Australia's unique native species, particularly birds and
reptiles, are targets of the international illegal wildlife trade,
causing thousands of deaths every year.
What is the illegal wildlife trade?
The international illegal wildlife trade is a multi-billion
dollar industry involving millions of individual specimens.
Wild animals are traded alive to be kept as pets or put on
display, or killed to be used in traditional medicines or as
ornaments, or eaten as exotic foods.
It is not just the buying and selling of wild creatures that is
so dreadful. Many of them die during attempts to capture them.
Others die due to tight confinement while being smuggled. Those
that survive the transport often die of fear, stress and disease.
(Please see What is the illegal wildlife trade and why is it
inhumane? - RSPCA website, October 2019.)
