Wild Laws: China and Its Role in Illicit Wildlife Trade

The slaughter of African elephants and rhinos has focused world attention on wildlife crime: many endangered species are being hunted to near-extinction. Illegal wildlife trade is now the fourth largest global illegal trade behind illicit drugs, guns and human trafficking, valued at $15 – 20 billion annually.

 

The slaughter of African elephants and rhinos has focused world attention on wildlife crime: many endangered species are being hunted to near-extinction. Illegal wildlife trade is now the fourth largest global illegal trade behind illicit drugs, guns and human trafficking, valued at $15 – 20 billion annually.

 

Globally, there is growing action, including a UN call for fast-track solutions to the poaching crisis and new enforcement initiatives by governments across the globe. One of the most important of these efforts is the recent U.S.-China cooperation to jointly halt illegal ivory trade. This bilateral partnership is seen as critical to save elephants and it has opened the door for deeper collaboration on illegal wildlife trade between China and the United States—the world’s first and second largest consumers of trafficked animal species and their parts, respectively.  

 

Successful public education campaigns in China have been pivotal in raising awareness and driving down consumption of some endangered species, such as a campaign that spurred government bans of shark fin soup at official events and dropped its consumption by an estimated 50 percent. But there are some areas of deep concern. In China, commercial farming of bears, tigers and other species feeds the marketplace, increasing demand—and spurring poaching in the wild. A current draft amendment of China’s 1989 wildlife law would legitimize exploitation of wildlife in captivity and allow government agencies to license breeding and commercial trade of endangered species. 

 

With an eye on China, this panel of wildlife, legal and conservation experts will examine the scope of the illegal global trade in wildlife, as well as the perpetrators and consumers that drive it and the laws that regulate it. The speakers will reflect on the successes and challenges of bodies that enforce illegal wildlife trade laws within and beyond China’s borders, will detail innovative public education campaigns, and finally, discuss the way forward.