Spring Break
Illegal animal trade a bigger problem than we think
Joce DeWitt
Issue date: 4/10/09 Section: Forum
I am by no means an activist. I do not spend endless hours researching the climate to predict global warming, nor do I go days without sleep because I'm setting up a campaign to get today's youth passionate about saving the whales. That's just not who I am.
However, there is a subject that has recently been brought to my attention regarding the environment and the diverse creatures that live in it, and it has had an enormous effect on my mindset, even if I am not an environmentalist or animal rights activist. It is the illegal trade of wild animals.
It may or may not be something you've heard or read about before. Regardless, it is a rising issue concerning the entire world. Every continent and region has been affected by this conflict, and frankly, the statistics are devastating.
According to the Institute of Marine and Environmental Research of the Aegean Sea, "the illegal trade in wild animals involves the capture of animals in their natural environment and their transfer to the selling place, often thousands of miles away."
This illegal animal trade may not seem like that big of a deal until you realize that it is a multi-billion dollar business that has reached a value of about $8 billion (in U.S. currency) worldwide. That to me is a big deal.
Fundamentally, this kind of trade starts in under-developed and developing countries, and it makes its way across the globe into basically every region in the world. Most animals are taken from places in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, and then transported to wealthier areas like Western Europe and the U.S.
If you are like me and enjoy eating meat as much as any other food group, you may be wondering why trading wild animals is so awful. It's not as if people are being sold, right?
But here's why it's so terrible: not only are innocent wild animals being removed from their natural homes, many of the species involved have become endangered as a result of this growing market. This fact is a glimpse at how many animals are being taken and abused.
However, there is a subject that has recently been brought to my attention regarding the environment and the diverse creatures that live in it, and it has had an enormous effect on my mindset, even if I am not an environmentalist or animal rights activist. It is the illegal trade of wild animals.
It may or may not be something you've heard or read about before. Regardless, it is a rising issue concerning the entire world. Every continent and region has been affected by this conflict, and frankly, the statistics are devastating.
According to the Institute of Marine and Environmental Research of the Aegean Sea, "the illegal trade in wild animals involves the capture of animals in their natural environment and their transfer to the selling place, often thousands of miles away."
This illegal animal trade may not seem like that big of a deal until you realize that it is a multi-billion dollar business that has reached a value of about $8 billion (in U.S. currency) worldwide. That to me is a big deal.
Fundamentally, this kind of trade starts in under-developed and developing countries, and it makes its way across the globe into basically every region in the world. Most animals are taken from places in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, and then transported to wealthier areas like Western Europe and the U.S.
If you are like me and enjoy eating meat as much as any other food group, you may be wondering why trading wild animals is so awful. It's not as if people are being sold, right?
But here's why it's so terrible: not only are innocent wild animals being removed from their natural homes, many of the species involved have become endangered as a result of this growing market. This fact is a glimpse at how many animals are being taken and abused.
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