This document provides a typology and overview of actors involved in illegal wildlife trade. It identifies different types of harvesters, intermediaries, and consumers and notes they may fall into multiple categories. Harvesters can be subsistence, specialist commercial, opportunistic, or rule abusers. Intermediaries include local guides, logisticians, specialists, processors, launderers, and vendors. Consumers purchase wildlife for medicinal, ornamental, cultural, gift, investment, recreational, food, or material purposes. The document also outlines common configurations of criminal networks and activities involved in wildlife trafficking such as collecting, trafficking, and selling.

1. TYPOLOGY OF OFFENDERS
E4J University Module Series
Wildlife, Forest and Fisheries Crime
Module 1: Illicit Markets
Harvesters Intermediarie
s
Consumers
• Subsistence
• Specialist
commercial
• Opportunist
• Local guide
• Rule abuser
• Bycatch
• Recreational
• Reactionary
• Logistician
• Specialist
smuggler
• Government
colluder
• Third party
• Processor
• Launderer
• Vendor
• Medicinal
• Ornamental
• Cultural
• Gift
• Investment
• Recreational
• Animal food
• Construction
materials
• Fuel
• Food
Note: categories are not mutually exclusive
Phelps et al (2016): Typology of key actor roles along wildlife trade
market chains

2. E4J University Module Series
Wildlife, Forest and Fisheries Crime
Module 1: Illicit Markets
Phelps et al (2016):
Typology of common
illegal wildlife trade
configurations
CRIMINAL NETWORKS

3. E4J University Module Series
Wildlife, Forest and Fisheries Crime
Module 1: Illicit Markets
LOCATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Concentratio
ns of Wildlife
Trafficking
• ‘Hot products’
• Spatio-temporal concentrations
• Hot routes and risky facilities
Collecting
and
harvesting
• initial step: collection, poaching, or harvesting of the
animal or plant, alive or killed, in order to be further
processed into a product or derivative of some sort
• In contrast to other forms of smuggling/trafficking, the
main harm caused by wildlife trafficking occurs when the
contraband is sourced
Trafficking
• Concealment
• Fraudulent documents
• Laundering
• Routes
Selling • Market places
• Online trade

4. THINGS TO REMEMBER
E4J University Module Series
Wildlife, Forest and Fisheries Crime
Module 1: Illicit Markets
★ Illegal wildlife market,
like any market, is
driven by demand and
supply (correlation)
★ Demand and supply
are not merely driven
by greed and
ignorance
★ Frequently difficult to
separate trafficking
from legal trade
(parallel markets,
laundering, …)
★ Livelihoods and jobs
may depend on trade;
tradition and culture
may be hard to change
★ Need to differentiate
between species,
locations, countries,
commodities, use
★ Illicit wildlife markets
are volatile and highly
speculative; many
figures are guesswork
★ Diverse players/roles in
wildlife trafficking
★ Sole operators;
networks
★ Caution when making
assumptions about
organized crime and
terrorism
▶ Careful with generalizations, exaggerations, bold
statements;
▶ Where possible use multiple sources to support
findings and arguments