A high
volume and lucrative black market business
Date: January 30, 2019
Hong Kong's
illegal wildlife trade is contributing to a global extinction crisis. Every
year millions of live animals, plants and their derivatives are illegally
trafficked into and through Hong Kong, by transnational companies and organised
crime syndicates.
There is an
urgent need for the government to enhance its current enforcement strategy
against wildlife smuggling. Over the last decade, the diversity of endangered
species imported into Hong Kong has increased by 57%. At the same time, the
estimated value of the trade has increased by 1,600%. Since 2013, seizures of
illegal ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horn have been made by Hong Kong authorities,
potentially equating to the deaths of 3,000 elephants, 96,000 pangolins and 51
rhinoceros.
Hong Kong's
illegal wildlife trade is increasing in volume, underestimated in value and
contributing to the global extinction crisis.
Some members
of the Hong Kong Wildlife Trade Working Group (HKWTWG) have joined forces to
publish a study focusing on the type and volume of seizures relating to illegal
wildlife trade in Hong Kong over the last 5 years. The findings documented in
the 200 page report: Trading in Extinction: The Dark Side of Hong Kong's
Wildlife Trade, illustrate the city's central role in global wildlife
trafficking and the extent and nature of the associated criminality. It
identifies clearly, how future policy and enforcement could be improved to
provide the urgently required long-term sustainability.
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