Wildlife Crime and Illegal Trade Impact on Welfare

How wildlife crime and illegal trade cause extreme welfare suffering to individual animals and drive population collapses across multiple species.

Key Facts

Wildlife trafficking is estimated to be the fourth largest global illegal trade after drugs, arms, and human trafficking
Mortality rates during capture and transport can exceed 80% for some species such as parrots and reptiles
Animals confined in smuggling conditions suffer extreme stress, injury, dehydration, and suffocation
Poaching for body parts — ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales — involves prolonged suffering and death
Wildlife crime is often linked to organised criminal networks and weakens conservation efforts globally

Welfare Considerations

Wildlife crime inflicts extraordinary suffering on individual animals while simultaneously threatening the survival of entire species. For every animal that reaches a market alive, many more die during capture, transport, and processing. The welfare harms are compounded by the fear, pain, and confinement experienced by survivors. Addressing wildlife crime requires effective law enforcement, demand reduction in consumer markets, community-based conservation, and severe penalties that reflect the seriousness of the harm caused. Public awareness of the individual animal suffering embedded in wildlife products is a powerful demand-reduction tool.

What You Can Do

Never purchase wildlife products including ivory, coral, reptile leather, or exotic pets from unverified sources
Report suspected wildlife trafficking to relevant authorities — TRAFFIC and CITES provide reporting channels
Support organisations working on wildlife crime enforcement, demand reduction, and community conservation
Learn to identify wildlife products that may be linked to illegal trade before purchasing souvenirs abroad
Engage with social media platforms and marketplaces to report illegal wildlife advertisements