An overview of seized illegal wildlife entering the United States

Petrossian, Gohar A.; Pires, Stephen F.; Uhm, Daan P. van

doi:10.1080/17440572.2016.1152548

Cited by 65 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement inspectors to track the illicit trade of flora and fauna coming into and out of the United States. Findings from these studies suggest that a small number of export countries account for the majority of wildlife seizures entering the U.S. (Kurland and Pires 2017;Petrossian et al 2016;Goyenechea and Indenbaum 2015), and that a small number of entry points seize a disproportionate amount of wildlife contraband (Kurland and Pires 2017). Altogether, this research suggests hot routes are being used from particular countries to particular ports (Goyenechea and Indenbaum 2015).…”

Section: Crime Concentration: Does Illegal Wildlife Poaching and Tradmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Not every species of wildlife is equally desired by humans, or even accessible, and as such, there is an expectation that poaching should be unevenly distributed among wildlife species (Pires and Clarke 2012). For example, wildlife seizures made at entry points in Asia (Nijman 2010), the EU (van Uhm 2016), and the US (Kurland and Pires 2017;Petrossian et al 2016) have found that certain taxonomic groups of wildlife are disproportionately trafficked into major demand markets while others are rarely seized. At the local level, market surveys commonly find particular species disproportionately sold in illicit markets (Gastanaga et al 2011;Herrera and Hennessey 2007;Lee et al 2005;Phelps and Webb 2015;Regueira and Bernard 2012) and field research has found certain wildlife is preferred for bushmeat by poachers (Holmern et al 2007).…”

Section: Crime Concentration: Does Illegal Wildlife Poaching and Tradmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the theories of rational choice (Cornish and Clarke 2014) and routine activities (Cohen and Felson 1979), SCP aims to reduce criminal opportunities through various techniques that take advantage of five crime reducing mechanisms: (1) making it harder; (2) less rewarding, (3) riskier to commit crime (Clarke 2009), (4) reducing provocations (Wortley 2001), and (5) removing excuses (Homel and Clarke 1997). Crime scientists have already suggested ways in which SCP might be applied to reduce poaching of elephants (Lemieux and Clarke 2009), rhinos (Eloff and Lemieux 2014), parrots (Pires 2012), tigers ) and wildlife more generally (Lemieux 2014;Petrossian et al 2016;Pires and Moreto 2011;Schneider 2008Schneider , 2012). Yet, these suggestions have not been applied in the field.…”

Section: Crime Concentration: Does Illegal Wildlife Poaching and Tradmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wildlife crime: a conceptual integration, literature review, and methodological critique

et al. 2017

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Wildlife crime, including poaching and wildlife trafficking, threaten the existence of particular species. To date, research on wildlife crime has been primarily conducted by those with backgrounds in the biological sciences, however crime scientists, have much to offer in examining wildlife crimes. With this in mind, we aim to highlight general principals of crime science found through an in-depth review of the conservation literature. More specifically, to determine if, and how, different types of wildlife crimes cluster, to identify the existence of interventions for which the mechanisms mirror those found within SCP, and consider their effectiveness. Our review suggests that various types of wildlife crimes concentrate in time and space, among products, along certain routes, and at particular facilities. Further, some overlap exists between mechanisms used to mitigate more traditional crimes and those used to prevent wildlife crimes and protect threatened species. Of note are the attempts by those in the conservation community to increase the risk of crime, remove excuses for non-compliance of rules, and reduce provocations that contribute to particular types of wildlife crime. Given this overlap crime scientists may be able to collaborate with conservationists to draw on the extensive knowledge base of prevention studies to identify potential interventions, analyze their implementation, and evaluate the overall impact of an intervention.

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Section: Crime Concentration: Does Illegal Wildlife Poaching and Tradmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Crime Concentration: Does Illegal Wildlife Poaching and Tradmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Crime Concentration: Does Illegal Wildlife Poaching and Tradmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wildlife crime: a conceptual integration, literature review, and methodological critique

et al. 2017

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“…Alongside socio-cultural demand patterns, IWT is influenced by opportunity structures in the environment. A growing number of studies by criminologists examine IWT through the lens of environmental criminology [68][69][70][71][72]. (For a comprehensive overview of applying environmental criminology to IWT see Kurland and Pires [73] and Boratto and Gibbs [74]).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite this, little is known about the scale and mechanisms of IWT in the U. S. [18]. A handful of studies have analyzed illegal wildlife in the U.S. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]; yet the bulk of this literature examines broader international trafficking patterns [28][29] or focuses on a specific taxonomic group [30][31][32][33][34] and tend to be descriptive in nature, with a few exceptions [35][36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in illegal wildlife trade: Analyzing personal baggage seizure data in the Pacific Northwest

Hitchens

Blakeslee

2020

PLoS ONE

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The illegal import of wildlife and wildlife products is a growing concern, and the U.S. is one of the world's leading countries in the consumption and transit of illegal wildlife and their derivatives. Yet, few U.S. studies have analyzed the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) on a national or local scale. Moreover, to our knowledge, no studies have specifically examined the trends associated with IWT moving through personal baggage. This work aimed to better understand the magnitude of illegal wildlife importation into U.S. ports of entry by determining trends associated with illegal wildlife products from personal baggage seizures, using the Pacific Northwest (PNW) as a specific case study. To identify the most influential factors determining the numbers and types of personal baggage seizures into PNW, we analyzed 1,731 records between 1999 and 2016 from the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) database. We found five significant contributors: taxonomic classification of wildlife, categorical import date, wildlife product, source region, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) status. While wildlife seizures across taxonomic categories have generally decreased in the PNW since 2008, other findings provide a reason for concern. More specifically, mammals were identified as the largest animal group of seized wildlife, and temporal trends indicate increases in seizures for this and several other taxonomic groups. Many of the seizures originated from overseas, with East Asia serving as the largest source. Our PNW case study can be a model for how large-scale geographical seizure data can be used to inform about the major factors that have historically and presently contribute to IWT, with conservation implications globally.

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United Nations Initiatives in Preventing Environmental Crime

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2021

Crime Prevention and Justice in 2030

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An overview of seized illegal wildlife entering the United States

Cited by 65 publications

References 39 publications

Wildlife crime: a conceptual integration, literature review, and methodological critique

Wildlife crime: a conceptual integration, literature review, and methodological critique

Trends in illegal wildlife trade: Analyzing personal baggage seizure data in the Pacific Northwest

United Nations Initiatives in Preventing Environmental Crime

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