FACTBOX - Key Facts about Illegal Wildlife Trade
Date: 23-Sep-05
Country: INDIA
Following are some facts about endangered species, including the tiger and the illegal wildlife trade:
* Tigers, giant pandas, whales, dolphins, rhinos, elephants, marine turtles and great apes are flagship endangered species listed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Other major endangered species include the Monarch butterfly, the Pikas rabbit, the polar bear, snow leopards and Atlantic salmon.
* Of the 15,589 species on the list of threatened species, 7,266 are animals, according to the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) 2004 Red List. Nearly 800 species have become extinct in the past 500 years.
* The global illegal wildlife trade is worth about $8 billion a year, according to the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
* Species which feature most in illegal trade are the tiger, the humphead wrasse reef fish, the great white shark, Ramin tropical hardwood, the pig-nosed turtle, the yellow-crested cockatoo, the Asian elephant, the Irrawaddy dolphin, the leaf-tailed gecko and Asian yew trees, according to the WWF.
* From more than 100,000 in the 19th century, Asia's wild tiger population has plunged to an estimated 5,000 to 7,000. Estimates place the Indian wild tiger population at 3,500 to 3,700, although some experts have counted only up to 2,000.
* Asia is a global hotspot for the illegal wildlife trade, driven by increasing demand from China which uses animal parts in traditional medicines. One Asian rhino horn can fetch a poacher up to $500 and command between $37,000 and $50,000 from end buyers. Tiger skins trade at about $15,000. Rates of Ramin, a timber used for snooker cues, vary from $600 to $1,200 per cubic metre, according to conservationists.
Sources: Reuters, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (www.cites.org), World Wildlife Fund (www.worldwildlife.org), World Conservation Union (www.iucnredlist.org), www.traffic.org.
(Compiled by Editorial Reference Unit Researchers in Bangalore)
