Latest news with #KanithaKrishnasamy
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Experts reveal troubling trend driving illegal trade: 'When wealth increases, it correlates with a high number of trafficking'
Wildlife trafficking in India is on the rise, and conservationists are concerned about one primate species. Social media and growing affluence in the most populous country on Earth are contributing to an increase in the illegal trade of gibbons and other wildlife, Mongabay reported. Authorities seized 3,951 exotic species across 56 operations in 2023, and there were three seizures of gibbons alone last year. Primates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Latin America, and Africa have arrived in India only over the last few years, primatologist Dilip Chetry of wildlife conservation nonprofit Aaranyak said. The jungle border with Bangladesh offers traffickers easy access to the country, and unenforced laws provide another avenue, according to the outlet. TikTok is contributing to the problem via celebrities and advertisements, and prosperity is too. "When wealth increases, it correlates with a high number of trafficking, as people want to own pets that are considered rare or unique or beautiful, and they hold a certain level of appeal," Kanitha Krishnasamy, Southeast Asia director at TRAFFIC, also known as the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, told Mongabay. Gibbons are "one of the most threatened primate groups," according to the outlet, with five critically endangered species and 14 endangered species among their 20 species, which are all protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The small, tree-dwelling apes "make up most of the seizures" in northeastern India — reptiles are next — where they are moved elsewhere to be sold. Their capture is the second-leading threat to the creatures behind habitat destruction, and it's destroying the gibbons' complex social structures as well as native ecosystems. Adult female and infant gibbons are often killed in the process, and the captured ones can die or suffer trauma in transit. Despite these horrifying circumstances, gibbons don't garner the conservation support of other endangered wildlife, including, for example, the Malayan tiger and Asian elephant, Mongabay reported. Protecting wild animals helps to keep natural biodiversity in balance, and it also supports the economies of developing nations, many of which rely on tourism. Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Significant fines and other punishments can boost the effectiveness of laws, but if enforcement agencies are underfunded, traffickers will continue to exploit the system to their benefit. Mongabay reported that the illegal wildlife trade is worth $10 billion annually, and Krishnasamy emphasized the importance of investigations and convictions. "If the people that are behind the smuggling operations can be identified and put a dent in their business, it will make a difference in terms of how you also influence the demand and the supply," he said. To do your part, support conservation organizations that prioritize trafficking and consider eco-friendly travel destinations. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
South China Morning Post
12-02-2025
- South China Morning Post
Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur airport targeted by exotic animal traffickers: watchdog
Malaysia 's main airport in Kuala Lumpur has resurfaced as a major transit hub used by global traffickers of exotic animals in the growing illegal trade, according to a wildlife trade watchdog. The assessment comes after two smuggling attempts were foiled last week at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, where Indian customs officers intercepted five critically endangered baby siamang gibbons that were flown in via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The seizures highlighted the KLIA's emergence as a key stop for wildlife smuggling, with traffickers using it to move a diverse array of species, from Malaysian primates like the endangered siamang to rare tortoises and iguanas, said Kanitha Krishnasamy, Southeast Asia director of the UK-based wildlife trade watchdog Traffic. While the trade of exotic animals between Southeast Asia and South Asia was not new, there had been a shift toward selling live species, Krishnasamy said. ' What's become more prominent in recent years is the influx of live exotic animals into India where there seems to be a growing fad of acquiring exotic species for the pet trade,' Krishnasamy told This Week in Asia on Wednesday. 'This is a fairly new evolution of the market in the past couple of years, which needs to be scrutinised.'
