Wildlife Trafficking: Welfare Across the Criminal Supply Chain

Wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest criminal enterprise globally, causing immense welfare harm from capture through transport and sale. Disrupting this trade requires demand reduction, enforcement, and alternative livelihoods.

Key Facts

Wildlife trafficking is estimated to be worth USD 7-23 billion annually and involves over 100 million plants and animals.
Animals captured for the trade experience mortality rates of 40-80% from capture through transport before reaching markets.
Major trafficking hotspots include Southeast Asia (reptiles, birds), sub-Saharan Africa (ivory, pangolins), and Latin America (parrots, primates).
The Wildlife Justice Commission coordinates intelligence-led enforcement to disrupt criminal trafficking networks.
Consumer demand reduction campaigns targeting China, Vietnam, and the US are among the highest-impact interventions.

Welfare Considerations

Wildlife trafficking creates catastrophic welfare harm at every stage of the criminal supply chain. Capture using crude traps, snares, and nets causes immediate injury. Transport in concealed, cramped conditions causes dehydration, overheating, suffocation, and traumatic injury. Holding facilities before sale provide minimal care. The animals that survive this process often die within weeks of reaching buyers who lack the knowledge to maintain them. Disrupting the supply chain through enforcement and demand reduction prevents this prolonged chain of suffering for millions of animals annually.

What You Can Do

Never purchase wildlife products or live wild animals from unverified sources.
Report suspected trafficking to TRAFFIC, Wildlife Justice Commission, or local authorities.
Refuse wildlife tourism experiences involving wild-caught animals.
Support demand reduction campaigns targeting major consumer countries.
Donate to Wildlife Justice Commission, TRAFFIC, and anti-trafficking enforcement programs.