Wildlife Crime and Animal Welfare

Wildlife crime encompasses poaching, trafficking, and illegal trade in live animals and animal products, causing welfare harm at every stage from capture through transport to illegal markets.

Key Facts

Wildlife crime is valued at USD 7-23 billion annually, making it one of the largest illicit economies globally
Capture methods including wire snares and poison cause prolonged suffering
Live animals in trafficking shipments experience mortality rates of 50-80% from stress and injury
Wildlife crime destabilizes wild populations, removing individuals from social groups and breeding pairs
International cooperation through CITES and INTERPOL is improving enforcement capacity in key regions

Welfare Considerations

Wildlife crime imposes welfare harm at unprecedented scale. Every poached elephant, every trafficked pangolin, every bird caught in a mist net for illegal trade represents individual suffering that multiplies across millions of animals annually. The chain from capture to sale involves compounding welfare insults — trap injury, transport stress, holding conditions, and eventual killing or sale into inadequate captivity. Addressing wildlife crime is simultaneously a conservation and animal welfare imperative.

What You Can Do

Never purchase wildlife products without verified legal provenance
Report suspected wildlife crime to authorities or the TRAFFIC tip line
Support anti-poaching organizations working on the ground in source countries
Donate to TRAFFIC, WWF, and organizations working on demand reduction
Raise awareness about wildlife crime as an animal welfare issue alongside conservation