UPSC Express

In brief: Most Trafficked Species

• More than 6,000 turtles and tortoises are smuggled every year through Malaysia, India, or Bangladesh.
• Indian Star tortoise
  • Most trafficked tortoise
  • High demand as exotic pet
  • Found in abundance in scrub jungles across the southern peninsula
  • Smuggled from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka to Southeast Asia via Chennai
  • Covered under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act
• Red-eared slider
  • Semi-aquatic turtle smuggled into India from China and Thailand.
  • A popular pet that is kept for ‘luck and prosperity’
  • Not covered under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 or the CITES convention
• The Indian Pangolin
  • One of the most trafficked animals in the world, with about 10,000 pangolins traded every year
  • Endangered species under IUCN Red list
  • Hunted for their meat and scales used in traditional oriental medicine
  • According to a report by TRAFFIC, about 5,772 pangolins were captured in India from 2009 to 2017 for illegal trade
  • Kolkata and Chennai serve as the main export hubs
• The Patagonian seahorse
  • Trafficked for its use in medicine
  • Vulnerable under IUCN Red list
• African horned pit viper
  • Near threatened under IUCN Red list
• Exotic Birds
  • Macaws, cockatiels, Amazon parrots, conures and cockatoos are some of the exotic birds
  • They are in demand as pets.

Why Chennai has emerged as the hub of illegal wildlife trade?

• Transit hub
  • Connectivity to Southeast Asian countries and cheap airfare makes it an attractive transit point for wildlife traffickers.
• Network in the city
  • Students who are lured for quick money serve as couriers.
• High Demand
  • High demand for these species within the country for a range of factors, including use in medicine, prized collections, possession as exotic pets, growing demand for animal trophies in India etc.
• Loopholes in the law
  • Many species such as the pit viper are not covered under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, or CITES.
• Weak enforcement
  • Biggest challenge is the implementation of laws due to the shortage of staff.

In Brief: Steps to curb wildlife trade

• Section 2(37) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, defines ‘wildlife’ to include any animal, aquatic or land vegetation which forms part of any habitat.
• Wildlife crime can be defined as taking possession, trade or movement, processing, consumption of wild animals and plants or their derivatives in contravention of any international, regional, or national legislation.
• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has included wildlife crimes in the list of Transnational Organized Crimes (TOC).
• Two major wildlife crimes include
• Hunting & poaching
• Illegal trade

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora)

• India is a signatory to CITES which regulates international commercial wildlife trade.
• CITES is a voluntary international agreement adopted in 1973.
• It aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
• It seeks to ban trade in endangered species and to regulate trade of other commercially exploited species.
• Appendix 1 lists species of animals that are critically endangered or threatened with extinction whose trade is prohibited under CITES.

 Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

• In India, The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, is the umbrella legislation for wildlife crime enforcement.
• Important provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 dealing with wildlife crimes include
• Chapter VI A – Illegal Trade
• Section 51 – Punishments for certain offences
• Section 39 – Wildlife is government property
• Trade in over 1800 species of wild animals, plants and their derivative is prohibited under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

TRAFFIC

• TRAFFIC is an international NGO working on trade in wildlife.
• TRAFFIC is wildlife trade monitoring network and a joint programme of WWF and IUCN.
• It works closely with the governments to help study, monitor and influence action to curb illegal wildlife trade.
• In 2014 it launched the Wildlife Crime Initiative along with WWF, to tackle the global poaching crisis.