Stolen Wildlife - Interesting article

[jlyoncc1]

While waiting for 2 yes 2 hours in the Drs. office today with my daughter, I read an article in the Smithsonian December 09 issue. It was about the poaching of animals from the wild for sale as pets. This stat kind of blew my mind. "The illicit animal trade is surpassed only by drugs and weapons trafficking. Stolen animals are a $10 billion business worldwide." The article was mostly about birds but mentioned torts, monkeys, etc. Someone even had a baby armadillo they were trying to sell for $20. They cut down the trees when they know the macaw babies have hatched and hope they survive the fall. It was really sad.

 

[dmmj]

yah it seems kinda odd that illegal wildlife would be worth more than drugs.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

So did the article speculate/report on the motivations behind stealing wildlife?

I know that tigers and rhinos are butchered for various body parts that are used as potions to "enhance" or as aphrodisiacs; and I am thinking that some birds and monkeys must be valued as exotic pets for rich people (who else could afford the enlosure and care costs?), but if the traffic is nearly as great as that for drugs and weapons, I find myself wondering what all those animals are used for after they're stolen.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

This is why ya'll need to make sure its CB ... Wildlife has it hard enough with pollution, deforestation, and being poached...

 

[jlyoncc1]

This particular article was mainly geared toward the pet trade, but also did mention how much of it is sold as meat for consumption.