Rhinos, elephants, pangolins, cedars, rosewoods & agarwood most affected by illegal wildlife trade: UNODC

The rhino and the cedar were the animal and plant species most affected by global illegal wildlife trade during 2015-2021, the 2024 World Wildlife Crime Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on May 13, 2024, noted.

“Just 15 broad markets comprised the bulk of the observed illegal wildlife trade during 2015-2021 based on standardized seizure index,” according to the report.

At 29 per cent, the market for rhino horn constituted the biggest chunk among animal species. It was followed by the market for pangolin scales at 28 per cent, followed by the market for elephant ivory at 15 per cent.

Other animal species most affected by the global illegal animal trade included eels (5 per cent), crocodilians (5 per cent), parrots and cockatoos (2 per cent), carnivores (2 per cent), turtles and tortoises (2 per cent), snakes (2 per cent), seahorses (2 per cent) and others (8 per cent).

Among plants, cedars and other Sapindales like mahogany, holy wood and Guiacum constituted the biggest market at 47 per cent. Rosewoods were second at 35 per cent. Agarwood and other myrtales like ramin and eucalyptus were third at 13 per cent. Golden chicken fern and other Cibotium as well as orchids comprised one per cent of the market each while other species made up the remaining three per cent.

The report also pointed to the diversity among seizures of biodiversity — plant and animal — products traded illegally during 2015-2021. Corals comprised 16 per cent of all such seizures. Crocodilians (true crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials) came next at nine per cent.

They were followed by elephants (6 per cent), bivalve molluscs (6 per cent), carnivores (5 per cent), parrots and cockatoos (4 per cent), orchids (4 per cent), turtles and tortoises (4 per cent), snakes (4 per cent), rosewood (4 per cent), ginsengs (3 per cent), costus root (3 per cent), aloes and other liliales such as agave, snowdrop and yucca (3 per cent), cacti (3 per cent), even-toed ungulates (2 per cent), sturgeons and paddlefishes (2 per cent), pangolins (2 per cent), sea snails (2 per cent), lizards (2 per cent), birds of prey (1 per cent) and others (16 per cent).

As far as commodities were concerned, coral pieces were found the most and comprised 16 per cent of all seizures during 2015-2016. Live specimens came second at 15 per cent while medicines made of animal products constituted 10 per cent of all seizures.

Animal meat, shells and small leather products each comprised six per cent of the seizures. They were followed by animal bodies (4 per cent), plant roots (3 per cent), extracts (3 per cent), ivory carvings (3 per cent) and others (28 per cent).

Key takeaways

The 2024 report is the third edition, with earlier editions published in 2016 and 2020. It “probes trends in the illicit trafficking of protected wildlife species. It also presents systematic analyses of wildlife crime harms and impacts, probes the factors driving wildlife trafficking trends, and takes stock of current knowledge about the effectiveness of the different types of intervention being pursued to resolve this problem.”

The report noted that wildlife trafficking persists worldwide despite two decades of concerted action at international and national levels.

While there are signs of progress in countering trafficking of iconic species such as elephants and rhinos, the harsh reality is that wildlife traffickers are highly adaptable and can use every method available to escape detection.

The document urged strong coherence and harmonisation across the trade chain, strong international cooperation and increased investment to build data and analytical capacity at national and international levels in order to close knowledge gaps.

It also flagged corruption and technology as areas that should be looked into.

“Corruption undermines regulation and enforcement while technology accelerates the capacity of traffickers to reach global markets—criminal justice responses should be modernised, strengthened and harmonised from source to end markets,” it said.

Another key takeaway of the report was that with thousands of wildlife species affected and a diverse range of distinct markets driving multiple environmental and societal harms, interventions to reduce wildlife trafficking needed to be prioritised and more strategic.

Lastly, it noted that addressing organised crime as a whole was required in order to tackle wildlife crime.

“Since wildlife crime is interconnected with the activities of large and powerful organised crime groups operating in some of the most fragile and diverse ecosystems from the Amazon to the Golden Triangle—addressing wildlife trafficking in these circumstances requires a broader strategy to address organized crime as a whole,” the analysis stated.

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