A Decade of Wildlife Trade

Experts analyze 10 years of data on wildlife trade from Latin America to the U.S.

Latin America, including Mexico and the Caribbean, is home to the widest array of plants and animals in the world. It includes the Amazon rainforest – the single most biologically diverse area on the planet. Thousands of species are endemic to this region, not found anywhere else in the world. In short, the wildlife found in Latin America is irreplaceable.

Unfortunately, biodiversity in Latin America has declined by 83% since the 1970s, due in large part to over-exploitation and unsustainable use. Legal and illegal trade are huge parts of this exploitation, and sadly the U.S. often plays a role. We recently analyzed the data from the Law Enforcement Management Information System of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on all shipments of wildlife and wildlife products from Latin America that were denied entry to the United States from 2005 to 2014. What we found might surprise you.

Since 2005, at least 54,886 live animals, 620,014 wildlife products, and 3 million pounds of wildlife and wildlife products have been denied entry in to the United States from Latin America. These animals and products were discovered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service inspectors in some 13,325 individual shipments at 47 different ports of entry.

What does the trade look like, what species of animals does it involve, where it is going and why? Let’s take a look.

From Whole Animals to Finished Products

The most common products by volume found in illegal trade from Latin America to the United States are raw products – meaning the animal or product (meat, skin, scales, shells, etc) still needs further processing or manufacturing before they can be sold. While wildlife from Latin America seems to be imported in raw form, it is usually a finished product by the time it reaches the individual consumer. Unfortunately, processed wildlife products can be the most deceptive because it becomes more difficult to determine the species from which they were made and consequently more difficult to question whether the item is legal.

Fins were the most common product by volume, with over 1.5 million pounds detected. However, by the time an individual consumer sees a fin, it is likely already processed down to cartilage pieces or served as a soup. Similarly, over 1.3 million pounds of meat was detected in this decade of shipments. By the time they reach a consumer, these illegal meat products are likely cut down into portion sizes or cooked, removing any visual association with the animal. Shells, including queen conch shells, are also a common illegal export from Latin America. Shells are often sold as decorative products, and consumers may be unaware that shells are not just collected on the beach, but are commercially harvested, sometimes at the cost of the critter that created them or is using them as a home. Lastly, more than 136,000 whole dead animals were found in the shipments. It can only be assumed that these animals were transported whole to be further processed in to meat, leather, trophies, trinkets and curios.

Not the “Exotic” Animals You Might Expect

One of the most surprising discoveries in our analysis is that the most frequently imported animal from Latin America is the white-tailed deer – an animal whose range reaches from Canada to northern South America. That’s right; an animal that is found right here in the United States is the most frequently imported animal from Latin America that is denied entry. The white-tailed deer were often imported as trophies, but the horns alone were also frequently transported. Another commonly imported animal was the rattlesnake. Rattlesnakes are commonly found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Why are these animals native to the United States being illegally imported from Latin America? We aren’t sure what is driving the demand for these particular species and their products, but they serve as reminders that it is not just the foreign, exotic animals that are harmed by illegal wildlife trade – the more common, perhaps average, animals suffer as well. Purchasing wildlife that is common in the United States doesn’t automatically mean it came from the U.S. You could still be unknowingly purchasing a product that impacts a population of animals outside the U.S.

Trade Routes: From Home to Market

Out of the 72 countries and territories in Latin America, 45 of them exported the shipments we analyzed, which were later denied entry to the U.S. A full 70.4% of the shipments were exported from Mexico, but we believe this is because the country is being used as a hub for shipments coming from countries to the south. As for where these shipments are going, El Paso, Texas tops the list. It’s possible that this is simply because El Paso is so close to Mexico. But it could also be that this port detects so many illegal shipments because it is the highest-volume border crossing in the country. However, in El Paso, the shipments crossing the border far outweigh the capacity of those inspecting them – indicating that even more shipments containing illegal wildlife are going undetected. Whatever the reason, it is likely that most of the wildlife and wildlife products that enter through El Paso are then sent on to U.S. markets.

Why Latin America?

The rich plant and animal life of the Latin America region is both a blessing and a curse. Illegal wildlife trade is often spurred by the scarcity and rarity of particular animals, which makes Latin America the perfect target. But as with any illegal market, this trade would not exist without consumer demand for these animals and their products. So, why is the United States consuming so many animals from Latin America?

Wildlife and wildlife products are brought into the U.S. more often for personal use than for commercial purposes. This means that many seemingly small actions can have an enormous collective impact. It is never about the one product that you or someone you know might buy – it’s about the entire industry that exists so that you can buy it. And while a buyer may purchase just one pair of caiman-leather boots or a decorative conch shell, for each one that is purchased, thousands more are being harvested, processed, and shipped to fill the space on the shelf. Every consumer, no matter how big or small, drives the demand.

People purchase wildlife for many reasons including cuisine, fashion, entertainment, wealth, and rarity. But it is clear that these uses are having a substantial impact on species in the wild. Whenever you shop, online or in a store, at home or on vacation, be sure to take a long look at what you’re buying, what it’s made out of, and where it may have come from. Know the questions to ask, and if the seller can’t answer them, walk away.

This new analysis shows that over the past decade Latin America has been a consistent source of illegal wildlife and wildlife products for the U.S. consumer market. Sadly, it is clear that no species is safe from illegal trade. Purchasing even one wildlife product without confirming its legality can have an incredibly large impact on the species – and impact that you as the buyer may never see. Depleting any wildlife populations in Latin America when its biodiversity already hangs by a thread could be irreversible. We have a huge responsibility here in the United States to end the demand for these products and protect the natural resources in Latin America.