USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文双语Français
Home / Comment

Ending wildlife trafficking must be policy priority in Asia

By Isabelle Louis and Jeremy Douglas | China Daily | Updated: 2016-06-06 08:02

This year's World Environment Day on Sunday puts the spotlight on the illegal trade in wildlife. The problem has particular significance in Asia, which is the destination for most of the ivory taken from 20,000 to 25,000 elephants and the horns of more than 1,200 rhinos killed in Africa every year. Demand in the region is driven by fast growing middle and upper classes with an appetite for exotic pets, d��cor, food and fashion.

While several iconic species including rhinos, tigers and elephants are now in decline, with some populations pushed to the brink of extinction, it is actually less known species such as pangolins, turtles and reptiles that are most frequently smuggled across borders and consumed in the region.

Despite a variety of national and international instruments to counter the problem, transnational criminal groups have been able to circumvent regulations and to mix illegally sourced wildlife into legal markets. This often happens through fraud, advanced smuggling techniques, or more simply corruption. The size of some recent seizures and the variety of nationalities of the couriers arrested leaves no doubt about the organized and transnational nature of wildlife trafficking.

Ending wildlife trafficking must be policy priority in Asia

Today's Top News

Editor's picks

Most Viewed

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US