INTERPOL values it at $20 billion a year. It comes just after the global drug and gun trade. This is no small thing.
The movement is not about the ‘bleeding heart lefties’ who tie themselves to trees and want to save animals. This is a highly complex network, fuelled with the kind of criminal intelligence that you would expect from war lords, terrorist groups, and powerful underground cartels. The trade has massive negative implications on a country’s economic and social development, political development, security- the list goes on. I.e., everything about it is just bad.
With rising populations and more disposable income, the demand for a tiger paw, a bag of pangolin powder or an elephant tusk continues. It’s not over until demand = 0 and animal poached = 0.
We need to share intelligence, improve the judicial systems on wildlife protection laws, strengthen training of law enforcement agencies, and increase the drive to crackdown on people along the chain, from poachers to traders through smarter undercover operations and forensic science. We need to talk about this issue as it relates to human development- about people, society, in order for it to gain more support at world roundtables.
None of this is new news- but for any of this to make a difference, it needs to backed by unified political will and support from all governments, worldwide.