Fauna

Wildlife trafficking data

  • THREAT: Loss of Biodiversity

    In Andean-Amazonian countries, wildlife and timber trafficking threatens their greatest wealth: their biodiversity.
    International criminal networks, increasingly sophisticated, are increasing the demand for live wild animals to market them as pets, to be consumed as exotic foods or to use their parts as supposed medicinal remedies, amulets or decorative and collector's items.

  • Weaknesses

    .The conditions that facilitate this problem are: complex legal frameworks, corruption, weak institutional capacity and insufficient resources, lack of information on the dynamics of trafficking, lack of public awareness, lack of economic alternatives for people living in the country's most biodiverse areas, low specialization in dealing with wildlife crime that limits law enforcement and sanctions in cases against traffickers, among others.
  • Pete Oxford / WWF
  • WCS Ecuador
  • Omar Torrico-WCS Bolivia

Andean-Amazonian countries

In Andean-Amazonian countries, this problem threatens the survival of species and could lead to their extinction.

 

 

Ecuador

In Ecuador, wildlife trafficking is mainly directed to the pet market and consumption of their meat or other products, reaching seized quantities of 4593 live individuals, between 2010 and 2018.

Colombia

In Colombia, the trafficking of Amazonian turtles (live turtles and their eggs) is one of the most representative cases. In the period 2010 - 2018, 9904 individuals of terecay turtles (Podocnemis unifilis) and 736 of charapa turtles (Podocnemis expansa) were seized. 

Perú

In Peru, the Titicaca frog (Telmatobius culeus), considered an endangered species, faces pressures due to the contamination of its natural ecosystem and its capture for illegal sale for alleged medicinal purposes. Between 2010 and 2018, more than 21,000 individuals were seized. 

Bolivia

In Bolivia, the most emblematic case is the trafficking of jaguar (Panthera onca) parts, mainly tusks, to Asian markets. Between 2010 and 2020, 673 jaguar tusks have been seized in or from Bolivia (with two events in China), representing the death of at least 168 jaguars.

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