The sale of wild animals, a threat to biodiversity

The African gray parrot is threatened with extinction -

• The wildlife trade amplifies the threat of extinction of nearly 9,000 species, according to a study published by our partner The Conversation.

• The annual profits generated by this traffic are estimated at more than 20 billion dollars.

• The analysis of this sad phenomenon was carried out by Sadek Atoussi, Lecturer in ecology at the University of May 8, 1945 (Guelma, Algeria).

The sale of wild animals - as food, ingredients for traditional medicine or as pets - is today recognized as a major factor in the erosion of biodiversity.

The overexploitation of these animals, associated with the degradation and fragmentation of their habitats, has reduced the numbers of many species in the wild to very low numbers.

Worse: it compromises the survival of many species in the short, medium and long term.

Large mammals (tigers, elephants, lions, etc.), better known to the general public because they receive more media coverage, are a perfect illustration of this.

Nevertheless, this threat hangs in a more devious and silent way on a large number of lesser-known species.

A study published in 2019 in the journal

estimates that of more than 31,500 terrestrial animal species (birds, mammals and reptiles), nearly 18%, or 5,579 species, are subject to trade.

According to the study, in the years to come, no less than 8,775 species will be threatened with extinction due to commercial activities.

The parrot trade in Algeria

So far, scientific studies documenting the legal and illegal trade in wild animals have mainly focused on certain regions, in particular the major importing and exporting countries of wild fauna and flora and the products thereof (China, Indonesia , Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, United States…).

On the other hand, these studies paid only limited attention to North African countries, despite the fact that their geographical position gives them the status of a gateway to consumer countries (Europe and North America).

These are the reasons that prompted us to start a study in 2017 on the scope of trade in wild animal species in Algeria.

Part of our results published in the journal

deals with the trade in the Gabonese gray parrot "Psittacus erithacus" and the Timneh parrot "Psittacus Timneh" in Algeria.

These two species live mainly in a narrow strip of central Africa, stretching from Côte d'Ivoire in the west to Kenya in the east.

This means that all the specimens observed for sale have been imported.

These two species are also considered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as threatened with extinction, because of the fragmentation of their natural habitat and especially because of the overexploitation of which they are the object in order to '' fuel local and international demand for pets.

Our "ANIMALS" file

Our results indicate that despite the ban on international trade in these species following their classification in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, quite large quantities are traded.

During the study period, which lasted from July 2017 to March 2019 for the online survey, and from August to September for street markets and pet stores, we estimated that more than 600 specimens were put in sale throughout Algeria.

Parrots are transported and sold illegally, in street markets, in pet stores, and especially on online sales platforms.

These sales are made without any apparent control by the authorities, which constitutes a violation of the laws in force which prohibit the sale of wild animals listed in Appendix I of CITES.

The Brazilian parrot and the African gray are both threatened with extinction © Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP

It is also important to note that the high number of specimens sold online supports other work which indicates a shift in sales of wild animals from physical to online markets.

This underlines the new challenges imposed by technological development in terms of biodiversity conservation.

For the moment, the lack of scientific literature on this subject does not make it possible to propose tangible solutions to reverse this trend, but rather offers avenues to explore concerning the study of consumer behavior, which could ultimately be used to develop strategies to change these behaviors.

A few ways to reverse the trend

The interviews we conducted as part of our survey with sellers of gray parrots indicate that nearly 50% of them are unaware that these birds are endangered species and that their sale in Algeria is illegal.

The results focus on very important points for the conservation of wildlife.

First of all, there is a need to ensure better enforcement of international and national regulations on trade in wildlife.

This includes adapting the regulations governing online commerce in order to curb the trafficking of wild animals and plants on the Internet.

Concrete actions should be taken by government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the scientific community to develop strategies to reduce trafficking in wildlife.

A first step would be to invite e-commerce companies that have not yet done so to add the ban on the sale of wild animals to their terms of use.

We must also try to set up filters to detect any fraudulent advertisement.

These filters would consist of programs capable of detecting and reporting advertisements containing the names of species listed in Appendix I of CITES or prohibited for sale under local legislation.

Of course, the development of these filters would require the collaboration of the various actors acting in the field of conservation to set up such a database.

Above all, you have to be successful in updating it every time sellers change the qualifiers they use to describe their products, which is a huge challenge.

A second requires the organization of awareness campaigns aimed at informing not only the general public but especially consumers of these products.

This approach would aim to reduce demand by explaining the impact of these activities on biodiversity, but also the possible involvement of these consumers in illegal activities, which could lead them to change their behavior.

Finally, a more general reflection on the penal sanctions linked to the trafficking of wild animals should be undertaken.

In the opinion of many experts, the sanctions related to this kind of crime are in many parts of the world inadequate not only with the damage caused to nature, but also with the profits generated by this traffic, including the turnover. annual is estimated at more than 20 billion dollars.

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This analysis was written by Sadek Atoussi, Lecturer in ecology at the University of May 8, 1945 (Guelma, Algeria).

The original article was published on The Conversation website.

• Threatened species

• Algeria

• Animals

• Biodiversity

• Trade

• Planet