New report: Wildlife crime in Hispanic America

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5 December 2024

On 5 December 2024 IFAW launched the report “Wildlife crime in Hispanic America”, which was authored by Pauline Verheij of EcoJust. 

 

The report presents an analysis of data on wildlife seizures and poaching incidents reported in the media between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2022 in the 18 Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It provides an important baseline to inform the understanding of illegal exploitation of reptiles, birds, mammals, and amphibians in this biodiverse region.

 

The study’s key findings include:

 

Species affected

A total of 1,945 seizures and poaching incidents were identified, affecting a minimum number of 102,577 wild animals. Of these, 59% impacted reptiles; 28% birds; 9% amphibians; and 4% mammals. The high percentage of reptiles can be partly explained by two major seizures totalling 29,502 mud turtles and musk turtles, which took place in Mexico in 2020. In most countries, however, the most seized taxa were birds.

 

At least 690 different species were recorded, including 328 bird species; 174 mammal species; 165 reptile species; and 23 amphibian species. Of these, more than half (363 species) are only protected by domestic laws, not by CITES. This is disproportionally true for songbirds.

 

The illegal wildlife trade in Hispanic America is a major contributor to the decline of some wildlife species and is driving some species to extinction. Several species found in illegal trade are classified as “Critically Endangered” or “Endangered” by IUCN, meaning that they face an extremely high risk and high risk respectively of extinction in the wild.

 

Four red and green macaw chicks seized in San Luis, Argentina, September 2021

 

Countries with the highest reported numbers of incidents and animals involved

Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Peru reported the highest numbers of seizures and poaching incidents and animals involved. Mexico surpassed all other countries, accounting for 28% of all incidents and 45% of all animals seized or poached.

 

Increasing trend

Region-wide, incident reports increased significantly during the study period, from 257 cases in 2017 rising to 431 cases in 2022, a trend which could be attributable to factors including but not limited to an actual uptick in poaching and trafficking, enhanced law enforcement focus, and/or increased media attention.

 


Domestic and foreign demand

Trafficked wildlife mainly supplies domestic markets, including the pet trade; wild meat (bushmeat) consumption; traditional medicine; fashion; décor; jewellery; and the use of wildlife (alive, dead or their parts) in folkloristic practices or rituals.

Only a small percentage (2.6%) of all seizures identified by this study concerned illicit shipments that were destined for and/or seized in the USA, Europe and Asia. However, these shipments often involved rare and/or endemic species, highlighting the major threat this foreign demand presents to already vulnerable Hispanic American wildlife.

 

Live animal trade

92.5% of all wildlife reported to be seized or poached in Hispanic America between 2017 and 2022 concerned live animals, mainly to supply the demand for wild pets (“mascotismo”), which is strongly rooted in most Hispanic American cultures. This puts a spotlight on the need to better understand and reduce consumer demand, as well ensuring there are adequate rescue and rehabilitation facilities in place, both from an individual animal welfare perspective and a species conservation perspective. It is also important that front line officials are well trained to identify wildlife species, protect themselves and provide appropriate care to animals from the moment of seizure to when they can safely be transferred to specialised care or repatriated.

 

Juvenile white-faced capuchins seized in Guatemala that two Mexican men tried to smuggle to Mexico in January 2020. Photo: Conap.

 

Impacts on animal welfare and human health

Illegal wildlife trade in Hispanic America is associated with untold animal suffering and high mortality rates, particularly given the large volumes of live animals smuggled over long distances in dire circumstances. In addition, there are significant risks of zoonotic disease transmission, e.g. in the case of live monkey trafficking and human consumption of monkeys.

 

Illegal online wildlife trade

Illegal online wildlife trade has reportedly increased exponentially in Hispanic America. However, online wildlife traffickers appear to be operating with near impunity as most Hispanic American countries reported very few – if any – seizures of wildlife that was offered for sale online.

 

Law enforcement efforts

Wildlife crime remains a high-profit, low-risk crime for those who engage in poaching and trafficking in Hispanic America. Fighting wildlife crime does not appear to be a priority for many governments in the region; accordingly, resources allocated to responsible law enforcement actions to combat wildlife crime are broadly insufficient. Law enforcement responses to illegal wildlife exploitation in Hispanic America are predominantly reactive and by and large fail to effectively deter, disrupt and dismantle wildlife crime networks.

 

Shipment of 1,936 mata mata turtle hatchlings seized in Colombia, Bogotá International Airport, in May 2021.

 

Recommendations

The study makes recommendations to more effectively fight wildlife poaching and trafficking in Hispanic America. These include enhancing legal and criminal justice responses to wildlife crime as well as raising awareness and eradicating consumer demand for wildlife, in line with the Lima Declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade of 4 October 2019, which was adopted by all Hispanic American countries except for Cuba and Venezuela.

 

Visualising the data

Alongside the report comes a very cool online dashboard developed by Go Insight which visualises the data collected for the report and allows users to interact with these data.

 

The full report, which analyses findings for the region as well as the 18 countries that were part of the study, is available here. A summary of the report, including the regional analysis, is available in English, and in Spanish.

 

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