Wildlife Crime and Trafficking: Animal Welfare at the Intersection of Crime and Conservation

Wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest criminal enterprise globally, causing enormous suffering through the capture, transport, and sale of live animals and animal parts from thousands of species.

Key Facts

Wildlife trafficking generates an estimated $23 billion annually, making it comparable in scale to drug and weapons trafficking
Live animal trafficking involves significant mortality — mortality rates during transport can exceed 80% for some reptile and bird species
Animals that survive capture and transport often experience severe welfare harm during holding and sale conditions
Major trafficking flows include parrots and reptiles from Central and South America, pangolins from Africa and Asia, and big cat parts from Asia
Demand reduction — reducing consumer desire for wildlife products — is increasingly recognized as essential alongside enforcement
Wildlife trafficking is closely linked to organized crime, corruption, and armed conflict in range countries

Welfare Considerations

Wildlife trafficking causes intense welfare suffering at multiple stages. Capture methods including snare traps, live capture, and shooting of mothers to take offspring cause acute injury and death. Animals that survive capture are typically confined in containers far too small for basic comfort, denied food and water, and subjected to temperature extremes during transport — conditions that cause suffering and mass mortality. Animals that reach live animal markets or private buyers are often kept in inappropriate conditions with inadequate veterinary care. For animals killed for their parts — ivory, horn, skin, bones — the killing methods vary in their humaneness but often involve acute suffering from illegal snaring, poisoning, or shooting. The welfare harm of wildlife trafficking extends beyond individual animals to devastate populations that serve ecological roles maintaining ecosystems on which many animals depend.

What You Can Do

Never purchase wildlife products including traditional medicines, ornaments, or luxury goods made from threatened species
Report suspected wildlife trafficking to national wildlife authorities or TRAFFIC
Support anti-trafficking organizations working on enforcement, demand reduction, and community conservation
Avoid wildlife selfie businesses and private animal ownership that create demand driving trafficking
Engage with demand reduction campaigns targeting consumption of wildlife products in key markets
Support community conservation programs that provide economic alternatives to wildlife exploitation