Wildlife trade Turtle trade Fur mink bear farms whaling leather snake skins Exotic pet trade

Wildlife trade is any sale or exchange of wild animal and plant resources by people. This can involve live animals and plants or a diverse range of products : -skins -medicinal ingredients -tourist curios, timber -fish and other food products.

Most wildlife trade is probably within national borders, but there is a large volume of wildlife in trade internationally.

WHY ?
There are many reasons why wildlife is traded : FOOD- fruits, mushrooms, nuts, leaves and tubers, are particular important resources in many rural areas. Wild animals (including fish) contribute at least a fifth of the animal protein in rural diets in more than 60 countries.
FUEL- trees and plants are an important source of fuel in rural areas BUILDING MATERIALS- FOR example, timber for furniture and housing

CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS- leather, furs, feathers

SPORT- from falconry to trophy hunting HEALTHCARE- herbal remedies, traditional medicines An estimated 80 % of the world's population on traditional medicines.

RELIGION- many animals & plants are used for religious purposes. COLLECTIONS-many wildlife specimens and curios are collected by museums and private individuals

LEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE

The legal wildlife trade includes only those species that are not listed in the three CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)Appendices

&
for which permits and certificates for the import, export, have been issued by the CITES Management Authorities of the respective countries.

Illegal wildlife trade Illegal wildlife trade is a serious threat to a number of endangered and vulnerable species.

Illegal wildlife trade includes live pets, hunting trophies, fashion accessories, cultural artifacts, ingredients for traditional medicines, and wild meat for human consumption
Illegal wildlife trade is as an environmental crime, which directly harms the environment. Wildlife trafficking is driven by organised groups who exploit natural resources and endanger threatened species

The illegal wildlife trade is the second largest illegal trade. In 2008, it was estimated that it is worth in excess of $20 billion annually. The illegal wildlife trade is among the most lucrative illicit economies in the world.

In Asia
A substantial portion of the global illegal wildlife trade possibly the largest in the world takes place in Asia.

The demand is driven by the need for specific animal parts -to practice traditional Asian medicine -for human consumption and - as symbols of wealth

Live animals and animal parts such as fresh water tortoises and turtles, snakes, sharks, pangolins and monitor lizards are sold in open-air markets and end up as pets, trophies, or in specialty restaurants that feature wildlife as gourmet dining.

(Nat geog)Shark fin soup

China is the worlds largest importer of wildlife products, including an insatiable demand for turtles, ivory, tigers, pangolins, and many other species used for food or medicine.
India and Nepal feature as source and transit for the trade in body parts of tigers, rhinos, leopards, snow leopards, otters and musk deer for usages in traditional Chinese medicine Skins and body parts of 783 tigers, 2766 leopards, and 777 otters were seized in India alone in the last ten years- probably representing a tiny fraction of the actual trade bound for Tibet and China

Chinese customs officials seize thousands of dead pangolins Nearly eight tonnes of endangered anteaters found on ship Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and their scales are thought locally to be beneficial to breast-feeding mothers
- Asia environment correspondent ,guardian.co.uk, July 2010

A monitor lizard foot on sale on the China-Myanmar border

A tiger skin, would sell for US $18000

Otter pelt - $100.00

Tiger bone estimated to be between $140$370

Leopard skins that would sell for US $ 6000

Musk

per kilogram of rhino horn averaged at $10000. The average value of each horn was $80000

$1400

Japan appears frequently on the top three list of importing countries in endangered species Japan is a major importer of live reptiles, mostly tortoises and freshwater turtles, but also Mississippi Alligator, Reticulated Python and Nile Crocodile, although export of these species is restricted in the countries of origin.

In Malaysia Croc farms are not a rare find, and what's disturbing is that these places that hold shows and exhibit these reptiles also serve up their meat.

Malaysian wildlife trader has been arrested after having tried to smuggle about 100 live snakes to Indonesia. Since the early 1980s, he legally wholesaled tens of thousands of wild reptiles annually, many of which were on sale in American pet stores. But he also offered a large array of contraband, including snow leopard pelts, panda bear skins, rhino horns, rare birds, and Komodo dragons, elephants, gorillas, tigers, and smuggled critically endangered wildlife from Australia, China, Madagascar, New Zealand, South America to markets largely in Europe, Japan, and the United States

Experts repair the skin of a giant panda that had been recovered from poachers who were indulging in one of the world's sickest trades - illegal fur-trading. The fur on the table measures 6ft long by 5ft wide and is worth about 50,000.

The USA is the second largest importer of wildlife products and a large destination for the illegal pet trade.
Every month, many tons of bush meat arrives from Africa.

During 20012005, over 11,000 specimens, i.e. live animals and wildlife products of birds, reptiles, marine turtles, corals and mammals were seized in shipments from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.[Amazon rainforest animals are smuggled across borders in the trunks of cars, in suitcases, in crates

Turtle trade
The world's kitchens serve up turtles every way.
Commercial hunting of turtles - Vietnam to Bangladesh to Indonesia - even parts of N.America. In China, the specialty is turtle soup. Diners in Asia are practically eating freshwater turtles to extinction Shipments of thousands of live, adult turtles arrive daily in major Chinese markets. Sea turtles are endangered because of illegal trade, and destruction of their nesting beaches.

The burgeoning trade has severely depleted turtle populations on a global scale. Three-quarters of Asia's 90 species of tortoise and freshwater turtle are now considered threatened
The World Conservation Union (IUCN), estimates that at least 40 percent of all tortoise and freshwater turtle species are at immediate risk of extinction. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox92nM2x n4Q

BEAR FARMS...
Asiatic black bears kept in captivity in Vietnam and China to harvest bile, produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. When extracted, the bile is a valuable commodity for sale as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

The Asiatic black bear/ moon bears, the one most commonly used on bear farms, is listed as vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Animals.

The bears are commonly kept in extraction cages, also known as crush cages
This allows for easier access to the abdomen, it also prevents the bears from being able to stand upright, or in some cases move at all. Living for 1012 years under such circumstances results in severe mental stress and muscle atrophy The bile is usually extracted twice a day through an implanted tube, The process is painful, as the bears moan and chew their paws while being milked. Other methods include pushing a hollow steel stick through the bear's abdomen In addition to the suffering caused by infection and pain at the incision site, bears also experience abdominal hernias and more than a third eventually succumb to liver cancer,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F1ZgBQiC28

WHALING
Japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling until the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986. Japan continued to hunt whales Japan maintains that annual whaling is sustainable and necessary for scientific study and management of whale stocks The primary use for whales was meat, the entire whale was utilized in a variety of products including lamp oil, soaps, fertilizer, folding fans (baleen)

Various cuts of whale meat for sale.

WHALING
The cycle of greed behind the global whaling industry drove one whale population after another toward oblivion.

It is still not known if some species will ever recover, even after decades of protection.
The blue whales of the Antarctic are at less than 1 percent of their original abundance, despite 40 years of complete protection. The whaling industry, drove the largest animal on earth toward extinction. Humpback whales could have numbered 1.5 million prior to the onset of commercial whaling in the 1800s. Humpback whales currently number only 20,000.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwOlG8iu7DI

Japan, Norway and Iceland will kill around 2,000 great whales between them in the biggest whale slaughter since commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) 23 years ago.

Exotic Pet Trade

The practice of importing and exporting wild animals as pets has been happening for decades Exotic turtles grew in popularity in the 1980s thanks to the popular TV show TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
Everything from the smallest reptile to a full-grown tiger can be sold to anyone for the right price. However, most owners do not realize the huge responsibility they are inheriting when they purchase exotic pets, and there's rarely a happy ending for the animal

The exotic pet trade is a multi-billion dollar industry Millions of animals are forced into the exotic pet trade every year Many exotic animals are plucked directly from their native habitats. The stress of being violently removed from their homes causes some animals to die before they reach a private residence

Commonly traded exotic pets ( fatal attractions animal planet ) Exotic Birds Hedgehogs Non-human Primates Prairie Dogs Reptiles Tigers

Wild Pets, Wild Problems Although baby animals might be cute and easy to maintain, they usually grow into dangerous adults with unmanageable needs. Owning an exotic pet comes with some real health implications. All reptiles and amphibians carry salmonella, and cases of salmonella poisoning are linked to these pets each year in the United States alone. Exotic pets like monkeys and African rodents often carry viruses like herpes B, monkey pox and rabies, all of which are highly infectious and potentially fatal to humans

There are several federal laws that prohibit the selling and interstate transfer of certain exotic animals in the U.S.
Despite these laws and humanitarian efforts, the exotic pet trade is still a booming business.

SNAKE SKINS
More than 350,000 skins of the reticulated python species were legally imported into the EU in 2005 and this has increased

The illegal trade is large.

Over 1 million snakes have been caught in the wild yearly for Europe and America. Indonesia exported more than 4.5 million pythons, either skinned or alive.

Snakes are caught in the wild at 3-4 years old in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines.
They are sent to the manufacturing markets of the U.S., EU, Canada, and China.

The two most popular kinds of python used in the fashion industry are the browny-orange "python curtus" and the grey-and-white "python reticulatus Small snakes are impaled on hooks or a nail is hammered through their heads into a tree, to skin them alive Larger snakes like pythons have hosepipes forced into their mouths and are blown up with water while they are still alive to loosen the skin. They are also skinned alive and left to die which can take 2-3 days. The EU, is the world's biggest importer of snake skins. Between 2000 and 2005 it is estimated that 3.4 million snake skins were brought into the EU. Italy is the largest consumer in the world making shoes, bags, belts, and wallets made from reptile skin. Germany is the second largest producer, followed by France

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6MN5TM kk7E

Every year, the global leather industry slaughters more than a billion animals. Most of the leather in the U.S. and Europe comes from India, China, and other countries that have laws that go largely or completely unenforced.
India's own animal protection laws are blatantly ignored, unsanitary slaughterhouses continue to pollute the environment; unlicensed, illegal slaughterhouses remain in operation

Many of the animals used for leather are so sick and injured by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse that they must be dragged inside. Once inside, their throats are cutoften with dirty, blunt knives on floors that are covered with feces, blood, guts, and urine. Some animals are even skinned and dismembered while they are still conscious. China, the world's leading leather exporter. In addition to the cattle, sheep, and other animals who are killed for leather in China, an estimated 2 million cats and dogs in China are killed for their skins each year. Confined to wire cages in which they can barely move, these animals are routinely skinned alive and hacked apart, piece by piece, until they bleed to death.

Animals Used for Leather Cows Pigs Kangaroos The very softest, most luxurious leather comes from the unborn calf of a pregnant cow at the slaughterhouse

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. 80 percent of the fur clothing industry's pelts come from animals raised on farms. The most farmed fur-bearing animal is the mink (40 million annually), followed by the fox (about 4 million annually). Asiatic and Finnish raccoon and chinchilla are also farmed for their fur. Fur farms are in Northern Europe, North America, and in countries such as Argentina and Russia.

The killing methods on fur farms are gruesome. They use different methods to kill the animals without damaging their fur. Small animals may be put into boxes and poisoned with the hot engine exhaust from a truck. Larger animals have clamps applied to their mouths and rods inserted into their anuses and are electrocuted. Other common methods used on fur farms is gassing, neck-snapping

From this to this?

Deforestation and global warming impact on wild life.

Deforestation and forest degradation generate about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually, more than all the world's transportation sources combined. Each year, tropical forests the size of New York State is destroyed, sending more than 5 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and causing permanent damage to the planet.

Impact Of Global Warming On Wildlife The earths temperature increases due to the greenhouse effect caused by the green house gases like CO2, CH4 and chlorofluorocarbons. These gases are mostly released due to mans activities. & cause global warming. Due to global warming, the earths average temperature is rising day by day.

Several species of animals are extinct and many species are heading for extinction.

Some wildlife species affected by global warming are polar bears, reindeer, arctic foxes, penguins, swallows and salmon.
Polar bear is found only in Arctic regions and cannot survive in warm climates. Polar bears live and hunt on the ice. Global warming and increase in the earths temperature is causing the ice to melt thus leading this species towards extinction. Migratory birds fly thousands of miles to come to warmer countries from colder regions. But now due to global warming, birds start to migrate later and change routes. Due to this reason they do not get the proper food they need.

Global warming also hinders the food chain under the sea. As the level of water increases the fishes and other sea organisms which live in shallow coastal waters lose their habitat.

Animals used for research Regulatory tests using animals drug testing toxicology testing LD50 Draize test Endocrine Disruptor Screening Cosmetic product testing Eye irritation Skin irritation Skin corrosion Photo toxicity Photo irritation Percutaneous absorption Animals used for education Case Studies

Regulatory tests Regulatory tests using animals are mandatory tests performed by companies/industries to evaluate the safety and the toxicity of new drugs, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, agro-chemicals Every new chemical substance/molecule must be tested on animals. Millions of animals are used each year in regulatory tests across the world

The lethal dose 50 percent test, or the LD50 test The most common form of animal-poisoning study. In an LD50 test, groups of animals are force-fed a substance until half of them die.

The animals typically suffer acute distress - pain, convulsions, diarrhoea and bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth.
At the end of the test period, those animals who have not already died (the 50% that survived) are then killed and their organs are examined.

Animals, usually rats or mice, are given single or multiple doses of test substances through force feeding, inhalation, intravenous injection, or through the skin and blood samples are taken to determine the rates of absorption, distribution, excretion, and metabolism.

The animals are then killed and examined for the accumulation of the test chemicals in their organs.

A carcinogen is a substance or mixture of substances that induces cancer or increases the incidences of cancer.
Rats and mice are typically used for testing carcinogenicity. The test chemical is administered orally, placed on the skin, or inhaled in a two year duration.

Animal health is monitored throughout the study but most information is obtained after the animals are killed and their tissues and organs are examined for evidence of cancer.
Rodents are more prone to cancer than humans, making them poor models for studying carcinogenicity

The current system of drug testing places consumers in a dangerous predicament. For example, some drugs passed safe in animal experiments but proved tragic consequences in humans.
Conversely, many drugs that are beneficial to humans are dangerous or even fatal to animals.

THE TRUE STORY OF ANIMALS AND COSMETICS

Thousands of animals - rabbits, mice dogs and rats - are killed annually to make shampoos, moisturizing creams, lipsticks and after-shaves. The test they are subjected to are always painfully and cruel Photo-toxicity The interaction of the chemical under test with light is considered, and possible toxic effects of this interaction are evaluated. The test consists of evaluating the damage at a cellular level. Photo-irritation The interaction of the chemical under test with light is considered, and possible irritative effects are evaluated. The animals' skin irritation is evaluated after exposure to the light. Percutaneous absorption The absorption of substances from outside the skin to positions beneath the skin. The animals are killed in order to evaluate the accumulation of the chemicals applied to the skin.

Skin irritation The Draize test, used to analyze eye and skin irritation and corrosion. In this test, rabbits are locked into full-body restraints, with their necks in a tight vice so they can't squirm while the tested substance is dripped into their eyes or rubbed onto their shaved skin.
While they are subjected to this torture -- which could be for weeks -- the bunnies suffer swollen eyelids and other eye irritation, inflamed skin, ulcers, bleeding, bloody scabs, and blindness.

Eye irritation - The Draize Eye Test Concentrated substances are applied to the eyes of restrained unanaesthetised animals. This involves terrible, long-lasting pain with swelling, discharge, blistering and destruction of the cornea. At the end of the test period, all of the animals are killed in order to determine the effects of the tested substances on internal organs.

The Draize Skin/Patch Test

In the Draize test for skin irritancy, the test substances are applied to shaved and abraded skin. Skin is abraded by firmly pressing adhesive tape onto the animal's body and quickly stripping it off. The process is repeated until several layers of skin have been exposed.

The Draize Eye Test

The Draize Skin/Patch Test

Endocrine Disruptor Screening The EDSP is a massive chemical-testing program intended to screen chemicals for effects on the body's natural hormones Pesticide active ingredients and final products are usually subject to dozens of separate animal tests, including reproductive and lifecycle studies in rodents, fish, and birds. These tests kill thousands of animals

Education Life science education comprises of experiments which usually involve animals.

These are generally, the dissection of animals to study the anatomy and physiology of the animal.
In recent years there has been an awakening and a realization in several academia on the profound negative impact and futility of using animals in education

Humane and Effective Alternatives

Non-animal testing methods that are more reliable and less expensive have been developed. These make use of cell and skin tissue cultures, corneas from eye banks, and sophisticated computer and mathematical models.
Some companies avoid testing altogether by using non-toxic natural ingredients