Interpol has claimed that organised crime networks are beginning to move into the illegal wildlife trade. Davyth Stewart from Interpol said, "We have seen more and more organised crime networks moving into the wildlife trade. Groups who have been traditionally involved in drug trafficking, fire arms and human trafficking are now moving onto wildlife."
It is estimated that $19 billion a year is made from an illegal market dealing in slaughtered rhinos, elephants, tigers and other such animals. However, as Mr Stewart stated, it can be a low risk but high profit crime, "Even in courts the penalties are much lower. Just last year in Ireland, we saw two people arrested for smuggling rhino horns worth half a million euros. They received a 500-euro fine."
Although it may seem a daunting task, conservationists have said that they must tackle such illegal activity.
However, there have been examples of successful mitigation attempts in some areas. In Bardia National Park in Nepal, wildlife officers worked with local communities resulting in guns, once used to kill wildlife, being voluntarily handed over. In addition, a new Wildlife Conservation and Management Act has been passed in Kenya which places stiff penalties or long prison sentences on illegal traffickers.
Dr John Robinson, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, believes an effective way of stopping such crimes is to focus on reducing the demand for wildlife products. "There are two steps to solving the demand issue, one is to make people aware that ivory, for example, comes from live animals and animals have to be killed to supply that ivory. And that is information not commonly understood in some parts of the world. And then once you understand those issues, you have to change people's behaviour."
He added, "I'm confident that once people are aware of what the issues are, we will see some significant change."
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