Private possession drives illegal wildlife trade in China

Zhou, Zhao‐Min; Johnson, Rebecca N.; Newman, Chris; Buesching, Christina D.; Macdonald, David W.; Zhou, Youbing

doi:10.1890/15.wb.014

Cited by 13 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…; Challender & MacMillan ; Zhou et al . ). One priority should be the spread of information about pangolins and the environmental consequences of their use in TCM to the general public to change attitudes regarding pangolin exploitation (Liu & Weng ) and emphasize that no reliable clinical efficacy of scales has been reported.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…While the market network described here could be key in identifying locations for increased enforcement to help curb pangolin trade (Phelps et al 2014), pangolin conservation will also require additional interventions beyond seizures and penalties. Social marketing and public education, demand reduction, and conservation awareness programs will all be crucial components of a successful and integrated conservation program in China, and in other pangolin range states (Zhang et al 2008;Challender & MacMillan 2014;Zhou et al 2015). One priority should be the spread of information about pangolins and the environmental consequences of their use in TCM to the general public to change attitudes regarding pangolin exploitation (Liu & Weng 2014) and emphasize that no reliable clinical efficacy of scales has been reported.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent Pangolin Seizures in China Reveal Priority Areas for Intervention

Cheng

Xing

Bonebrake

2017

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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All pangolin species globally are now listed under Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) due to escalating demand for their meat and scales, often for use in traditional medicine. While China has introduced pangolin trade restrictions, the country continues to represent the largest market and destination for pangolin products. We summarize pangolin seizure data reported in public media from 2008 to 2016, incorporating often neglected small seizures reported in Chinese. During that period, the equivalent of 65,849 pangolin individuals (23,109 individuals and 21,377 kg of scales) was recorded in 206 seizures in China. Using social network analysis, Guangzhou, Fangchenggang, and Kunming were identified as key nodes of the illegal pangolin market. Our work highlights the scale and scope of pangolin trade in China, applies novel methods for analyzing trade patterns, and offers guidance for future law enforcement and policy interventions for combatting wildlife trade internationally.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Pangolin Seizures in China Reveal Priority Areas for Intervention

Cheng

Xing

Bonebrake

2017

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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“…These prefectures predominantly represented the wealthier regions of China, in accord with the normal goods hypothesis (Brashares, Golden, Weinbaum, Barrett, & Okello, 2011), which states that purchasing power drives sales. Given that possession of protected wild animals and derived products is generally the prerogative of more affluent purchasers (see also Zhou et al, 2015aZhou et al, , 2015b, ownership is more likely to be esteemed than criticized in China; a phenomenon known as the anthropogenic Allee effect (Courchamp et al, 2006;Tella & Hiraldo, 2014), linking rarity, desirability, and value (Fernandes-Ferreira et al, 2012). We limited our search to a single (although the largest e-commerce platform in China) internet marketplace, Taobao.com, because data requests were not restricted on this site, and these data were presented in a wellstructured and consistent way.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, there is a strong relationship between poverty and illicit activity, such as illegal wildlife hunting (Duffy, St John, Büscher, & Brockington, 2015;Mackenzie, Chapman, & Sengupta, 2011). Conversely, predominantly wealthier consumers purchase exotic pets, as well as other luxury endangered wildlife products (e.g., ivory, rhino horn), and so this trade is more prevalent in areas with greater economic prosperity (Zhou et al, 2015a(Zhou et al, , 2015b.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of regional economics on the online sale of protected parrots and turtles in China

Newman

et al. 2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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The sale of wild animals, including protected species, may relate to regional differences in socio‐politics, culture, and economic development. A better understanding of how these factors affect the illegal wildlife trade is therefore necessary to optimize the deployment of conservation resources and policing. To evaluate these factors in relation to the trade‐in protected animals as pets, we surveyed China's popular consumer‐to‐consumer website, http://taobao.com (analogous to eBay), and found that over 70,000 individual live parrots and turtles (totaling 46 and 49 protected species, respectively) were sold in just 150 days. Using analyses that attempted to account for species richness estimation and autocorrelation effects, we identified that regional economics promoted the occurrence and extent of pet sales. The provenance of these traded animals was ambiguous, but their vast numbers raise two concerns: if any proportion was sourced illegally from the wild, it is of conservation concern; whereas any bred illegally in captivity raise animal welfare concerns, because this would be unregulated. In the context of rapid economic development in China, it is thus important to reform the legislation that currently allows these commonly traded pet species to slip through the net intended to police animal welfare and illegal animal trading.

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“…As the global human population increases, and as the economies of developing countries grow rapidly, demand for wildlife and hence the IWT flourishes (Baker et al 2013;Zhou et al 2015a). International travel and transport of goods are now commonplace, and they facilitate movement of live wild animals and products derived from them (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of global trends in CITES live wildlife confiscations

D’Cruze¹,

Macdonald²

2016

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We assessed the global scope and scale of confiscated live wild vertebrates using information from the annual Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) reports. These reports documented a total of 64,143 individual animals (from 359 species), confiscated by 54 countries party to CITES, between 2010 and 2014. Reptiles represented 95% of individuals seized and posed a particular management challenge during this time. From a conservation perspective, 19% of all individuals reported as seized are currently considered as "Threatened" according to the IUCN Red List and 1% are listed on CITES Appendix I. During this time period, relevant national enforcement agencies have had to effectively detect and quickly deal with illegal live shipments involving a diverse array of vertebrate species with varying psychological attributes, physiological attributes and conservation value. However, we raise pre-existing concerns that CITES records are incomplete, with no data on live seizures provided by 70% of countries party to CITES. Data on the disposal of confiscated live animals is also lacking as providing them is not currently a formal CITES requirement. This lack of information impedes the proper allocation of available resources and prevents the effective monitoring and evaluation of management outcomes. Therefore, we recommend that the management authorities improve reporting compliance, and we encourage the CITES trade database (and other associate national, regional and global databases) to include information on the disposal of all live seizures.

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Private possession drives illegal wildlife trade in China

Cited by 13 publications

References 6 publications

Recent Pangolin Seizures in China Reveal Priority Areas for Intervention

Recent Pangolin Seizures in China Reveal Priority Areas for Intervention

Effects of regional economics on the online sale of protected parrots and turtles in China

A review of global trends in CITES live wildlife confiscations

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