Wildlife crime is the fourth largest criminal trade globally, requiring dedicated enforcement to protect species from poaching, trafficking, and persecution.
Animals targeted by wildlife crime experience direct welfare harms including poaching wounds, snare injuries, poisoning, and the stress of illegal capture and transport. Raptors poisoned with carbofuran experience paralysis, convulsions, and slow death. Badger baiting involves prolonged fighting. Trafficked animals suffer transport mortality and captivity stress. Beyond individual animals, wildlife crime devastates populations that provide ecosystem services and intrinsic value.