Trafficking types
The wildlife trade has peculiar characteristics regarding the trafficked species and the destination they will have when they reach the final consumer. Basically, there are four types of illegal trade:
1- Animals for private collectors and clandestine zoos
This is perhaps the cruelest wildlife trafficking type, as it primarily prioritizes the most threatened species. The rarer the animal, the greater its market value.
2 - Animals for scientific purposes (Biopiracy):
In this group are the species that supply chemical substances, which serve as a basis for the research and production of new drugs and medicines. It is important to note that not all wildlife trafficking and their byproducts is biopiracy, but all biopiracy is wildlife trafficking. This modality moves high money values.
3 - Animals for pet market:
It is the modality that most encourages the animal trafficking. Due to the high demand, almost all fauna species are included in this category. The prices charged depend on the type and quantity ordered.
4 - Wildlife Products:
Wildlife products are widely used to make ornaments and crafts. Leathers, skins, feathers, claws and tusks are usually sold, in addition to several others. All of these products enter the fashion and souvenir market for tourists. In some regions of the planet, such as in Asia, many species are used as source to medicines used in traditional medicine.
Trafficking consequences
1 - Sanitary - When animals are illegally traded, they do not undergo any health control and can therefore transmit serious diseases to domestic animals and man, including unknown ones, causing serious public health consequences.
2 - Economic / Social - The illegal wildlife trade can also be economically devastating, as it moves an incalculable amount of money in the illegal market. Often resources from animal trafficking finance other illegal activities. In addition, it is not uncommon for underprivileged youth to be co-opted to collect animals in the wild, leading them to have direct contact with criminal activities.
3 - Ecological - The environmental imbalance caused by the animal trafficking can have a major negative impact on the maintenance of ecosystems. Extinction or even just a decrease in the occurrence of some wild species, such as seed dispersers, can cause significant and irreversible changes in the environmental quality of Biomes.
