International wildlife trade involves the legal and illegal trade of wild animals, plants, and their products globally. It is a large industry valued between $7-23 billion annually. However, illegal wildlife trade threatens many species with extinction as it is driven by high demand and profits from trafficking endangered species like elephants, rhinos, and tigers. Impacts include loss of biodiversity, disruption of ecosystems, and compromised security. Organizations like TRAFFIC and CITES aim to regulate and monitor wildlife trade to promote sustainable and legal trade while curbing poaching and illegal trafficking.

1. International
Wildlife Trade
1Group No 2

2. Content
• What is Wildlife Trade?
• Global trade of wildlife and wildlife products?
• Quantifying Wildlife Trade
Custom data
CITES Annual reports
• Estimate Flora and fauna global international trade
Mammals in trade
Reptiles in trade
Birds in trade
Butterflies in trade
Plants in trade
• Why need to concern wildlife trade
• Types of wildlife trade
Legal Wildlife Trade
Illegal Wildlife Trade
• Causes of Illegal Wildlife Trade
• Impacts of Illegal Wildlife Trade
TRAFFIC
CITES
• Sri Lanka and International Wildlife Trade
• What we can do to stop Wildlife Trade?
• References
•
•
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3. Wildlife Trade
‘Wildlife Trade’ the sale and exchange by people of
live wild animal, animal products and plant
resourses.
The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and
ornamental plants to a vast array of wildlife
products and derivatives.
Fish and other food products exotic leather gods,
musical instruments, timber, tourist curios,
medicine and other commodities can be found in
markets around the earth.
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4. Global trade of wildlife
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Between 2007 and 2013,Rhino poaching in south
Africa Increased by 7.700%.Rhinos which are
poached for their horn, aren’t the only victims of
this illicit trade, which is driving many species of
wild animals and plants to extinction; elephants are
poached for ivory, tigers and leopards for their
skin, and iguanas are caught for the pet trade. Rare
timbers is targeted for hardwood furniture.
With a value between $7 billion and $23 billion each
year, illegal wildlife trafficking is the fourth most
lucrative global crime after drugs, humans and arms.
Trophy hunting is estimated to create around $200
million in annual revenue.

5. Socio-economic and cultural factors of wildlife
• Food- as game( wild pig, wild rabbits, porcupine, deer,
sambur) nuts, fruits, bird nests,
• Animal forages- Fish meal, grass and fodder
• Building materials and furniture- blood brick, wood
• Healthcare-Medicines
• Clothing and ornamentals- Jersey
• Pets- parrot, rabbit, mice
• Sports- instruments
• Collection- Butterflies,
• Religions- festivals, oblation
• Fuel- for cooking
• Insect products- honey, bee wax, silk
• Animals and animal products- ivory, trophies, skins,
feathers, eggs, live animals and birds 5

6. • As of 2011, the value of global trade of
wildlife and wildlife products (excluding
fisheries and timber) was calculated to be
between US $7.8 billion and US $10 billion
per year (GFI 2011).
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7. Quantifying wildlife Trade
• The trade is very poorly documented in terms of the
species or products involved, trade volumes and
trade values.
• The international trade in timber and fisheries
products is relatively better documented than the
trade in most other wildlife commodities, which is
reflection of the greater monitory value of this trade.
• There are two main sources of data on the
international wildlife trade;
 Custom data
 CITES Annual reports
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8. Custom data
• Custom data include information on trade
volumes and declared values upon export
and import.
• These are compiled by national governments
and organized according to commodity
types.
• Custom data provide information on levels of
processing and overall trade volumes, but
rarely involved on species or number of
specimens. 8

9. CITES Annual reports
• CITES Annual reporting requirements, the
trade in CITES listed species is relatively well
documented.
• Information on the different species and the
number of specimen reported in trade by
CITES parties is complied by the United
Nation Environment Programme- World
Conservation Monitoring Centre.
• The number of species covered by CITES is
small relative to the overall number of
wildlife species in trade. 9

10. • Cross –border trade in many region is likely
to circumvent CITES or other trade control
measures.
• Ex:- custom controls, and therefore not to
be accounted for within either customs or
CITES data.
• Illegal trade is also undocumented, with the
exception of information available for seized
shipments that is sometimes reported in
media or CITES trade data
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11. Estimate of The Global International Trade in wildlife
Commodity Estimated values US$
Primates 10 million
Cage birds 60 Million
Reptiles and amphibians 6 million
Ornamental fish 750 million
Mammal furs and products 750 million
Reptile skin products 750 million
Mollusc shells 200 million
Ornamental corals 20 Million
Natural peals and products 90 million
Wild ungulate products for medicine 30 million
Seahorses 5 million
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12. Commodity Estimated value US $
Game meat 120 million
Frog legs 60 million
Swift let nests 65 million
Edible snails 460 million
Wild plants 250 million
Non –wood forest products 11.7 million
Timber plants 14.9 billion
Fisheries food products 40 billion
Timber 104 billion
Source: TRAFFIC analysis based on declared import
values from various sources, largely derived from
published FOA and custom data .
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13. • Wildlife trade can be differentiated in legal and illegal
trade, and both can have domestic (local or national)
or international markets, but they might be often
related with each-other.
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16. Mammals in trade
Furs and skins
• The wild fur trade in India deals with at least 20 species of animals.
• Of these ,18species are endangered or vulnerable.
Ex- Leopard skin and bones, Big cat skin
• Globally, as many as 80-90% of the primates used in medical research
come from the wild.
• USA, the largest primate markets in the world imports 13000- 17000
live animal per year.
• Other mammals traded are Sloth bear, Clouded Leopards, Slow Loris,
Red panda, Hoolock Gibbon, Clouded Leopard, Leopard Cat for pets
and large cats for circus.
• 1000 of Spiny- tailed Lizards collected in Western India and used for
Extracting oil, which is supposed to have aphrodisiacal properties.
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19. • Antlers and horns
• The antlers of deer such as Chital, Sambar, Barking deer
and Swamp deer are found in trade.
•
The main export of antlers or products from India is to
Europe, Australia, East Asia and USA.
•
Total collection is estimated to be 20 tons annually.
• Antlers used in cutlery handles and buttons. Also used as
whole antlers for trophies or shields or decorating houses.
• They are also reported to be used in traditional oriental
medicines.
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20. Reptiles in Trade
Reptile skins
• It is estimated that India
used to export US$ 60
million worth of reptile
skins annually when the
trade was legal,
E Marsh Crocodile, Salt water
Crocodile, Common Monitor
Lizard, Yellow Monitor
Lizard, Rock Python, Cobra,
Rat snake, Russell’s viper
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21. Birds in trade
• The minimum declared value of the world bird
trade is US$ 44 million.
• About 3.5to 5 million wild birds are documented
in international commercial trade annually.
• On a global basis, one out of three birds caught
from the wild survives on an average on dies
during capture and another during
transportation.
• As per the wildlife Protection Act 1972, keeping
and sale of wild birds is prohibited.
• Ex- Parrots, Peregrine falcons use for hunting
smaller birds.
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23. Butterflies in Trade
• Trade in butterflies is
estimated to be worth
US$ 100 million per
year.
• Taiwan exports up to
500 million butterflies
per year, many of them
collected fro all over
Asia.
• Butterfly one specimen
can fetch up to
thousands of dollars in
Europe and USA.
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24. Plants in Trade
• According to the World Health
Organization(WHO),more than 4 billion people
rely on herbal medicines to some extent.
• India and Brazil are the largest exporters of
medicinal plants.
• Medicinal plants are traded as chips, pulp, bark,
fruit ,root ,wood ,herb , flowers, seed, petals,
rhizomes, nuts, shells and others.
• The world market for wild plants, for decorating
houses and gardens is large as trade among
collectors adds to the peril of species that are rare
and difficult to cultivate.
• Such as Cactus, Rare Cycads and carnivorous
plants and orchids. 24

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26. Need To Concern In Wildlife Trade
• Wildlife trade threatens the local ecosystem and puts all
species under additional pressure at a time when they are
facing threats such
as overfishing, pollution, dredging, deforestation and
other forms of habitat destruction.
• In the food chain, species higher up on the ladder ensure that
the species below them do not become too abundant (hence
controlling the population of those below them).
• Different forms of wildlife trade or use (utilization, hunting,
trapping, collection or over-exploitation) are the second major
threat to endangered mammals and it also ranks among the
first ten threats to birds, amphibians and cycads.
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27. Types Of Wildlife Trade
• Legal Wildlife Trade
• Illegal Wildlife Trade
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30. Legal Wildlife Trade
• The legal trade in wildlife products is often
overshadowed by wildlife crime and illegal trade.
• It involves thousands of different fauna and flora
species, provides a source of income for millions of
producers, raw materials for businesses and local
collectors, and a staggering array of goods for
hundreds of millions of consumers.
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31. • It plays an undeniably fundamental role in
regional, national, and international economies.
• The benefits of legal, responsible, and
sustainable wildlife trade are largely going
unrecognized. As a result, there has been
relatively little attention or investment to ensure
that wildlife trade is managed in ways that
maintain healthy ecosystems and populations of
target species.
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32. Illegal Wildlife Trade
• Illegal wildlife trade is a big
business.
• Run by dangerous international
networks, wildlife and animal parts
are trafficked much like illegal
drugs and arms.
• By its very nature, it is almost
impossible to obtain reliable figures
for the value of illegal wildlife trade.
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33. • Experts at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade
monitoring network, estimate that it runs into
hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Some examples of illegal wildlife trade are well
known, such as poaching of elephants for ivory
and tigers for their skins and bones.
•
• However, countless other species are similarly
overexploited, from marine turtles to timber
trees.
• Not all wildlife trade is illegal. 33

34. • Wild plants and animals from tens of thousands of
species are caught or harvested from the wild and
then sold legitimately as food, pets, ornamental plants,
leather, tourist ornaments and medicine.
• Wildlife trade escalates into a crisis when an
increasing proportion is illegal and unsustainable—
directly threatening the survival of many species in the
wild.
• Stamping out wildlife crime is a priority for WWF
because it’s the largest direct threat to the future of
many of the world’s most threatened species. It is
second only to habitat destruction in overall threats
against species survival.
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35. Causes Of Illegal Wildlife Trade
• As human populations have grown, so has the
demand for wildlife. People in many countries are
accustomed to a lifestyle which fuels demand for
wildlife.
• They expect access to a variety of seafoods, leather
goods, timbers, medicinal ingredients and textiles.
• At the other end, extreme poverty means some
people see wildlife as valuable barter for trade.
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36. • DEMAND DRIVES CRIME
o Rhino horn, elephant ivory and tiger products continue to
command high prices among consumers, especially in Asia.
In Vietnam, the recent myth that rhino horn can cure cancer
has led to massive poaching in South Africa and pushed the
price of rhino horn to rival gold.
• GAPS IN PROTECTION
o Corruption, toothless laws, weak judicial systems and light
sentences allow criminal networks to keep plundering wildlife
with little regard to consequences.
o These factors make illegal wildlife trade a low risk business
with high returns.
o The poachers—often poor locals—are the usually the only
ones caught, leaving the real masterminds and their network
safe and operational with the ability to strike again.
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37. • HIGH PROFIT MARGINS
o Illegal wildlife trade is driven by high profit margins
and, in many cases, the high prices paid for rare
species.
o Vulnerable wild animals are pushed further to the
edge of extinction when nature can’t replenish their
stocks to keep up with the rate of human
consumption.
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38. Impacts Of Illegal Wildlife Trade
• There are certain places in the world where
wildlife trade is particularly threatening.
• These areas are called “wildlife trade
hotspots.”
• They include China's international borders, trade
hubs in East/Southern Africa and Southeast
Asia, the eastern borders of the European
Union, some markets in Mexico, parts of the
Caribbean, parts of Indonesia and New Guinea,
and the Solomon Islands.
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39. • While these hotspots might be trouble areas at present,
they also offer opportunities for great conservation
success, if action and funds are well-focused.
• Wildlife trade alone is a major threat to some species,
but its impact is frequently made worse by habitat loss
and other pressures.
ALTERING LIVELIHOODS
Local wildlife is considered an important resource
by many communities, often the poorest, in the
developing world. Some rural households depend
on wild animals for protein, trees for fuel, and both
wild animals and plants for natural cures.
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40. • INTERRUPTION OF NATURE
o Overexploitation of species affects the living planet in
wider ways. Just as overfishing causes imbalances in
the whole marine system, our complex web of life on
earth depends on careful and thoughtful use of wildlife
species and their habitats.
• INVASIVE SPECIES
o Many invasive species have been purposely introduced
by wildlife traders or buyers.
o These invasive species prey on or compete with native
species and are a major threat to the balance of nature.
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41. Impacts Of Illegal Wildlife Trade (Cont…)
• INCIDENTAL KILLING OF NON-TARGET SPECIES
o Like marine species killed through bycatch, incidental killing
of animals also happens on land.
o For example, crude traps set for musk deer or duikers cause
damage and death to a variety of animals besides those
intended.
• COMPROMISED SECURITY
o The very existence of illegal trade undermines efforts made
by countries to protect their natural resources.
o Illegal wildlife trade is run by criminal networks with wide,
international reach.
o Some traffic illegal drugs, arms and even people.
o Recent evidence shows that some networks are also linked
to terrorist organizations. 41

42. • Plays important role is fighting illegal trade.
• 50 years of environmental conservation.
• Human Induced Changes.
• Works in conjunction with TRAFFIC and CITES.
TRAFFIC
• World’s largest wildlife monitoring network.
• Protect wild animal and plant species.
• Promote international agreements and policies.
• Safeguard priority Eco regions.
• Methods of TRAFFIC
• Mobilization of knowledge
• Use of effective regulation
• Use of positive economic incentives
• Promotion of sustainable consumptive behaviours.
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43. CITES-(the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
• CITES was established in the 1960’s.
• Ensuring that international trade of wild animals and
plants does not threaten their survival.
• Roughly 5000 species of animals and 28000 species of
plants are protected.
• Methods of CITES
• Control of International trade.
• Import, Export, Re-export and introduction from the
sea.
• Designate one or more management Authorities.
• Scientific Authorities advise on effects.
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44. Sri Lanka And International Wildlife Trade
• Sri Lanka has a wealth of wildlife, including
flagship species such as the Asian elephant,
leopards, and blue whales. With around 7,500
plant and thousands of animal species (many of
which are endemic).
• It contains the highest concentration of species
in Asia and has been named (together with
India’s Western Ghats) a global biodiversity
hotspot.
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45. • This means it has an incredible degree of
biodiversity, but it also means this biodiversity is
under threat: and illegal wildlife trade certainly
contributes.
• The island is still a major hub for it and other
wildlife trafficking.
• Existing Sri Lankan laws might not suffice to
address the international illegal wildlife trade.
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46. Sri Lanka And International Wildlife Trade (Cont…)
• The Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance as amended
in 2009 includes provisions against the import and export
of elephants, tusks, and certain mammal species—
however, only few cases have been prosecuted under
this law so far.
• While the country has been a signatory to CITES for
decades, it still lacks local regulations to enforce all
aspects of the convention, making it difficult for customs
to prosecute wildlife traffickers in many cases.
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47. • Being better informed about the status of wildlife
and wildlife products. Spreading the word and
encouraging others to get better informed.
Supporting governments and local communities to
tackle the illegal trade in wildlife.
Reporting crimes when they are witnessed through
mobile technology and national hotlines.
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48. • Working to reduce human-wildlife conflict for land
and resourses at community level.
Making individual choices that don’t threaten
species such as not buying products from wildlife
protected by law and by supporting companies that
demonstrate sustainable supply chains and
environmentally responsible policies.
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49. References
• http://www.dwc.gov.lk/
• https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/wildlife/
• https://www.nwf.org/
• https://www.youtube.com/
• https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade/
• https://www.unitedforwildlife.org/issues/illegal-wildlife-trade/
• http://www.ft.lk/columns/The-fight-against-wildlife-trafficking--CITES-
in-Sri-Lanka/4-673190
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50. Group
Members
AG/AT/2015/4023
AG/AT/2015/4082
AG/AT/2015/4094
AG/AT/2015/4102
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51. Thank you…
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