(Voices National Geographic)Â The illegal wildlife trade is big business. Not including the illegal trade in timber, it exceeds $19 billion annually. The trade is heavily capitalized and is part of the same criminal networks that are involved in drugs, weapons, and human trafficking.
The impacts on wildlife populations – including elephants, tigers, and fish species – are widely known. We are losing 35,000 African elephants a year. Tiger populations have been extirpated from Vietnam and Cambodia.
Read whole comment here.
