Uncovering the illegal wildlife trade: Inside the world of poachers, smugglers and traders

Abstract

This book is based on four years of PhD research on the illegal trade in wildlife by the criminologist Daan van Uhm. In this study the author explores the nature of the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife confiscations over a ten-year period in the European Union were analysed and presented by graphics and maps to provide an overall picture of the visible illegal trade. The primary research is based upon ethnographic fieldwork in important source countries of the illegal trade, such as Russia, Morocco and China. Conversations with informants directly involved in the illegal business ensure a unique insight into this lively black market. The author reveals the social world behind the illegal activities and how the illegal wildlife business is organized. This is a story about illegal entrepreneurs smuggling tiger bone and rhino horn to be used in Chinese medicine, live monkeys destined for the Western pet industry and caviar for the upper-classes of society. Legal and illegal businesses collide where corrupt officials, legally registered companies, wildlife farms and sophisticated criminal organizations all have a share. The route of the illegal wildlife trade is followed from poor poaching areas to rich business districts as it is smuggled, laundered, stolen, sold, exchanged, manufactured and transformed from animals or eggs into desirable items in the West.