Daan P. van Uhm

An overview of seized illegal wildlife entering the United States

The current study analyses seizures made at US ports of entry between 2003 and 2013, with the aim to identify concentrations of illegal wildlife imports into the United States. Findings show that 94% of species seized belong to six groups – mammals, molluscs, birds, reptiles, fish and coral – with mammals and reptiles making up more than half of all seizure incidents. Additionally, most seized wildlife is imported as leather products, medicinal products and as meat. The majority of seizures emanate from six countries, and illegal wildlife is primarily brought to the US via airline baggage. Temporal trends of wildlife seizures point to increases in the seizures of all groups of species, with the exception of birds. Based on these findings, we recommend using situational crime prevention techniques at US ports of entry to reduce opportunities that enable this trade.

Criminaliteit en traditionele Chinese medicijnen

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is deeply rooted in the Chinese culture. Although thousands of animal and plant species are used for medicines legally, some medications contain more sinister elements; illegal animal or plant ingredients of protected species. What is the origin of this demand for rare species as medicine, who are involved in the trade and why is law enforcement complicated? This article will show that the illicit trade in TCM is a form of crime that transcends the borders of China and manifests itself in Western Europe. Various aspects of the trade are highlighted, including criminalization of the use of endangered species, western anthropocentrism and the cultural use of medicine, to understand this relatively invisible crime.

The social construction of the value of wildlife: A green cultural criminological perspective:

The trade in wildlife is not a new phenomenon. The earliest civilizations were linked to the trade in live animals and parts thereof, from the Egyptian pharaohs to aristocrats in the modern era. This article focuses on the history of the wildlife trade in order to understand the social construction of the value of wildlife. In dynamic social and cultural contexts, the meaning of wildlife changes. Historically, exotic animals and the products thereof were associated with social elites, but today, wildlife attracts people from all walks of life and a wide variety of live animals and products thereof are traded for functional, symbolic and social purposes. Increasing ecocentric and biocentric values in contemporary western society, however, may influence constructed demand patterns for wildlife in the near future. By integrating cultural criminological concepts with the social construction of green crimes, this article aims to understand constructed wildlife consumerism through the ages.The trade in wildlife is not a new phenomenon. The earliest civilizations were linked to the trade in live animals and parts thereof, from the Egyptian pharaohs to aristocrats in the modern era. This article focuses on the history of the wildlife trade in order to understand the social construction of the value of wildlife. In dynamic social and cultural contexts, the meaning of wildlife changes. Historically, exotic animals and the products thereof were associated with social elites, but today, wildlife attracts people from all walks of life and a wide variety of live animals and products thereof are traded for functional, symbolic and social purposes. Increasing ecocentric and biocentric values in contemporary western society, however, may influence constructed demand patterns for wildlife in the near future. By integrating cultural criminological concepts with the social construction of green crimes, this article aims to understand constructed wildlife consumerism through the ages.

Wildlife Trade Through the Ages

The trade in wildlife is not a new phenomenon. The earliest civilizations were linked to the trade in live animals and parts thereof, from the Egyptian pharaohs to aristocrats in the modern era. In this chapter, the focus is on the global history of the wildlife trade in order to understand the social context of the trade. In dynamic social and cultural contexts the meaning of wildlife changes. It turns out that a wide variety of live animals and products thereof have been traded for functional, symbolic or entertainment purposes. From ostrich eggs for the treatment of fractured skulls, live monkeys as ladies’ pets to caviar as a delicacy for the upper classes. However, the impact of the diverse trade in wildlife soon posed a threat to certain species; it was already noticed in early antiquity that species had disappeared due to the extensive trade.

Overarching Views and the Future

The chain of the illegal wildlife trade consists of different stages, actors and networks. The wildlife moves along a line of contacts from the source areas to the final destinations. In this chapter, three case studies are analysed as to their similarities and differences in the context of the social construction of the value, global anomie and criminogenic asymmetries, the social embeddedness and the organization of wildlife crime, and finally, the (environmental) harms. This chapter provides a general picture of the illegal trade in wildlife that enables one to understand the nature of the harmful wildlife trade. Finally, it will be discussed how the perspectives of wildlife crimes have changed in their social context and what can be expected in the near future.

Enter the Field of Wildlife

This study answers the call for empirical research on transnational environmental crimes by exploring the illegal trade in wildlife. In this chapter, the research methods of the study are presented. To obtain a global overview of this illegal trade, statistical descriptive analyses were carried out on a database with confiscations of illegal wildlife shipments in the EU. Based on these quantitative analyses, multiple case studies were selected. The primary research is based upon conversations with informants directly involved in the illegal business in important source countries of the illegal trade, such as Russia, Morocco and China. This chapter focuses on ethnographic research, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation and multisite methods, and challenges during fieldwork, such as access, building trust and ‘dangerous situations’.

Crimes Against Nature

Since social and professional concerns regarding the environment increased and the impact on humans became clear, the wildlife trade became slowly criminalized in the past few decades. While it can be expected that criminologists would study this phenomenon, many criminologists hesitated in discovering this new field for several reasons. In this chapter the limitations of the discipline of criminology and its confined attention to environmental issues will be discussed. In addition, criminological explanatory models will be introduced that can be applied to study the social construction of the value of wildlife, the actors and the organization behind the illegal wildlife trade. At the end of this chapter the emergence of green criminology will be described including new perspectives on crimes and harms.

The Numbers of the Trade

In this chapter, the nature of the illegal wildlife trade is approached by quantitative analyses of wildlife seizures. Wildlife confiscations over a 10 -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 EU is one of the foremost destination markets for wildlife in the world, coordinated by well organized, loose networks based in the EU and in the source regions. The diversity and transnational characteristics of the illegal wildlife trade are highlighted by quantitative analyses by asking what kind of illegal wildlife is traded, what are the source countries and major outlets, what kinds of smuggling and laundering methods are used and who are the perpetrators? Based on the quantitative analyses multiple case studies were selected to investigate qualitatively.

Imperialism and Criminalization

In the twentieth century, the damage from unregulated wildlife trade became transparent as many species became extinct or were on the brink of extinction. Consequently, various moral entrepreneurs emerged to underline the need for regulation. This chapter shows that the effects of these initiatives to protect endangered species were divergent. On the one hand, protecting species was regularly faced with the economic and personal interests of powerful stakeholders stagnating any initiatives. On the other hand, European imperialists enhanced the exclusion of local people in order to protect nature reserves and their species. The legislative development and criminalization of the trade in wildlife in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries will be discussed in its socioeconomic context in order to understand the European interest in species conservation.

The Sixth Mass Extinction

After the five mass extinctions on Earth that were caused by meteorite impacts, volcanism and large-scale climate change, several scientists predict that we are currently at the beginning of a sixth mass extinction. In this scenario, it is humankind that is causing the mass extinction with the illegal trade in wildlife as one of the most important hazards to wildlife species. This chapter presents an analysis of the causes and consequences of the global defaunation in the context of technological innovation and industrialisation of the wildlife trade. The complexity of the current decline of biodiversity and the effect of defaunation will be demonstrated by the sensibility of ecological interaction between animals and plants. The exploitation of natural resources has become a part of the social, political and economic dynamics.After the five mass extinctions on Earth that were caused by meteorite impacts, volcanism and large-scale climate change, several scientists predict that we are currently at the beginning of a sixth mass extinction. In this scenario, it is humankind that is causing the mass extinction with the illegal trade in wildlife as one of the most important hazards to wildlife species. This chapter presents an analysis of the causes and consequences of the global defaunation in the context of technological innovation and industrialisation of the wildlife trade. The complexity of the current decline of biodiversity and the effect of defaunation will be demonstrated by the sensibility of ecological interaction between animals and plants. The exploitation of natural resources has become a part of the social, political and economic dynamics.