The welfare of wildlife: an interdisciplinary analysis of harm in the legal and illegal wildlife trades and possible ways forward

Abstract

Wildlife trade—both legal and illegal—is an activity that is currently the focus of global attention. Concerns over the loss of biodiversity, partly stemming from overexploitation, and the corona virus pandemic, likely originating from wildlife trade, are urgent matters. These concerns though centre on people. Only sometimes does the discussion focus on the wildlife traded and their welfare. In this article, we make the case as to why welfare is an important component of any discussion or policy about wildlife trade, not only for the interests of the wildlife, but also for the sake of humans. We detail the harm in the trade as well as the current welfare provisions, particularly in relation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which guide global transport and trade. There are a number of ways that the current approach to wildlife welfare could be improved, and we propose ways forward in this regard.

Disentangling the Legal and Illegal Wildlife Trade–Insights from Indonesian Wildlife Market Surveys

“…In addition, as shown here, first-hand observations allow for the assessment of how well vendors adhere to welfare standards. This is increasingly recognised as an important component to assess sustainability of harvest and trade [ 64 , 69 , 70 , 71 ]. Baker et al [ 70 ] concluded that with regards to welfare and wildlife trade, a reasonable aspiration was to eradicate (or limit) that part of the trade that on welfare grounds is deemed irretrievably unacceptable and to improve animal welfare for the remaining parts.…”

“…Baker et al [ 70 ] concluded that with regards to welfare and wildlife trade, a reasonable aspiration was to eradicate (or limit) that part of the trade that on welfare grounds is deemed irretrievably unacceptable and to improve animal welfare for the remaining parts. Welfare, furthermore, can also be a tool for law enforcement, as attention to the welfare needs of trafficked wildlife can expose the modus operandi and become a tool for law enforcement [ 71 ]. Specifically, the relative high welfare needs of wild-caught birds (relative to for instance plants, reptiles, and certain mammals) necessitate a fast movement through the trade chain and this requires both an organised infrastructure and a good degree of planning.…”

Wildlife Trade and Law Enforcement: A Proposal for a Remodeling of CITES Incorporating Species Justice, Ecojustice, and Environmental Justice

“…Harms that are not criminalized can be as harmful as acts that are criminalized, and because what is criminalized varies in different times and within different social communities, green criminology scholars study harms as much as crimes (e.g., Brisman & South, 2014 ; Lynch & Stretesky, 2016 ; Sollund, 2015 ; White, 2013 ). The concept of harm is particularly relevant in the context of wildlife trade because everything an animal is exposed to as part of this trade is harmful ( Sollund, 2011 ; Wyatt et al, 2021 ), yet most of these harms take place within the limits of the law. For example, every year thousands of parrots are legally abducted and sent from Latin America to countries such as Russia and Singapore to be “pets” in private households ( Sinovas et al, 2017 ).…”

“…CITES does not protect animals from trade before their species is threatened with extinction. CITES also has little concern for the welfare of individual animals who are victims of trade ( Goyes & Sollund, 2016 ; Mulà Arribas, 2015 ; Sollund, 2019 ; Wyatt et al, 2021 ), and partial protection is awarded only to those species that are listed on the CITES appendices. Currently 5,950 species of animals and 32,800 species of plants have some protection in CITES, but far more species never reach any appendix.…”

Environment, Environmental Crimes, Environmental Forensic Medicine, Environmental Risk Management and Environmental Criminology

“…Together with the EFM, the Green Criminology has the task of analyzing all the criminal processes connected to the natural environment [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. The green criminology addresses forms of crime that harm the environment, but that are often ignored in the mainstream criminological research [ 40 ].…”