Looking At Wildlife Trade Through The Lenses Of Conservation And Public Health
By Leo Shim
Many of us are familiar with the wildlife trade industry in one way or another. It might be because of shiny ivory jewelry, “magical” rhino horns, luxurious tiger carpets, energetic pet monkeys, or even bat meat that we have heard about on the internet, news, and other forms of media. However, what many people do not realize is the impact that this illegal lucrative business has on our health.
Problems of Wildlife Trade
The illegal wildlife trade has been responsible for the decline of the world’s most threatened species, which end up in markets after being hunted for their meat and other body parts or taken away from their natural habitats to end up as exotic pets. Many wild animals that have been negatively affected by this unsustainable activity also pose health risks for people. Products, such as food and live animals, spread pathogens that infect people, which can lead to worldwide pandemics. On top of these issues, regulation of wildlife trade creates more problems for those who rely on it for food and economic gain. To combat these issues, a group of researchers has determined which species whose effects from the wildlife trade draw lots of attention in the fields of wildlife conservation and public health.
Measuring the Conservation and Public Health Risks
Melissa Cronin, Luz de Wit, and Lourdes Martínez-Estévez used conservation and public health datasets from a previous case study to evaluate the conservation concerns and public health risks associated with the wildlife trade on almost 1200 terrestrial mammals. Upon analyzing the data, they assigned each species a score that describes these variables of interest. A lower score correlates with a lower risk, while a higher score correlates with a higher risk. This value incorporates several factors, which include extinction risk, genetic relatedness to humans, the amount of pathogens they harbor, and trade extent.
Which Groups Are Most At Risk?
From the analysis, the researchers found that nearly 25% of the land mammals studied had scored significantly high. Within these 284 “high risk” species, five mammal groups comprise a majority of these wildlife trade species that are on the verge of extinction and likely to spread diseases. They included non-human primates, even-toed hoofed mammals like cattle and deer, rodents, bats, and carnivores. Looking back at the criteria for the scores, it makes sense how these five groups made their way to the top. Non-human primates share many genetic similarities with humans. Rodents and bats come into contact with people from adapting well in human-dominated landscapes. Many carnivores and even-toed hoofed mammals are hunted for food, host a variety of pathogens, and have a greater overlap with humans due to a wider geographical range, which all increases their likelihood of extinction and spreading diseases to humans.
In addition, they found that many of these groups of mammals are found in tropical and subtropical areas of Asia, such as China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Thailand. What is more is that many of these animals are only found in a particular country, making them more vulnerable to becoming extinct because of their restricted geographical ranges. It is important to note that many of these countries consist of low-income populations, meaning that they lack resources to effectively regulate wildlife trade.
We Still Need A Bigger Picture
Even though major mammal groups have been identified, it does not give us a complete picture of how the illegal wildlife trade affects the conservation and public health of other wildlife. For instance, birds and reptiles are also major groups of animals whose conservation is at stake from this human activity. Additionally, there is not a lot of information on wildlife markets and their trade routes, which makes it difficult to study patterns in wildlife trade. Further research in both of these areas could give insight into more effective trade regulations on all kinds of wildlife affected.
The Future of Wildlife Trade and Public Health
Nonetheless, knowing which species should be prioritized in regulating wildlife trade and their locations gives tremendous guidance for funding, research, and policy in protecting these threatened mammals as well as tackling any associated disease risks. Trade regulations that incorporate the conservation and public health risks of these affected mammals along with their locations and reason for demand can be created and enforced to promote more sustainable ways to conduct wildlife trade. Furthermore, incorporating conservation into public health can advocate for more One Health approaches to prevent the spread of emerging infectious diseases and future pandemics. Addressing problems in wildlife conservation, such as the wildlife trade, through a multidisciplinary approach can shed light on possible solutions that will slowly but surely benefit both animals and people.
Reference:
Cronin, M. R., de Wit, L. A., & Martínez‐Estévez, L. (2022). Aligning conservation and public health goals to tackle unsustainable trade of mammals. Conservation Science and Practice, 4(11). https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12818
