Illegal wildlife trade, why are we losing this battle?

Biodiversity loss is usually not people's around the table conversation topic, the huge problem within it, illegal wildlife trade, even less so.

Above, not far from where I write this in west Nepal, a recent leopard skin seizure. We don’t know how many leopards are killed by poachers or in retaliation situations, we don’t know how many wild animals in general die for the illegal wildlife trade. We do know it’s too many, far too many, it’s a battle we are losing - but one we can win.

Before I get into the core of this piece of writing, the introduction in a series on illegal wildlife trade and wildlife crime in general, as I’ve just posted at social media, the above image represents a big part of my work. A piece of tech monitoring a trail frequented by big cats and people, the simple of LeopardEye to keep both safe. I thank those who understand and support these efforts. In the main, both parties are innocent, just doing their best to survive.

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is different, it is the death of the innocent at the hands of the guilty. The guilty are a stream of people from those who kill the wild animals which end up being traded, to the traffickers themselves and those no less culpable, the consumers.

IWT is complex, it exists in many forms. In this series I’m exploring the different dynamics as well as the people involved. These Substack posts are tiny snapshots of much bigger bodies of work under the title of Blood of the Leopard, the first of which is being presented at the time of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Conference of the Parties in October this year. That particular report which in itself is being enlarged on in the form of a book, is focused on the leopard but brings in the connections and linkages to the wider world of trafficking - it’s important to point out at this early point that IWT has convergence with the trafficking of humans, drugs and weapons as well as other forms of contraband. Where IWT fits in the world of organized crime is a topic in itself, I will dedicate one of this series to that but today I want to touch on probably the most important aspect in why IWT is out of control which is - why do we not care more about this issue?

I have referenced this aspect before, the lack of care. It’s time to explore this more deeply and to forget any form of so called political correctness, to start to call out the human condition. The sheer scale of IWT, the cruelty involved and the ramifications have to be understood and cared about by a far bigger proportion of society than is currently happening.

The lack of care is a failure of humanity. In this series I’m going to challenge our overall psyche around our treatment of non-humans. My intent is that people think more deeply about what is happening and then act. We can turn this around, get on top of IWT but right now we’re at the critical juncture where unless the collective combatting the trade becomes stronger, we will be remembered as the generations which failed non-humans miserably.

The aim to get more people to care is ambitious. The subject is generally met with glazed eyes. IWT is treated as someone else’s problem, that attitude in itself represents a disconnection to nature. Therein lies a key answer to the question in the title. If we increase the care we can combat IWT much more effectively.

However there are fundamental problems in the current strategies in combatting IWT, one of these being resource allocation. It is one of my major bugbears that there are many expensive conferences around the subject when at the same time anti-poaching teams are woefully under resourced. This is a subject I’m addressing in full in Blood of the Leopard but will be covered in a Substack in this series. Yes, there are people who care about the problem of IWT and are passionate about reducing it but when funding is tight it has negative effects on motivation. Over the years I’ve interacted with some of best anti-poaching personnel and wildlife crime investigators in existence and the theme of lack of resources is always prevalent.

More care from wider society which in turn pressures governments can go a long way to improving resources. More care will bring the results we need.

We have to have more care.

It’s easy for me to care. Once you’ve seen a leopard ripped to pieces because of a snare trap, you care. I’ve seen a lot more than that, a lot more. I have written in the past about some of the cruel methods used to harvest species, be warned right now that I will be writing of these raw realities in even more depth in this series.

People need to understand the cruelty involved in IWT. People need to care.

I believe the lack of care does come from a lack of understanding. That being said, I’ve been around long enough, seen enough and grappled with this problem enough to know that not everyone cares once they are subjected to the facts. I believe a critical mass however, for the reasons above, can be the difference to bring improvement. There are many unselfish, caring people in the world, we just have to harness that power for this issue.

So that is the takeaway from this introductory piece, the need for care. Strap yourselves in for the guts of what is to come, rather an ugly pun but sadly appropriate. I really appreciate those who read these Substacks, I repeat, this stuff isn’t roses, it’s realities. It’s not about likes and love hearts - it’s about provoking thought to bring change.

Care is pivotal to that change, creating understanding essential to that pivot.

I’m not saying that IWT will ever be a common round the table conversation topic, it just needs to be a lot more than it is, for many, many reasons.

Right now, if you do want to help, LeopardEye does have an application in #AntiSnare. WildTiger itself is undergoing changes online which are reflective of an increased emphasis in counter poaching/trafficking.