criminal nature: the global security implications of the illegal wildlife trade 2008

The illicit trade in wildlife is not only a serious global environmental crime with profoundly negative impacts for endangered species protection, ecosystem stability, and biodiversity conservation, but it is also a real and increasing threat to national and global security.

An alarming proliferation in recent years of wild animals and animal parts taken illegally and exchanged through the black market across international borders has left law enforcement officials in the United States and worldwide searching for ways to both stem an increasingly prolific area of international crime and stop the trade before it is too late for many endangered animals.