Runway To Extinction Report - Asia
The Asia chapter for the 2020 ROUTES Partnership and C4ADS report "Runway to Extinction: Wildlife Trafficking in the Air Transport Sector" which examines the trends, transit routes, and trafficking methods used by wildlife smugglers exploiting the aviation industry in six world regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania.
Main Takeaways:
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Asia is by far the world’s largest demand region for trafficked wildlife and wildlife products.
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Asian trafficking routes extend to every region, sourcing live animals and wildlife products from all over the world.
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China dominated every seizure and trafficking instance count in the analysis, likely due to extremely high demand for trafficked wildlife driven by a large population, effective enforcement, and good reporting.
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Trafficking of Asian species has declined as their population numbers have fallen, and Asian trafficking networks appear to increasingly rely on species found mostly in Africa to satiate demand.
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Although Asian species are in decline, sufficient numbers remain to support significant intra-Asian trade in reptiles, birds, pangolins, and marine species. Ivory, rhino horn, and mammal products are also trafficked intra-regionally, perhaps supported by wildlife demand markets throughout East and Southeast Asia that import from other world regions and trade amongst themselves.
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Reptile trafficking in Central and Southeast Asia, however, is still widespread.