After a drastic reduction in wildlife trafficking during the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities in Southeast Asia must act swiftly to stop smugglers getting back in business once border controls are relaxed, a forthcoming UN report says.
Traffickers’ networks were disrupted as countries shut their borders and tightened surveillance when the pandemic began last year.
Due to the widespread perception that the virus first emerged in a Chinese market where wildlife was sold, demand for wildlife products — such as pangolin scales, bear bile and rhino horn — also dropped suddenly as people became more aware of zoonotic diseases.
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However, these changes are temporary and Southeast Asia is likely to see a long-term increase in wildlife trade and trafficking, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in an internal report intended for law enforcement agencies in the region and reviewed by reporters.
Office representative for Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific Jeremy Douglas said that the pandemic has gifted authorities an opportunity to do more to discourage consumers and clamp down on the traffickers’ supply lines.
However, as the smugglers creep back, official seizures of illicit animal products have begun to tick up, making it important to maintain stricter border checks.
“The moment should not be lost,” Douglas told reporters.
Southeast Asia, one of the world’s most species-rich regions, has long been a hotspot for wildlife trafficking. Rhinos are killed for their horns, crocodiles are farmed for their skin, otters and songbirds are captured as pets and rosewood is logged illegally.
Wildlife non-governmental organization Traffic said that Southeast Asian countries “function as source, consumer and as entrepots for wildlife coming from within the region as well as the rest of the world.”
There is high demand for illicit animal products in countries such as China, Myanmar and Thailand, where they are used in traditional medicine or consumed directly.
Some governments have seized on the pandemic as a chance to impose much-needed bans on the wildlife trade.
Such policies have been effective in significantly dampening demand, the report said.
However, recent law enforcement operations in China and Vietnam show that traffickers have once again started moving pangolin scales across borders this year, Douglas said.
The hunting of wildlife and extraction of illegal animal products did not entirely stop during the pandemic.
Through interviews with wildlife traders and traffickers in difficult-to-police regions in countries along the Mekong River, the office found evidence of wildlife products being stockpiled until prices and demand recover.
Park rangers also reported a rise in subsistence hunting as economic and job losses forced people to turn to forests to survive.
“Major [trafficking] networks are still waiting for some restrictions to lift to resume moving larger volumes,” Douglas said.
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