2023-04-16 00:11:03
The trafficking of elephant tusks has just returned to Chad. All over the planet, dozens of protected species are the target of trafficking. An underground economy that threatens biodiversity, but also humanity.
It was the Chadian NGO SOS Elephants that sounded the alarm this week: at least 5 pachyderms were killed in Chad for their ivory tusks – this had not happened for ten years. Trafficking in endangered species is doing well. Welcome to the globalization of poaching.
Wrongly accused in the Covid case, the pangolin is definitely a hero despite himself: he is the most illegally hunted mammal in the world. « The pangolin is the Swiss army knife of traditional Chinese medicine, supposed to promote lactation, sexual stimulant, invigorating… The question would rather be what it would not be used for, quips Charlotte Nithart, spokesperson for the French environmental association Robin des Bois. The Chinese pangolin being considered commercially extinct, the suppliers therefore fell back on the African continent. »
China, final destination
All pangolin species are on the IUCN Red List, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, classified as critically endangered. Its disappearance would be worrying for the balance of biodiversity, and could lead to a proliferation of termites and ants on which the mammal feeds. But the traffic continues, and the pangolin is a perfect example of the globalization of poaching. “In Africa, you have a lot of Chinese expatriates who work on construction sites and who serve as suppliers, intermediaries, touts, continues Charlotte Nithart. This absolutely peaceful little mammal has a strategy against an enemy: il rolls into a ball; a golden deal for the poacher who just has to pick it up. »
In The Business Atlas of Threatened Species, published by Robin des Bois, many animal species trafficking actually converges on China. The Silk Roads are also roads of death. First cause pointed out by Charlotte Nithart, “ the lobbying and financial power of traditional Chinese medicine, which above all does not want to lose ground. There is also the “external sign of wealth” aspect: for a meal for notables, serving tiger or pangolin meat has its effect… Finally, there is the number of inhabitants, quite simply. It’s mathematical: the most populous country in the world is the one that consumes the most cash from illegal trafficking.
Caged birds
But beyond large mammals (tigers, elephants, rhinos, etc.), the survival of less “charismatic” animal species is also threatened. This is the case, for example, of the European goldfinch, a sparrow, a colorful little bird streaked with red, yellow and black. Its song is sought after, and that is also why the bird has been sought after, tracked down, for centuries, to such an extent that it is almost extinct in North Africa.
« There are still some in Morocco, a traffic hotspot. Since the goldfinch is migratory, it is increasingly trapped all along its migration route, with glue or nets. », explains the spokesperson for Robin Hood. This globalized traffic obeys the law of the market: “ The fewer there are, the more expensive it is. In Morocco, the goldfinch sells for a few dozen to a hundred euros. The price of a pair resold in France or Belgium can reach 500 euros. So there is money to be made. »
War economy
The annual turnover of trafficking in all endangered species is estimated today at 17 billion euros. A war economy, underground, which appropriates the common good. “It’s a war, points out Charlotte Nithart, with deaths among rangers or conservationists, but also poachers. This trafficking finances terrorist groups or clandestine militias: peace, quite simply, is jeopardized by poaching. »
“Do animals lean to the right? »
It was long thought that only humans preferred using one hand over another, 90% the right. But what is called laterality is also widespread in many animals. In the kangaroo, for example, it is the opposite of humans: they are 90% left-handed. In cats, a study showed that males were rather left-handed, and females right-handed, without anyone knowing why. In general, in all the animals observed, the left-handers are stressed, the right-handers curious. There is even a question of laterality in a species of snake, when it has no legs: the male has two genitalia and it is always the one on the right that is the largest.
#globalization #poaching #nature