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Business News/ News / World/  Organized crime threatening wildlife, on the rise: UN
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Organized crime threatening wildlife, on the rise: UN

Over three years through 2012, 100,000 elephants and 1,215 rhinos in Africa fell prey to poaching

A file photo of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. Combating illegal wildlife trade is not only essential for conservation efforts and sustainable development, it will contribute to achieving peace and security in troubled regions where conflicts are fuelled by these illegal activities, says Ban. Photo: AFP (AFP)Premium
A file photo of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. Combating illegal wildlife trade is not only essential for conservation efforts and sustainable development, it will contribute to achieving peace and security in troubled regions where conflicts are fuelled by these illegal activities, says Ban. Photo: AFP

(AFP)

New Delhi: Organized crime, often spanning nations, and worth as much as $10 billion a year, is threatening wildlife, especially endangered species, and is rising, the United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday—the second World Wildlife Day.

Such crime is transnational and undermines development, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) executive director Yury Fedotov said. “It can permanently scar the world through the loss of some of our most beautiful creatures. To stop this, we must act now."

Wildlife crime has grown into one of the largest transnational organized criminal activities, according to the UN. Over the three years through 2012, as many as 100,000 elephants were poached in Africa, while 1,215 rhinos were illegally killed in South Africa last year, the UN said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Illegal wildlife trade undermines the rule of law and threatens national security. It degrades ecosystems and is a major obstacle to the efforts of rural communities and indigenous peoples striving to sustainably manage their natural resources. Combating this crime is not only essential for conservation efforts and sustainable development, it will contribute to achieving peace and security in troubled regions where conflicts are fuelled by these illegal activities," UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

The UN report said poached African ivory may have an end-user street value in Asia of $165 million to $188 million in addition to ivory from Asian sources.

Also, according to figures released by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), overall elephant poaching rates remained have virtually unchanged in 2014 compared with 2013, and still exceed natural elephant population growth rates, which means a continued decline in overall elephant numbers.

According to Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), illicit traffic in live great apes is increasingly becoming a serious threat to chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos in Africa and orangutans in Asia, with seizures averaging 1.3 per week since 2014. GRASP estimates that a minimum of 220 chimpanzees, 106 orangutans, 33 bonobos, and 15 gorillas have been lost from the wild over the last 14 months.

The illegal trade is threatening lives of endangered animals too.

Spix’s macaw, the bird called Blue in the popular animated film Rio, is one of the most endangered species on the planet and today there are only 80 left across the world.

Pangolins, another threatened species, also known as scaly anteaters, are among the world’s most trafficked mammals with over one million animals taken from the wild in last 10 years.

The UN Development Programme said it is focusing on “law enforcement, regulations, and engaging the private sector and strengthening collaboration between governments within and across" Africa and Asia.

Bloomberg contributed to this story.

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Published: 04 Mar 2015, 12:19 AM IST
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