Is there a war on wildlife?

Wildlife conservationists will gather in London this week for the Illegal Wildlife Conference, hosted by the UK government. The event brings together animal welfare organisations and activists from around the world to develop new strategies to combat a sadly lucrative industry.

The multi-billion dollar trade includes the smuggling of poached animal parts such as elephant ivory and pangolin scales and the sale of many species – including tigers, monkeys and bears – as domestic pets. Several protected plant species have also been found for sale on Amazon and eBay and research conducted in 2016 by the monitoring network TRAFFIC found more than 1,500 animals advertised for sale on Facebook groups in Thailand.

Although some countries have moved to ban the ivory trade, Zoological Society of London Director General Dominic Jermey says an elephant is still “killed for its tusks every 25 minutes.”

 

In this episode of The Stream, we speak with conservationists to find out how they are working to curb the illegal wildlife trade and stay ahead of those who profit from it. Join the conversation.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Barnaby Phillips @BarnabyPhillips
Communications Director, Elephant Protection Initiative
elephantprotectioninitiative.org

Johan Bergenäs @johanbergenas 
Senior Director of Public Policy, Vulcan Inc.
vulcan.com

Angela Grimes @BornFreeUSA 
Interim CEO, Born Free USA
bornfreeusa.org   

 

Read more

‘Terror being waged on wildlife’, leaders warn – The Guardian
China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017 – Al Jazeera
The illegal wildlife trade is causing unimaginable damage – here’s how we’re working to end it – The Independent

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