Despite Low Seizure Amount, Illegal Wildlife Trade May Boom Because of Covid-19

According to a U.S. nonprofit that studies transnational security issues, the coronavirus pandemic hampered both wildlife smugglers' ability to transport their products abroad and law enforcement's ability to track them.

"We know smugglers are stockpiling contrabands in large amounts not only in Africa, but also in Asia-in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia," says Carmody, who was not involved in the C4ADS investigation. The concern now, he says, is that with more flights and other transport, they'll be able to easily market stored contraband, fueling a rise in animal smuggling.

To avoid arrest in 2020, it's likely that smugglers split up some containers into smaller packets. However, and with a decrease in law enforcement capability, Hornor believes that if total amounts were similar-just parceled out in smaller individual shipments-there would have been an increase in arrests.

2020 Stats

In 2020, the cumulative volume of seized pangolin scales was around 20 tons, down from around 100 tons in 2019. Rhino horn seized in 2020 was less than a tenth of what was seized in 2019. Though the total weight of confiscated ivory shipments has declined over the last six years, there was a major 72 percent decline in 2020.

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