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Animal Trafficking
Animal trafficking is illegal trafficking of wild animals. It is a billions of dollars business which is run by international networks. Animal trafficking is a problem because it puts wild animals in danger and potentially posing a risk of extinction to many of the wild animals. Laws in regards to illegal animal trafficking vary. Different countries have different regulations. Due to the nature of the problem it cannot be accurately estimated how many animals are trafficked each year.
Why Are Animals Trafficked?
Animals are trafficked for number of reasons i.e. to sell a wild animal as exotic pet or to use its body parts in making decorative objects that we enjoy or to use them to make medicines. Due to their high economic value some wild species are at higher demand. Countries with highest illegal animal trafficking demand are U.S., European countries and China.
Exotic Pets
An exotic pet is generally a wild specie which is kept as a pet. What also makes it an exotic pet is that the animal is not native or indigenous to the place where it is kept as a pet. It should be noted that not all the animals which are kept as exotic pet are at the risk of extinction however the suffering that wild animals face is a concern because animals which are used as exotic pet are often illegally captured and transitioned from one place to another.
Ivory
Ivory is a white colored material which is made from animal tusks and teeth. Ivory is used to make many things ranging from piano keys to jewelry to decorative objects to electronic equipment and appliances. Poaching is illegal hunting and capturing of wild animals. Thousands of animal are poached every year for ivory. Some of them are at the risk of extinction. According to one source if urgent actions are not taken than African elephants will be extinct within two decades (by 2040).
Why Is There A Need For More Awareness Of Animal Trafficking?
First of all animals which are traditionally not used as pets should not be kept as pets. Particularly in this age of technology where we can learn about people across the world; if we see an image of a pet which is traditionally not used as a pet we need to question why is it kept as a pet. The second thing is even animals which are normally kept as pet such as dogs, cats, turtles, snakes etc do pose a disease threat to humans especially to young children.
Tiger is another wild animal which are used as a pet. A young, baby tiger might be easily handled by its owner but within months when it grows it cannot be easily handled by its owner. In recent years there have been dozens of tiger attacks by captive tigers in the U.S.
When animals are illegally captured and transferred from one place to another; during the transition animals go through great suffering and there is a high mortality rate due to lack of food, water and poor ventilation. Some small animals such as small birds, baby turtles and baby pythons are packed in small plastic tubes and their body parts are taped so the animal does not make any movement and it can be easily transferred. These animals are trafficked primarily to be sold at pet stores and at zoos.
Often people who buy exotic animals as pet are not prepared for the need of the animal and these animals die within a year. There have been high number of cases in U.S where people have abandoned their exotic pet at a zoo gate or on the road in a rural area. Animals which are abandoned on the roads often either die because they become victim of other animal prey or they put the native animals and species at risk such as snakes which put the native snakes at risk.
Animals which are left at a zoo gates are often put to death because the zoos are not able to find appropriate place for them.
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