India Faces Growing Wildlife Crisis As Global Demand Fuels Illegal Trade

A Mounting Crisis

India, home to nearly 6.5% of the world’s wildlife—including 7.6% of mammal species and 12.6% of bird species stands at the crossroads of a critical conservation crisis. An alarming rise in the illegal trade of wildlife products, driven by both domestic and international demand, is pushing many of India’s species toward extinction. This crisis not only threatens biodiversity but also endangers ecosystems, public health, and local livelihoods.

Global Demand Is Driving Wildlife Crime

The global appetite for wildlife products—ranging from limbs, bones, skin, and fat used in medicine and luxury cosmetics, to elephant tusks fashioned into ornate jewellery—has made wildlife crime one of the most lucrative illicit trades worldwide. This demand is particularly high in affluent markets like China, Japan, and Western countries, making India a hotspot for poaching and trafficking.

Wildlife crime is now the fourth largest transnational criminal activity, trailing only drug trafficking, human trafficking, and counterfeiting, with an annual estimated value of USD 19–26 billion. This shadow economy undermines international conservation efforts and poses a severe risk to ecological stability.

Defining Wildlife Crime

The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) defines wildlife crime as “any illegal activity that violates national laws designed to protect natural resources.” This includes poaching, illegal logging, and the trafficking of wildlife and their derivatives. In response, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), through the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), provides legal and institutional support to combat these offenses.

Maritime Networks & Global Supply Chains

Recognizing the role of global logistics in enabling wildlife trafficking, ten international organizations, including the World Shipping Council and the Global Shippers Forum, have formed a coalition to disrupt illegal supply chains. These efforts aim to choke off trafficking routes often exploited by criminal networks.

Shocking Statistics: The Scale Of The Crisis

The scope of wildlife trafficking is staggering: 2,359 tigers seized across 32 countries between 2000 and 2018, 700,000 birds trapped annually in India, 195,000 pangolins trafficked in 2019 alone, Over 1 million seahorses captured yearly for aquarium trade, 111,000+ tortoises and turtles trafficked in India (2009–2019), 116 elephants killed for ivory in India between 2017 and 2022,, up to 450 snow leopards killed globally each year, These figures highlight the urgent need for a coordinated global response.

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