Raising awareness of endangered wild animals

FRIDAY of this week is World Wildlife Day a special day on which to raise awareness of the world’s endangered wild animals and plants.

World Wildlife Day is a United Nations initiative that coincides with the anniversary of the signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an international agreement between governments to regulate international trade in wild species of animals and plants to ensure that their survival does not become threatened by such trade.

World Wildlife Day is celebrated under a different theme each year. This year the theme is “Listen to the Young Voices”. Given that almost one quarter of the world’s population is aged between 10 and 24, the UN feels that vigorous efforts need to be made to encourage young people, as the future leaders and decision makers of the world, to act at both local and global levels to protect endangered wildlife.

Consequently, World Wildlife Day 2017 encourages youth around the world to rally together to address ongoing major threats to wildlife including habitat change, over-exploitation or illicit trafficking.

The world’s wildlife faces many challenges, particularly from illegal trade. It is estimated that the annual value of illicit wildlife trafficking is up to twenty billion Euro a year, ranking it amongst other serious transnational crimes such as the trafficking in people, drugs and arms. Poaching and trafficking in wildlife, driven by organized crime groups, pose the most immediate threat to many iconic species including elephants, pangolins, rhinoceros, sharks, tigers and precious tree species.

A spike in organised wildlife crime since 2007 has seen an increase of 900% in the poaching of rhino for their horns in South Africa, while around 100,000 elephants were estimated to have been slaughtered for their ivory between 2010 and 2012. To address these problems, governments, law makers, enforcement officers, customs officials and park rangers around the world are stepping up their efforts to protect wildlife.

Over 4,000 animal species and some 25,000 plant species are included in various CITES appendices, according them varying degrees of protection.

At a personal level, each of us can contribute to the aims of CITES by not supporting the illegal trade in wildlife products. People on holidays abroad may be tempted to bring home souvenirs and mementos involving endangered plants and animals like rare orchids, seahorses or animal skins. Customs in Ireland regularly confiscate alligator and snake skin bags, exotic cacti, tropical seashells, corals and other curios.