common psychological process in humans that plays a crucial role in determining how a person interacts with other non-human agents. Previous research indicates that anthropomorphizing nature entities through metaphors could increase individual behavioral intention of wildlife conservation. However, relatively little is known about the mechanism by which anthropomorphism influences behavioral intention and whether social context affects the effect of anthropomorphism. This research investigated the impact of negative emotions associated with a pandemic situation on the effectiveness of anthropomorphic strategies for wildlife conservation across two experimental studies. Experiment 1 recruited 245 college students online and asked them to read a combination of texts and pictures as anthropomorphic materials. The results indicated that anthropomorphic materials could increase participants’ empathy and decrease their wildlife product consumption intention. Experiment 2 recruited 140 college students online and they were required to read the same materials as experiment 1 after watching a video related to epidemics. The results showed that the effect of wildlife anthropomorphization vanished if participants’ negative emotion was aroused by the video. The present research provides experimental evidence that anthropomorphic strategies would be useful for boosting public support for wildlife conservation. However, policymakers and conservation organizations must be careful about the negative effects of the pandemic context, as the negative emotions produced by it seems to weaken the effectiveness of anthropomorphic strategies.

scholarly journals Documenting Biogeographical and Socio-Economic Patterns of Illegal Wildlife Trade worldwide

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucrecia Souviron-Priego ◽  
Jesús Olivero ◽  
Juan Mario Vargas ◽  
John E. Fa
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Illegal Wildlife Trade

scholarly journals Evidence to Action: Research to Address Illegal Wildlife Trade

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.J. Milner-Gulland ◽  
Laure Cugniere ◽  
Amy Hinsley ◽  
Jacob Phelps ◽  
Michael 't Sas Rolfe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Illegal Wildlife Trade ◽  
Research Collaborations ◽  
Development Goals

Tools and expertise to improve the evidence base for national and international Illegal Wildlife Trade policy already exist but are underutilised. Tapping into these resources would produce substantive benefits for wildlife conservation and associated sectors, enabling governments to better meet their obligations under the Sustainable Development Goals and international biodiversity conventions. This can be achieved through enhanced funding support for inter-sectoral research collaborations, engaging researchers in priority setting and programme design, increasing developing country research capacity and engaging researchers and community voices in policy processes. This briefing, addressed to policy makers and practitioners, is part of the 2018 Evidence to Action: Research to Address Illegal Wildlife Trade event programme, organised by five of the UK’s most active IWT research institutions, to support the London 2018 IWT Conference.

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