Wildlife trade in Latin America is a serious threat against biodiversity. Thriving, biodiverse ecosystems are critical for the livelihoods of forest dwelling communities and all of humanity. Yet, every year millions of animals are taken from the Amazon, causing local extinctions and the collapse of entire ecosystems that crumble when wild animals are not around to fulfill their natural role.
Watson’s mom was holding her dearly, when she was shot. She refused to hand her over. She held onto her, even as they were plummeting to the ground. But they were powerless. She was taken. Unfortunately, Watson’s story is not uncommon, she is one of many spider monkeys victims of wildlife trade. Around 100 million wild animals and plants are trafficked every year (Morton et al. 2021), and for every baby monkey that makes it to the market, at least ten have died in the process.
According to the latest Living Planet Report, made by the WWF, populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish in Latin America have shrunk by 94 percent since 1970. While factors such as agricultural expansion are known to most, wildlife trade is a less known but important contributor to these catastrophic declines. Every year, at least 38 million animals are removed from Brazilian forests alone.
“Whenever you look at global reports of the effects of wildlife trafficking or the size of wildlife trafficking, South America is always underestimated. There are no gorillas, pangolines, rhinos, or ivory here, so no multimillion dollar international smuggling is going on. But what you have is constant daily low level trafficking within and between neighboring countries. When you add that up its millions of animals yearly, and that has an impact,” explains Dr. Sam Shanee, biologist and co-founder of the Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC), an NGO recognized for its role in the fight against wildlife trafficking in Peru.
A threat to biodiversity and indigenous and local communities
Wildlife trade is devastating the most biodiverse places on Earth, while we silently observe. Dr. Noga Shanee, former co-leader of NPC and founder of the NGO Reclaim Conservation explains: “Many species are being overexploited. The IUCN red list is not updated quickly enough, we never know a species is threatened with extinction until it is too late.”
The disappearance of certain species has long term effects on the ecosystem. For example problems within the food chain and with forest regeneration.
“Without wildlife, forest regeneration is much slower,” explains Sam Shanee, pointing out that the lack of animals as large seed dispersers and the medium size predators which control rodents and other seed consumers, has huge knock on effects. When the food chain loses balance, the few surviving predators have less prey available, and they can end up preying on domestic animals, which in turn causes conflicts with people, often marginalized groups with little capacity to cope.
Indigenous and local communities are being affected negatively in many other ways as well. Sam Shanee remarks that in areas where overhunting for trade occurs, the communities themselves have less sources of wild protein for their diets. Furthermore, he explains that like other trades, legal and illegal, the local communities are the ones who see the least benefit and are the ones who put in the most work. When it comes to illegal trades they are the ones most at risk of being prosecuted. Yet, it is the intermediaries and end sellers, who are raking in big profits
“There is always a focus on the pet owner or the hunter and that’s because they are the easy targets, the visible ones”. According to Sam Shanee, these are the actors who need to be targeted for education, because frequently they are acting out of ignorance. Proper criminal investigation efforts should target the traffickers, the transporters, the people who store the animals, and the people who sell them.
Prevention before intervention
The best we can do is prevent the animals from leaving the Amazon. My experience at amaZOOnico, a wildlife rescue center in the Ecuadorian Amazon, quickly taught me that rehabilitating and reintroducing a wild animal can cost a lot of money, effort and time, and in many cases even having all of these, it’s not possible to help them.
A powerful tool to preempt wildlife trade is education. “A huge effort in properly educating and spreading the conservation message, would have a great effect” says Sam Shanee. Neotropical Primate Conservation has its main focus on local communities. By working closely with them and having a permanent presence in the areas where they develop projects, they have earned trust and respect. “We have been able to rescue a lot of animals thanks to our conservation projects with local communities. They call us as soon as they find that someone in the village or in a neighboring community has caught an animal and wants to keep it as a pet”.
At amaZOOnico, the education efforts focus on tourists who visit the center daily. Travelers often support wildlife trade unwittingly. Because they are not aware that by paying to hold a snake around their necks, they are perpetuating the suffering of these animals and the looting of the Amazon. When they meet “Josefina” the coati that was used as a photo prop and is now sentenced to end her days in captivity, they make the connection. It is not rare for amaZOOnico to receive animals that have been rescued thanks to someone who visited the center, learned the consequences of removing animals from the wild, and then reported illegal wildlife use to the authorities.
There is reason for hope
The Amazon’s wildlife species still have a fighting chance. Initiatives focused on education and working closely with local communities and authorities, like the ones lead by NPC and amaZOOnico are paying off.
“The fact that communities are self policing their own members based on the knowledge that in part we have been able to give them, is the best you can hope for. Not just in wildlife trafficking but with any conservation work. If you can have the local people who live in and around the forest really understand the importance of conservation, then you have begun to win” reflects Sam Shanee.
After 20 years of operation, the Bellavista market, one of the biggest illegal wildlife markets in South America, was completely demolished in 2015. This was possible thanks to the determination of Noga and colleagues from NPC, who campaigned against the market and worked closely with Peruvian authorities for more than three years. This was a big hit for wildlife trade, saving thousands of animals from a life of suffering and abuse and sending a strong message to the people involved in wildlife trade. However, no arrests were made. More needs to be done, wildlife crime needs to be taken seriously. Unfortunately violence, corruption and lawlessness are all too frequent when it comes to wildlife crime. NGOs alone won’t be able to eradicate wildlife trafficking without conscious and vast support from international, national and local authorities.
At amaZOOnico, Remigio Canelos, founder of the wildlife sanctuary and indigenous leader, shares positive sentiments about the work of his life. “I am glad to see that what we are doing, even if not excellent, is going well”. Remigio explains that the forest around amaZOOnico acts as an important corridor and source of prey for key species such as the jaguar.
“When we started working here, people were hunting heavily,” remembers Remigio. He notes that now the populations of howler, capuchin, saki, and squirrel monkeys have increased and remains positive that other species will follow and flourish like they used to. Spider monkeys were locally extinct but nowadays it is possible to see them roaming free around amaZOOnico, they are living proof that if strong action is taken today, we can ensure that the Amazon’s amazing biodiversity will continue to thrive.
You can join the fight against Wildlife Trade
People from all over the world can help end wildlife exploitation in the Amazon. When traveling, consider volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary, do not support activities that involve the use of wildlife, and do not buy wildlife even if it is out of pity. By paying for a wild animal you are perpetuating wildlife trade.
At home, reject loudly and clearly the idea that wild animals can be pets. Support local conservation initiatives that stand against wildlife trade and take action to help remediate its detrimental effects, such as amaZOOnico. Support projects that strive to rehabilitate and reintroduce rescued wild animals into their natural habitats, such as the Makisapa Rewilding project. By supporting amaZOOnico and its efforts to conserve the spider monkeys you are making a difference for numerous animals who need your support. From amaZOOnico, we strive to help conserve the Amazon wildlife with solutions that rely on social justice and science as strong pillars.
Images
Johan, a white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth). Showing signs of severe trauma and unnatural behaviour, Johan is not apt for the wild. However, he is the father of Kasha and Corny who soon will swing their tails in the wild. White-bellied spider monkeys are threatened and urgent action is required to prevent their extinction.
Once exploited as a tourist attraction, Josefina, the coati (Nasua nasua) was rescued thanks to amaZOOnico volunteers who decided to take action and asked authorities to intervene.
A red uakari (Cacajao calvus) and two saddleback tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis) at Bellavista Market, now closed. Thousands of animals were sold every week, most of them in deplorable conditions.
References
Morton, Oscar, Brett R. Scheffers, Torbjørn Haugaasen, and David P. Edwards. 2021. “Impacts of wildlife trade on terrestrial biodiversity.” Nature Ecology and Evolution 5 (April). 10.1038/s41559-021-01399-y.
Renctas. 2001. 1st National Report on the Traffic of Wild Animals. Brasilia: Renctas. https://renctas.org.br/.
Renctas. n.d. “9 out of 10.” National Network to Combat Wildlife Trafficking. https://renctas.org.br/.
WWF. 2020. WWF. “Living Planet Report 2020 – Bending the Curve of Biodiversity Loss. Edited by R. E. Almond, M. Grooten, and T. Petersen. Glan, Switzerland: WWF.
