ILLICIT WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING - smuggling and sale of endangered plant and animal species as well as the illegal trade in legally obtainable plants and animals (out of season, in excess of bag limit, etc.) is a hugely profitable criminal enterprise, surpassed only by drug smuggling. It even outranks illegal arms dealing.

According to current estimates, wildlife trafficking generates approximately $160 billion per year worldwide, with an estimated 30% of that from illegal trade. While most wildlife trade is conducted legally, in accordance with harvesting permits and export regulations, when demand exceeds the quantities permitted by law, illegal trade results. Given the immense profitability and the low risk of apprehension, it is small wonder that individuals, groups, and even organized crime has become involved. 

By its nature, crime is intended to be conducted in secrecy, but in the case of the illegal wildlife trade, this secrecy is magnified by the nature of the victims - plants and animals, the necessarily remote location of the crime, and the likelihood that the crime will not be given the attention awarded to conventional crimes.

The economics of wildlife trafficking are far reaching. When legal species are over harvested, the financial foundations of entire communities are disrupted, sometimes irreparably. As a result, it becomes necessary to devote large sums of money on enforcement that could better have spent in other ways. When criminals focus on profits built on the illegal sale of plants or animals, they carelessly cause more and more species to become endangered or even extinct.

All other efforts notwithstanding, law enforcement is an integral part of conservation. When education and other voluntary means fail, it is the state and federal rangers and other conservation officers who stand in the gap. The friendly, helpful ranger you see in your local park today is a player in an extremely important and dangerous role, often patrolling thousands of acres of remote wilderness and facing an adversary armed with automatic weapons.

It is the intent of this site to educate the public in the various types of illegal wildlife trafficking, and the forensic methods used to detect and prosecute these crimes.

Click the buttons below for links to conventional Crime Scene Investigation resources, specific Wildlife Trafficking resources, and other links of interest.