Oakland Zoo exhibit shows perils of illegal wildlife trade.
Attraction part of a campaign to educate public on the practice
The Oakland Zoo has always been there for animals like Brock and Ting Ting.
Brock, a yellownaped Amazon parrot, was rescued from the illegal pet trade. And Ting Ting, a sun bear, was just a cub when her mother was killed by poachers.
Now, the two rescues are part of an exhibit that opens today highlighting the illegal wildlife trade.
The attraction is part of a campaign to raise awareness about the effects of the trade. It also will teach visitors how to make choices to help combat poaching, extinction and the spread of zoonotic diseases that transmit from animals to people and may be responsible for
COVID-19.
“I hope visitors learn to make connections to this trade that can seem so far off,” said Amy Gotliffe, vice president of conservation at the Oakland Zoo. “We want visitors to know that they have power in their pet, food and travel choices to make a big difference.”
Along with Brock and Ting Ting, the zoo is home to two wallabies that are recovering in the facility’s Veterinary Hospital after being held as exotic pets and confiscated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The exhibit also has a stuffed African leopard as well as furs and leathers that were either seized by law enforcement or donated to the zoo.
“We always get items
that have been confiscated, or donated heirlooms and trinkets that people don’t know what to do with anymore,” said Daniel Flynn, a marketing manager at the Oakland Zoo who helped create the exhibit. “This was a perfect chance to display these items and show their impact.”
The items are displayed alongside a video and educational displays within the zoo’s African Savannah area.
The illegal wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry that crisscrosses the globe. It’s broadly defined as the unlawful and unsustainable capture and sale of products derived from wild animals or plants.
The practices include everything from the poaching of elephants for ivory to the sale of exotic snakes as pets, and can lead to the decimation of entire species.
Californians might think wildlife trafficking happens elsewhere or is a problem of the past — but that’s not so, said Patrick Foy, a captain with the Law Enforcement Division of Fish and Wildlife.
“We have several wildlife officers dedicated to doing these investigations full time,” right here in California, said Foy. “Those investigations end up with everything from Nile crocodiles to full grown Bengal tigers to primates.”
More illegal wildlife products enter the U.S. through San Francisco than any other city, according to federal data. Fish and Wildlife has a team equipped with officers, lab technicians, and lawyers devoted to tracking down illegally held and trafficked animals and plants, Foy said.
Gotliffe said that combating the illegal wildlife trade “has always been” part of the Oakland Zoo’s mission.
Over the years, the zoo has provided veterinary care, temporary housing, or even a permanent home for many animals rescued or confiscated from illegal situations.
But the COVID-19 pandemic brought the issue of the illegal wildlife trade into sharp focus for the entire world, said Gotliffe. The virus’ initial spread has been linked to live animals held and slaughtered in wet markets, where vendors sometimes trade lucrative wild animal species.
“If there hadn’t been a demand to consume wild exotic animals, we might not have had this pandemic,” she said.
“Zoonotic diseases will keep coming up. COVID-19 is not our last,” said Isabella Linares, a marketing associate at the zoo who helped create the exhibit.
The exhibit is part of a year-long initiative to take action against the trade. The zoo is partnering with conservation projects and nonprofits that work in the field to halt the trade and provide alternate sources of income for communities connected to the illegal trade. They’re also providing resources for the public to use to make better decisions about the things they buy, or the places they travel.
One major source of demand for illegally traded wildlife is tourist attractions, said Gotliffe, who hopes the exhibit will prompt people to think twice before “stopping on the side of the road to take a picture with a parrot, iguana or monkey.”
Researching where any animal-sourced fashions you wear come from and only adopting pets from reputable sources are other steps we can take, she said.
Even something as little as not clicking “like” or “share” on what seems like a cute Facebook video of a pet monkey or slow loris is important, Gotliffe said.
Linares said that a goal of the exhibit and initiative is to remind visitors of their potential impact on hindering the practice.
“It’s a multibillion-dollar industry that only exists because there’s a consumer,” she said.