Wildlife Crime: Politics, People, and Prevention

Wildlife crime, including the poaching, trafficking, and illegal killing of both fauna and flora, has considerable ecological, economic, and social costs. The illegal trade in wildlife is believed to be one of the largest black markets in the world today (Wilson-Wilde 2010), and the poaching of species is considered one of the biggest threats to their survival (Clarke and de By 2013). Wildlife products—elephant ivory, rhinoceros horn, caviar, pangolin scales, tiger skin, and live parrots, to name a few—have received significant attention from scientists, policymakers, international nongovernmental organizations, and the general public. The world spends millions of dollars each year in an attempt to curb what is considered to be the ongoing sixth mass extinction (Ceballos et al. 2017). Local and foreign governments support and fund high-value protected areas in order to facilitate frontline law enforcement staff. Community-based natural resource management programs are designed to benefit and...