Trends, patterns, and networks of illicit wildlife trade in Nepal: A national synthesis

Abstract

Illicit wildlife trade may have devastating consequences for Nepal's wildlife populations given its increasing national and global connectivity and proximity with large Indian and Chinese markets. Despite its potential impacts, our understanding about trends, patterns and networks of illicit wildlife trade in Nepal is very limited. Here, we provide a thorough and comprehensive national assessment of such trade in Nepal using 5 years (2011 through 2015) of data on wildlife seizures and arrests (n = 830) collected from 73 districts. Nearly 87% of arrests included seizures, and globally threatened species were confiscated from 56% of total arrests. There were increasing trends of arrest cases over the time period for all species (p = 0.03), leopards (p = 0.02) and red pandas (p = 0.002), and a decreasing trend for rhinoceros (p = 0.04). Seizures of multiple species—especially tigers, leopards, and pangolin—in arrest cases were suggestive of international organized criminal linkages, whereas individual small‐scale seizures were likely for local, species‐specific markets. The trade networks suggested connections between species core habitats (poaching sites), cities (collection sites), and transit routes between India and China (international markets). Our results show that wildlife trade, except for rhinoceros, is increasing and trade nodes along districts bordering China and India are suggestive of large, international networks.

The tide of tiger poaching in India is rising! An investigation of the intertwined facts with a focus on conservation

“…Wong ( 2016 ) reported that smuggling routes pass through Ladakh between India and Tibet, which provides an opportunity for the Indian poachers to transport the tiger skin to the dealers in Shiquanhe (Western Tibet), which later reaches Lhasa and other regions of China through retailers. According to Paudel et al ( 2020 ), tiger reserves such as Corbett, Udwan, and Katernighat are close to Nepal's western border, and the regions of both India's and Nepal's western and northern borders offer more direct trade routes and borders between India and China. Our analysis is similar to this report in that seizure cases occurred in the Sivalik range of India, which is close to the Corbett, Pilibhit, and Dudhwa tiger reserves and has a direct trade route to Nepal.…”

“…The majority of tiger part trafficking is done to meet Chinese demand (Gill, 2014 ). According to Paudel et al ( 2020 ), the main illegal trade route for tiger body parts is across the Indo-Chinese border. When tiger parts were scarce, leopards replaced the scarcity in the market (Niraj et al, 2012 ).…”

A Glimpse of Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) Hunting in Api Nampa Conservation Area (ANCA) Nepal

“…Darchula and Bajhang are becoming major hubs, with Tingkar and Saipal as the main outlets of illegal wildlife trade in western Nepal. Recently, Paudel et al (2020) and Puri et al (2020) reported Darchula as a major wildlife trade hub. Wildlife's long-term survival and sustainability depend on sufficiently large areas of suitable habitat and opportunities for dispersal between such areas (Harrison, 1991;Hanski, 1999).…”

Assessing illegal trade networks of two species of pangolins through a questionnaire survey in Nepal

“…Wildlife trade, a major contributor to decline and extinction of species (Paudel et al 2020), is now globally considered to be the fourth largest illegal trade, after drugs, people, and arms valued at $7 billion to $23 billion each year (Lehmacher 2016). Along with increased threats to biodiversity conservation, illegal wildlife trade also impacts the security of the community and their livelihood, living together with wildlife (Riskas et al 2018).…”

“…Until and unless the short-term goals of local communities living in proximity to wildlife is not fulfilled incidence of wildlife poaching is practically impossible to reduce. Despite the fact that Nepal is home to two species of pangolins and shares an international border with China, one of the world's largest pangolin traders, there is little information on the extent of pangolin trade in Nepal (Katuwal et al 2015(Katuwal et al , 2016Sharma et al 2019;Ghimire et al 2020;Paudel et al 2020). On top of that, only few robust studies regarding illegal trafficking of pangolins have been conducted in central Nepal (Dangol 2015;Sharma et al 2020b).…”