The animals are trafficked and sometimes they are killed for a specific part for example elephants are killed for ivory. According to the World Economic Forum, the revenue produced by animal trafficking ranks around 23 billion dollars worldwide.
Larger animals often shipped, and air delivery services have been helpful in stopping animal trafficking at the port of entry.
The World Customs Organization and INTERPOL retrieved thousands of endangered animals during a sweep of arrests across 109 countries.
The reason for this heavy money is the premium prices paid by people who buy illegal animals or by-product of animals and the seller takes unaccountable risks to deliver the illicit merchandise.
Basically, animal trafficking is happening at large scale as people desire for it.
According to the WCO, in June the two agencies conducted nearly 2,000 seizures in a historic joint-operation, noting that Initial results have led to the identification of almost 600 suspects, triggering arrests worldwide. Further arrests and prosecutions are foreseen as ongoing investigations progress.
What is animal trafficking?
The animal trafficking is the process of transporting animals illegally in the form of smuggling etc.
Impact of trafficking on human
In terms of humans, it’s important to remember that wild animal are dangerous. They have no desire to hurt us, but when threatened, they’ll defend themselves. Animal traffickers use tranquilizers and other weapons to subdue the wildlife, but many are injured in confrontations.
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Animals can also carry diseases and parasites that might infect human beings. Additionally, imported animals can spread diseases and parasites to other animals in the destination country, causing serious epidemics.
Companion animals, such as dogs and cats, can become victims of much larger predators who escape their traffickers’ confines. Smaller animals in one part of the world don’t know how to defend themselves against larger predators they’ve never seen before.
Birds are among the most-trafficked animals, as we’ll discuss below, and they’re typically taken from their nests soon after birth. Traffickers and smugglers will fell trees just to get access to these baby birds. The mothers never get to nourish and raise their young.
Where does trafficking happen the most?
Animal trafficking can happen anywhere but mostly South and Latin America, and the Caribbean are targeted for being a biodiversity hotspot.
The concern is that many times animals die, and some species are at the verge of extinction and have a crucial role in nature to sustain yet they die due to human ignorance.
The pain is inevitable even in animals, they are sedated and get respiratory problems or cardiac issue.
For one thing, animals are often poached and destroyed in the field for their valuable body parts, such as rhino horns. These animals suffer unnecessarily and lose their lives just because a consumer believes he or she is entitled to that animal’s body.
The animals who are shipped from one place to another are not domesticated. They don’t understand what it means to be caged, and they’ll often hurt themselves trying to escape. Their handlers aren’t known for their gentle natures, so many of these animals get beaten and otherwise abused.
Plus, the animals are plucked from their natural habitats. There’s a reason why animals are indigenous to some parts of the world and not others. Their biological makeup endears them to certain weather conditions, plant life, animal life, and other details. During animal smuggling, the animals are uprooted and taken to a place where they can’t easily survive.
The transport: Most often Shipping and sometimes airways
Larger animals often shipped, and air delivery services have been helpful in stopping animal trafficking at the port of entry.
The World Customs Organization and INTERPOL retrieved thousands of endangered animals during a sweep of arrests across 109 countries.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Criminal Police Organization (otherwise known as INTERPOL) have announced the success of Operation Thunderbolt.
The World Customs Organisation in June the two agencies conducted nearly 2,000 seizures in a historic joint-operation, noting that Initial results have led to the identification of almost 600 suspects, triggering arrests worldwide.
Further arrests and prosecutions are foreseen as ongoing investigations progress.
Operation Thunderbolt (which I like to picture as being orchestrated by an angry Zeus) made 1,828 seizures, including:
Ø 23 live primates
Ø 30 big cats and large quantities of animal parts
Ø 440 pieces of elephant tusks and an additional 1200 pounds of ivory
Ø Five rhino horns
Ø More than 4,300 birds
Ø Just under 1,500 reptiles and nearly 10,000 turtles and tortoises
Ø Almost 7,700 wildlife parts from all species
Ø 2,550 cubic meters of timber (equivalent to 74 truckloads)
Ø More than 2,600 plants
Ø Almost 10,000 marine wildlife items
Among the wildlife parts were seven packages of pangolin parts weighing 1200 pounds bound for Asia seized in Nigeria.
A conclusive note
Wildlife crime not only strips our environment of its resources, but it also has an impact through the associated violence, money laundering, and fraud.
The WCO notes that wildlife crime is on the rise and closely linked to organized crime.
This massive disruption of criminal networks is key to saving endangered wildlife across the globe. But seizures and arrests are only initial steps – governments now must follow up with strong, meaningful prosecutions.
In particular, the criminals running these networks must feel the full weight of the law, including deterrent penalties and jail sentences.
What we lacked in tackling wildlife crime was a concerted network and this is what we have now.
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