Endangered species are exploited by criminals who hunt or trap them and sell them or their parts (feathers, claws, teeth, nails, pelts, meat, paws, etc.). Live animals are sold as pets or to collectors and animal parts are sold as food, medicine, fur or for ornamental purposes. Animals - sometimes species on the edge of extinction - are slaughtered merely for novelty of owning bear claw necklaces, gorilla paw ashtrays or elephant tusk figurines. Each and every one of the victims of this heinous trade is an irreplaceable loss to the planet.

The trade in endangered species is a big business and Interpol estimates that each year, world trade yields $5 billion dollars (U.S.). Interpol warns that smuggling and trade is on the increase. It identifies the major "producing" countries as Asia, South and Central America and Africa. The major consumers include North America, Europe, the Middle East and the far east (China, Japan and Korea). Both Australia and Canada are described as being both producers and consumers.

The criminal activities involved include poaching, capturing animals from the wild, smuggling, illegal import or export and possession of endangered species. Various law enforcement units have been established to deal with this problem, and illegal activities are also investigated by Interpol.

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. To learn more about the trade in endangered species, CITES, the countries that have signed the treaty and the species the treaty is meant to protect, visit http://www.cites.org/
To learn more about international efforts to stem the illegal trade in endangered species, read the Interpol alert at INTERPOL