Exhibition. WWF: Wildlife Trade. What is wildlife trade? Whenever people sell or exchange wild animal and plant resources, this is wildlife trade. It can involve live animals and plants or all kinds of wild animal and plant products. Wildlife trade is easiest to track when it is from one country to another because it must be checked, and often recorded, at Customs checkpoints. Why do people trade wildlife? People trade wildlife for cash or exchange it for other useful objects - for example, utensils in exchange for wild animal skins. Driving the trade is the end-consumer who has a need or desire for wildlife products, whether for food, construction or clothing.
For a more detailed list of the various uses of wildlife, visit the TRAFFIC website. What is wildlife trade worth financially? This is a difficult estimate to make. What is the scale of wildlife trade? The trade involves hundreds of millions of wild plants and animals from tens of thousands of species. Why is wildlife trade a problem? WWF - Endangered Species. Time: Animals Under Siege.
WWF: Illegal Wildlife Trade. The world is dealing with an unprecedented spike in illegal wildlife trade, threatening to overturn decades of conservation gains. Ivory estimated to weigh more than 23 metric tons—a figure that represents 2,500 elephants—was seized in the 13 largest seizures of illegal ivory in 2011. Poaching threatens the last of our wild tigers that number as few as 3,200. Wildlife crime is a big business. Run by dangerous international networks, wildlife and animal parts are trafficked much like illegal drugs and arms. Some examples of illegal wildlife trade are well known, such as poaching of elephants for ivory and tigers for their skins and bones. Stamping out wildlife crime is a priority for WWF because it’s the largest direct threat to the future of many of the world’s most threatened species.
WWF: Priority & endangered species. In the time is takes you to read this page, one of our planet’s unique species will become extinct. By this time tomorrow, a further 150–200 will have disappeared forever. And by this time next year, over 50,000 more. This alarming rate of extinction is 100-1,000 times, and perhaps even 11,000 times, greater than the expected natural rate.
One in four of the world’s mammals are now threatened with extinction in the near future. So are one in eight birds, one in five sharks, one in four coniferous trees, and one in three amphibians. By and large, the cause of this decline is human activities. Habitat loss Unsustainable trade Bycatch Climate change Invasive species Pollution Human-animal conflict Find out more... National Geographic: Endangered species. An endangered species is a type of organism that is threatened by extinction. Species become endangered for two main reasons: loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation. Loss of Habitat A loss of habitat can happen naturally. Dinosaurs, for instance, lost their habitat about 65 million years ago. Human activity can also contribute to a loss of habitat. Development can eliminate habitat and native species directly. Development can also endanger species indirectly. Loss of habitat may happen as development takes place in a species range.
Loss of habitat can also lead to increased encounters between wild species and people. Loss of Genetic Variation Genetic variation is the diversity found within a species. Inbreeding is reproduction with close family members. Loss of genetic variation can occur naturally. Human activity can also lead to a loss of genetic variation. Monoculture, the agricultural method of growing a single crop, can also reduce genetic variation. The Red List Least Concern. Rainforest Action Network.