Seizure of wildlife products jumps but few prosecutions

The seizure of wildlife products more than doubled in the four years to 2015, with shells, seahorses, corals and butterflies among the products being seized at the country’s borders.

Figures from the Department of Conservation showed the number of seizures were up from 2268 in 2011 to 5809 in 2015. Over the four years from 2007 to 2011, 13,000 wildlife product seizures were reported overall but that figure rose to 19,221 in the next fouryear period ending in 2015.

Environmental policy analyst Fiona Gordon said despite the high rates of seizures to 2015, no one was fined an infringement fee for them and there were only eight prosecutions under New Zealand’s Trade in Endangered Species Act.

The Government introduced a bill to parliament earlier this year that, if passed, would create a system for infringements. Gordon said it “wouldn’t bring back to life” the wildlife seized but could serve as a deterrent.

“Making sure that customs and border officials have the right enforcement tools is one of the key actions needed to implement the multi-faceted strategy for combatting wildlife crime, worldwide.”

Gordon referenced a 2013 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that the Pacific is increasingly becoming a source and transit region for illegal wildlife trafficking.

The report labelled New Zealand as a destination country for endangered species from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

One of the most recent wildlife trafficking prosecutions in New Zealand was for the illegal importation of elephant ivory. In 2015 a Napier man was convicted in relation to the illegal importation of about US$12,614 worth of ivory into New Zealand.