The U.S. and Canada have failed in their bid to loosen restrictions on the international trade in peregrine falcons, with delegates to CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, voting against it at an summit underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The two countries had submitted a joint proposal to move peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) from CITES Appendix […]
Tag: wildlife trade
People Are Using TikTok to Sell Endangered Animals to Eat
Critically endangered animals are being advertised for sale as bushmeat on TikTok, a new study finds. The work, published recently in Nature Conservation, underscores the growing role social media plays in the global illegal wildlife trade. Bushmeat—meat sourced from wild animals—is commonly eaten in many African and some Asian countries. Though some people hunt for […]
A Troubling Rise in the Grisly Trade of a Spectacular African Bird
In late August the Nigeria Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society received photos of primate and bird parts recently seized by the Nigerian Customs Service in Oron, a small port city in southeastern Nigeria, some 20 miles from the border with Cameroon. The images showed 11 blackened ape heads — a gorilla and 10 chimpanzees […]
Cuddling capybaras and ogling otters: the problem with animal cafes in Asia
The second floor of an unassuming office building in central Bangkok is a strange place to encounter the world’s largest rodent. Yet here, inside a small enclosure with a shallow pool, three capybaras are at the disposal of dozens of paying customers – all clamouring for a selfie. As people eagerly thrust leafy snacks toward […]
It’s ‘whack-a-mole’: Alarming rise in pet trade fuels wildlife trafficking into California
In October, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at California’s Otay Mesa border crossing noticed an odd bulge inside a man’s pants. Jesse Agus Martinez, a U.S. citizen who lives in Tijuana, repeatedly claimed the bump was “pirrin,” a Spanish word for penis. His history of smuggling birds into the U.S. prompted further examination, […]
How Pangolins Became the World’s Most Trafficked Mammal
Pangolins, often described as walking artichokes or modern-day dinosaurs, are extraordinary creatures that have roamed the Earth for millions of years. Despite their unique evolutionary adaptations and gentle nature, these remarkable mammals now face an existential crisis. Each year, tens of thousands of pangolins are poached from the wild, pushing all eight species toward extinction. […]
The growing exotic pet trade drives illegal sales online and a push for tighter rules
A growing exotic pet trade has conservationists calling for stronger regulations to protect the reptiles, birds and other animals in the wild that are increasingly showing up for sale on internet marketplaces and becoming popular on social media. The two-week Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is scheduled to […]
10,000 shark fins worth over $11M seized in major wildlife trafficking bust in Peru
U.S. authorities have assisted the Peruvian government in seizing an estimated 10,000 individual shark fins destined for China — one of the largest wildlife trafficking operations in Latin American history. The bust, on Nov. 10 at an industrial port outside of Lima, led to the arrest of three men tied to a transnational criminal network […]