Wildlife Crime: Poaching, Trafficking, and Conservation Efforts

TOPIC CLASSIFICATION

Subject: Environment & Ecology - Wildlife Conservation and Crime
Sub-topic: Wildlife Crime - Poaching, Illegal Wildlife Trafficking (IWT), CITES, Conservation Efforts in India
Mains GS Paper-III: Environment - conservation of wildlife, laws and institutions for wildlife protection, international conventions.

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EXAMINER REASONING

Wildlife crime is a transnational organised crime that threatens biodiversity and has links to money laundering, terrorism, and narco-trafficking. Prelims tests: CITES appendices (I, II, III), species in news (tigers, pangolins, rhinos, turtles), Wildlife Protection Act schedules, Project Tiger. Mains demands: (a) the scale and drivers of wildlife crime - poaching for traditional medicine, bushmeat, exotic pets, trophies, (b) the supply chain - poachers → middlemen → traffickers → international buyers, (c) India's institutional framework - WCCB, NTCA, Wildlife Crime Database, (d) CITES role and its effectiveness, (e) the human-wildlife conflict dimension. The examiner's favourite framing is: "Why does wildlife trafficking persist despite robust legal frameworks?"

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Core Concept

What is Wildlife Crime?

Any illegal act involving wild animals or plants - poaching (illegal killing/trapping), trafficking (illegal trade), possession, or destruction. It is the 4th largest transnational organised crime after drugs, arms, and human trafficking (estimated $20-30 billion annually).

**Key Species Affected in...