U.S. looks for new ways to fight illegal wildlife trafficking

Wildlife trafficking worldwide is leading to endangered species. As of February, only 3,200 tigers were left in the wild and 100-1,000 Proboscis monkeys were still alive, according to the Guardian. The populations of wild Asian rhinos have plunged to less than 4,000. All three are being poached for their skin, meat, bones or horns.

The USAID challenge aims to help reduce the amount of wildlife trafficking in four ways. First, the idea should monitor, protect and predict transit routes, Eric White of the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge said at a discussion Tuesday hosted by the Society for International Development.

“This is about how trafficked wildlife and wildlife parts get from point of origin to point of consumption, and it’s not very straightforward to figure out,” he said, as the routes change often to avoid police.

The second need is to “strengthen forensic evidence” through efficient identification of wildlife and wildlife parts and “sharing the knowledge that those seizures generate among law-enforcement agencies in better coordinating law enforcement efforts,” White said.

The technology also should seek to lessen consumer demand by alerting the public of the illegality of the trade and helping to change any beliefs it’s legal. Lastly, the idea should strive to battle corruption, as “it facilitates every aspect of the trade,” be it the government officials who turn a blind eye or law enforcement who accept money under the table, White said.

“The Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge is not just about sourcing innovative science and technology tools, it’s about helping them accelerate and scale by awarding cash prizes, by giving public recognition, by providing technical assistance … to networking support with funders and potential users of the technology,” White said.

Efforts funded by the U.S. have helped reduce some of the wildlife trafficking “11-fold” as ivory sales have declined in China and shark fin sales dropped in Thailand, said Onkuri Majumdar, managing director of Freeland India.

Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking, a U.S. funded initiative, is trying to target “wildlife criminals” and is working with government investigators to train them on how to approach “transnational criminal trafficking syndicates,” Majumdar said at the discussion on Tackling Illegal Wildlife Trade in the Asia Pacific Region.

Trafficking networks are “so very organized that the enforcement that responds to it at this point needs to be organized, otherwise we are fighting a losing battle,” Majumdar said.

She said the agency’s main goal is to reduce trafficking. But because it is so difficult to quantify, she said she hopes to see an increase in endangered wildlife populations as well as an increase in arrests.

The group has found that most consumers of trafficked goods are young men ages 25-45 who seek out wildlife products such as ivory, rhino horn and tiger bones as status symbols.

But some people rely on the trade to provide for their families. The Regional Response helps to train them with a legal, employable skill-set. For example, in Thailand, the agency trains people in mushroom farming as an alternative means of income, Majumdar said.

She said there is a cross-over between wildlife trafficking and other forms of trafficking such as women and narcotics. Women are sometimes traded and carry illegal wildlife with them. Animals sometimes serve as means of carrying narcotics. Traffickers have been known to shove condoms full of cocaine into live pythons, she said. Even illegal exchanges of tobacco and cigarettes coincide with wildlife trafficking.

The Asian Regional Response looked into ways to educate airport staff on the signs of illegal trafficking. They have created an online manual and a free Android application to help identify the animal, care for it before taking it to the vet or identify if it is legal to transport. People also can use the app to take photos and send images of wild animals illegally captured to the local authorities, Majumdar said.

Members of Born Free, an anti-poaching group in Washington, studied the illegal ivory trade for more than three months and found that more attention should be paid to the middle of the supply chain rather than poaching and sales, National Geographic reported.

Larger shipments of ivory are made on ships rather than planes, but more pieces are moved by plane, the study found. There are two separate groups of criminal traders, the African poachers and shippers and the Asian recipients and sellers.

“A lot of these criminals, they are organized crime, and wildlife is one of the many things they move. And because wildlife is a low-risk investment in most cases, it’s easy for them to raise money for subversive activities and insurgency by poaching elephants and selling the ivory,” Majumdar said.

The illegal trade of wildlife affects ecosystems, harms watersheds and can hurt human health. Wild animals, alive or slaughtered, can come in contact with humans and livestock and spread viruses. National security is also threatened, she said.

Her message to governments is simple.

“It’s not just about the animals. These people who are poaching them are also destabilizing your country.”