Assessment Of Transnational Illegal Pangolin Trade And Other Wild Animals Based On Network Data

The illegal wildlife trade is a flourishing multi-billion-dollar enterprise after human trafficking,arms,and drugs;and affects most major taxonomic groups.Many taxa are increasingly facing extinction risk from illegal exploitation of wildlife trade which compromised global biodiversity.The biosecurity and conservation risk of international illegal wildlife trade such as the introduction of zoonoses diseases and alien species into the landscape.Wildlife trade are poorly monitored and regulate which encouraged public desire to possess and acquire prohibited wild animals through the wildlife trafficking nature of the trade which is difficult and overtly overlooked by stakeholders.A multi-level protection regime including regional and international treaties,trade prohibition,security measures,public education awareness campaigns,and conservation efforts have been initiated and established to protect and conserve the pangolin’s population.Despite these efforts,poaching,hunting of pangolins,and trafficking of pangolins including scales continue unabated.These scales are exploited for ethnomedicines uses and the meat is consumed as a cuisine which is major threats to all Manidae families worldwide.Yet,in last the two decades,pangolin species are now thought to be synonymous with illegal exploitation for transnational trade wherever it’s been discussed both in formal or informal gatherings.Knowledge of how to trade restrictions and the effectiveness of law enforcement synergy is imperative for designing a monitoring strategy that will help to curb pangolin trade and improve conservation efforts.Therefore,we sought to evaluate and characterize the spatial distribution of pangolins interception incidents over time using public online media data to understand the effectiveness of law enforcement and policy intervention in curbing illegal transnational pangolin trade.Public online media data and archival materials were collected from different sources and platforms with a main focus on illegal pangolin seizure incidents destined for international trade.Firstly,to characterize and quantitatively assess the rate of pangolin interception incidents both in Nigeria and China,and the effectiveness of wildlife regulations,we search,recorded,and curated data on pangolin incidents between 2008 and 2019.Secondly,based on pangolins incidents data in China,we identified and analyzed pangolins at the species level to determine the rate of transborder trade in live Malayan pangolin species in China from 2011 to 2019.Thirdly,to assess the level of online wildlife trade in Nigeria using parrot species.The findings from the study are summarized as follows:1)Pangolin interception data collected from Nigeria between 2012 and 2019 shows that 57 incidents and estimated 462,092 individuals were intercepted.The findings show a significant difference in the number of scales incidents per seizure(n = 8,0.87 < 0.001)and the quantity of pangolins seizures indicates a significant increase over time(f1,8 = 5.77,p < 0.05).In general,most of the pangolin scale interceptions were linked to illegal wildlife trade for exportation from the coastal city of Lagos to Southeast Asia with a positive correlation between the number of seizures and quantity reported(Pearson p = 0.02,n = 57,p = 0.78).Findings show that Nigeria is not only a hotspot but a transit route in SubSahara Africa for pangolin trade.Bilateral intelligence agreement,in-service training,and knowledge of species identification among law enforcement agents at exit and entry ports is required as a greater consideration in addressing illegal wildlife trade including pangolin trade in Nigeria2)Historically Chinese is known to have a deeply ingrained tradition for ethnomedicine use.A comprehensive dataset collation of pangolins seizure reports shows that 326 incidents equivalent to 143,130 pangolins(31,676 individuals and 222,908 kg of scale)were recorded over a period of 12 years,involving 26 provinces and 17 countries.Pangolin domestic seizures are greatest in the southern cities of Dehong,Fangchenggang,and Guangzhou stood out as the destination in terms of the quantity and number of incidents recorded.Also,we found 17 countries within the global pangolins range which were the major source of the pangolin shipments to China.Comparing pangolin species data on trade findings show that of the eight pangolin species;Malayan pangolin stood out as the most intercepted individual species,and dominates live pangolin trade.Fifteen provinces were involved in the Malayan pangolin trade either as a destination or distribution to the hinterland.Of these,provinces,Guangxi,Yunnan,Guangdong,and Zhejiang were reported as the trade hub and the number of trafficked pangolins.We also highlight the significance of the pangolin removal from health insurance cover and pharmacopeia in China as a good development towards the protection of pangolin from extirpation.However,the implication of the trade poses a biosecurity threat(zoonoses disease)and cross-border criminal activities.3)The online trade in illegal wildlife reported shows that African grey parrots is the most dominant species exchanged for the transaction,and trade is skewed geographically to the southern part region,and commercial city of Lagos and Abuja respectively.Findings show the involvement of transnational illegal wildlife trade with endangered species from South America parrots advertised for sale in Nigeria.Finally,apart from African countries,which are an increasingly becoming source of pangolin found in illegal trade,other Asia nations like Vietnam still serve as the origin.Highlighting the current policy intervention aimed at eradicating the illegal pangolin trade.This study indicates that illegal transnational wildlife trade is due to the evolution of global trade and people which is beyond the initiatives and investment on trade restrictions and enforcement actions designed to address it.Hence,it is critical to develop a strategy for engagement of traditional medicine practitioners and the bottom-top law enforcement approach in wildlife conservation especially pangolins and awareness campaigns at the grass-root level.This study has contributed immensely to the understanding of transnational pangolins trade flows and highlighted country-specific trends and policy intervention,with the aim to support law enforcement efforts,and mitigate conservation strategy.