REALITY CHECK: Study finds more than 100,000 species traded globally, twice as previously thought
The wildlife trade study identified 107,356 species that are either in use or traded globally – far higher than a previous estimate of about 50,000. Alice Hughes, a professor at the University of Melbourne and lead author of the study stated: “At the moment, we are completely underestimating what modern trade looks like, and it poses a major risk to species”. The study comes as the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a petition asking the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Javan slit-faced bat under the Endangered Species Act, warning that consumers are buying the bat for decor, placing it at risk of extinction. Taxidermy bats are sought after, particularly by US consumers, who are looking for gothic or spooky decorations for Halloween or Christmas gifts.
REBECCA RATCLIFFE: A study, published in Science Advances, warns that there are huge gaps in global assessments of how wildlife is traded, and that past estimates have failed to keep up with changes such as the boom in the online exotic pet trade, where sellers offering to post spider eggs across the world or sneak reptiles on to planes are just a click away.
“The dimensions of trade have changed. Without monitoring it in a representative way, we cannot manage it,” said Alice Hughes, a professor at the University of Melbourne and lead author of the study. “At the moment, we are completely underestimating what modern trade looks like – for the pet trade and for the ornamental trade, we are not capturing it. And it poses a major risk to species.”
The study comes as the US-based nonprofit, the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a petition asking the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Javan slit-faced bat under the Endangered Species Act, warning that consumers are buying the bat for decor, placing it at risk of extinction. Taxidermy bats are sought after, particularly by US consumers, who are looking for gothic or spooky decorations for Halloween or Christmas gifts, the centre said.
The wildlife trade study identified 107,356 species that are either in use or traded globally – far higher than a previous estimate of about 50,000, which was made by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The study draws on more comprehensive datasets, as well as newer research papers that have tracked species sold online for decoration. It shows flaws in our understanding of what species are at risk; for example, the number of butterfly species found to be traded is greater than the IPBES’ entire estimate for all traded terrestrial invertebrates.
Molly Brown, programme officer for wildlife use and trade at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and a co-author of the paper, said the findings were a reality check. “The number of species that we are talking about is still an underestimate, and that’s really clear in the paper, because we cannot access and we do not have the type of monitoring data that we really need,” she said…
Chris Shepherd, a conservation advocate at the Centre for Biological Diversity, who was not involved in the study, added that he had observed the wildlife trade for decades and that new species were continually appearing.
“The demand for wildlife, especially live wildlife traded for pets, is growing fast, as is the number of species involved,” he said. “This trade is pushing an ever-growing list of species towards extinction, and as such, putting in place mechanisms to better monitor this trade are essential.” SOURCE
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