Illegal wildlife trade is recognised as a serious transnational crime. It is recorded to have an overall turnover of billions of dollars each year, requiring coordinated effort by several enforcement agencies to be tackled effectively. Our Counter Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) Programme aims to assist government agencies by providing access to information, skills, technology and expert support to tackle wildlife crime in India. The programme has been functional since 2019 and is run with the support of State Forest Departments, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and other allied enforcement agencies who work on-ground to counter wildlife crime in India.
Our report, Media-Reported Wildlife Poaching and Illegal Trade in India 2020, aims at providing a comprehensive overview of illegal wildlife trade in India for the year 2020. It is an assessment of data collected through publicly available online open-source newspaper articles carried out by the CWT team. The report also hopes to highlight the role of effective enforcement agencies in successfully detecting a huge volume of illegal wildlife trade, as well as the role of media in reporting wildlife crime cases. Persistent and effective efforts like these will help counter illegal wildlife trade in India and facilitate a better understanding.
A total of 522 unique instances of poaching and illegal trade were collated using exhaustive keyword searches through Google and GDELT (Global Database of Events, Languages and Tone) between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. Reports in regional languages were translated and cross-checked to account for possible duplicates. Data was then used to check for spatial, temporal and species-specific patterns observed in 2020.
The maximum number of reported incidents belonged to the group ‘ungulates’ (89 incidents) that comprise species of deer, antelope, boar and wild sheep, closely followed by tigers and leopards categorised as ‘big cats’ (82 incidents) in the report. Several instances of big cat poaching pointed towards retaliation as the primary motive, but body parts were removed opportunistically. Snaring also came across as a major concern based on several reports of big cats trapped in snares that are usually deployed for ungulates. According to Imran Siddique, Programme Head of our Eastern Ghats Programme, “Snaring is rampant in many forested landscapes as the costs for snaring or electrocution are very meagre needing only iron wires. It is often undetected due to its inconspicuous nature.”.
Other major species reported in wildlife crimes were pangolins (72 incidents) in the form of live animals and scales; tortoises and freshwater turtles (61 incidents) for consumption, trade of body parts and as pets; elephants (57 incidents) mainly for ivory but also for their meat and other body parts; and red sandalwood (52 incidents) for timber. Data was also collected on other reptiles, birds, marine wildlife and rhinos as well as a few non-native/exotic species. Notable lesser-known species recorded in seizure incidents include monitor lizard, sand boa and various other species of snakes, parrots and bears (all multiple species of native origin). Nirmal Kulkarni, Senior Consultant of our CWT Programme, highlights the fact, “The report has once again brought forth the need for focussed attention for reducing illegal wildlife trade of lesser-known species like snakes, lizards, arachnids and freshwater turtles and tortoises in the Northeast and the Western Ghats of India.”.
The number of documented incidents from media reports suggest that despite the pandemic and the related lockdowns, illegal hunting and trade in wildlife continued across India. The number of wildlife poaching and illegal trade incidents reported could have been affected by travel restrictions and inability to carry out international trade. Whereas, increased food insecurity during the pandemic could be a potential reason for the increase in ungulate hunting for wild meat.
Speaking about the impact of COVID-19 on wildlife, Mr. Sunil Limaye IFS, PCCF (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden of Maharashtra states, “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the lives of people and wildlife alike. In a biodiversity-rich country like ours where people and wildlife continue to coexist at varying degrees, the report summarises media coverage on illegal wildlife trade and how enforcement agencies have worked towards deterring wildlife crime in the country.”.
According to our Conservation Advisor, Mr. Dev Prakash Bankhwal, there is a lack of documentation on how wildlife species are affected by poaching and illegal trade in Northeast India's protected areas which is a cause for concern. Dev Prakash Bankhwal is a retired IFS officer who served as the PCCF (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden of Assam.
The illegal wildlife trade, already rampant on-ground, has also made its way to the internet across popular social media as well as other privacy-oriented platforms. Easy access to smartphones and internet has enabled local inexperienced sellers without any established connections or networks to have a global reach.
The report will be shared with government agencies, policymakers and conservation partners to understand the current situation of illegal wildlife trade in the country amid the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Uttara Mendiratta, Programme Head, CWT Programme, states, “This report is a result of an ongoing effort by the team to systematically collect and analyse data on illegal wildlife trade using readily available media articles on enforcement action. We hope it can provide crucial insights into the current and emerging trend of illegal wildlife trade and help government agencies and policymakers plan strategies to reduce illegal trade in endangered species in the country.".
The results of this assessment have to be interpreted, keeping in mind the variability in available open-source information on seizures and media reports. Reportage and wildlife crimes incidents are impacted by several factors such as difficulty in identification, detection, biases in reporting, level of enforcement across states and the direct effect of the pandemic.
Read the full report here: https://doi.org/10.19121/2021.Report.40773
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