"The desperate plight of iconic species at the hands of poachers has deservedly captured the world's attention, and none too soon... One of the critical messages to emerge from this research is that wildlife and forest crime is not limited to certain countries or regions". - Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, UNODC

Data was collected and analysed from the World Wildlife Seizures (WISE) database which represents 7'000 different species that have been seized in 164'000 cases spanning 120 countries. With so many species involved in complex networks, researchers conducting the report focused in-depth on a few of the world's most significant species - from a criminal markets perspective - sorted into seven industrial sectors:

Furniture - Species of Rosewood Art, Decor and Jewelry - African Elephant Ivory Fashion - Reptile skins (Species of alligator, crocodile, snake and lizard) and Asian Big Cat species (leopard, tiger, clouded leopard, snow leopard and Asiatic lion) Cosmetics and Perfume - Agarwood Food, Medicines and Tonics - Pangolin derivatives, rhino horn and bear bile. Pets, Zoos and Breeding - Parrots, Freshwater turtles and tortoises and Great apes. Seafood - Caviar, Marine turtles and Glass eels.

The 100 page report is the first global assessment of its kind and was produced as part of the UNODC's ongoing Global Programme on Wildlife and Forest Crime.

Unraveling the Key findings:

The Illegal Wildlife Trade is a global phenomenon

Virtually every country in the world plays a role as a source, transit, or destination for contraband wildlife. But certain species are associated with one region more then another depending on its range or the demand for its products. No single country has been identified as the source of more than 15% of the total number of seized shipments captured in the database and suspected traffickers of some 80 nationalities have been identified. Side note: the 15% statistic refers to all seizures, it would be interesting to divide this statistically into range, transit or destination countries (for all wildlife or species combined) to find any underlying patterns and identify where policy and law enforcement may need strengthening. However, within seizure information, country or region of destination is often unknown or unreported and country of origin may only be figured out after lengthy DNA analysis. Oh well a girl can dream.

Illegal wildlife products are fed into legal markets. How and why?

This is not a new finding, all sensitive products; weaponry, drugs and wildlife derivatives can be legally or illegally traded and it all depends on the proper paperwork.

How: Fraudulent paperwork and forged permits are a huge vulnerability in wildlife trafficking. With 900'000 legal permits of protected wildlife products issued annually, high corruption rates can facilitate organized crime and devastate a species.

Also informal harvesting practices can allow internationally protected wildlife to be illegally introduced into commercial streams before being legally exported (See pythons and trade in reptile skins). Wildlife farms, captive breeding operations, and even zoos can play a role in laundering illegally acquired wildlife.

Why: it happens as criminals have access to a much larger source of demand than they would ever of had on the black market alone.