Advancing interdisciplinary science for disrupting wildlife trafficking networks

Abstract

Wildlife trafficking, whether local or transnational in scope, undermines sustainable development efforts, degrades cultural resources, endangers species, erodes the local and global economy, and facilitates the spread of zoonotic diseases. Wildlife trafficking networks (WTNs) occupy a unique gray space in supply chains—straddling licit and illicit networks, supporting legitimate and criminal workforces, and often demonstrating high resilience in their sourcing flexibility and adaptability. Authorities in different sectors desire, but frequently lack knowledge about how to allocate resources to disrupt illicit wildlife supply networks and prevent negative collateral impacts. Novel conceptualizations and a deeper scientific understanding of WTN structures are needed to help unravel the dynamics of interaction between disruption and resilience while accommodating socioenvironmental context. We use the case of ploughshare tortoise trafficking to help illustrate the potential of key advancements in interdisciplinary thinking. Insights herein suggest a significant need and opportunity for scientists to generate new science-based recommendations for WTN-related data collection and analysis for supply chain visibility, shifts in illicit supply chain dominance, network resilience, or limits of the supplier base.

Exploring media representation of the exotic pet trade: taxonomic, framing, and language biases in peer-reviewed publications and newspaper articles

“…Peer-reviewed papers with multiple framing foci were not only more frequent than other categories but also had a higher rate of citations per year. Given the complexities of modern global society, the need for a more systems-based approach is being recognised in strategies for conservation (One Plan; CBSG 2023), ecosystem health (OneHealth; WHO 2023), metrics of economic health (Doughnut Economics 2023), tackling wildlife trafficking (Gore et al 2023), and living collections (Spooner et al 2023). As a large proportion of papers in the peer-reviewed literature were framed in this multi-faceted manner and focussed on multiple taxa, it may be hoped that a broad, inclusive evidence-base for the effects of the exotic pet trade is being developed.…”

“…As a large proportion of papers in the peer-reviewed literature were framed in this multi-faceted manner and focussed on multiple taxa, it may be hoped that a broad, inclusive evidence-base for the effects of the exotic pet trade is being developed. Unfortunately, recent research suggests that significant geographic, taxonomic, and economic knowledge gaps exist in our understanding of the trade, leading to calls for more coordinated, structured approaches (Sinclair et al 2021; Keskin et al 2023; Sengottuvel et al 2023) that may incorporate multidisciplinary teams to optimise their chance of success (Gore et al 2023).…”

Wildlife Product Trading in Online Social Networks: A Case Study on Ivory-Related Product Sales Promotion Posts

“…Esteemed organizations like WWF, 9 TRAFFIC, 10 and EAGLE 11 actively combat violators engaged in the systematic illegal hunting, transportation, and sale of wildlife and their products (Dalberg 2012). Historically, significant efforts have been invested in providing data (Gore et al 2022(Gore et al , 2023b and conducting analyses (Gore et al 2019(Gore et al , 2023a focusing on offline trafficking. However, with the advent of the internet, wildlife traffickers have adapted their strategies, actively promoting and selling products online (Lavorgna 2014).…”

Global challenges in aging: insights from comparative biology and one health

“…A critical threat associated with the movement of products is the demand for illegal goods and services. Beyond the appalling and complex issues associated with human trafficking, poaching and trafficking wildlife has decimated wildlife ( Gore et al, 2020 ; 2023 ). The illegal trafficking of live animals, and their products can spread disease and toxicants to humans and wildlife ( Machalaba et al, 2019 ; Borsky et al, 2020 ; Machalaba et al, 2020 ; Shivaprakash et al, 2021 ).…”