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Geneva – Traffickers in the illegal wildlife trade are increasingly using modern, interconnected air transport, according to Jon Godson, assistant director of environment and best practices at the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
He said that after the killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe, a number of Iata member airlines had placed a voluntary ban on the transport of legal wildlife products, including shark fins and hunting trophies.
Godson pointed out that such voluntary bans are the decision of individual commercial airlines and not something for Iata to comment on, as it remains the responsibility of governments to enforce the rules in this regard.
At the same time Iata is focusing on supporting enforcement agencies in their challenge of combating wildlife trafficking. This illegal trade is estimated to be the fourth-largest transnational illegal trade globally after narcotics, counterfeiting and human trafficking, he said. It is believed to be worth up to $19bn per year.
It is estimated that in South Africa a rhino is poached every seven hours and that across Africa 54 elephants are killed each day. There is also evidence that airlines are unknowingly being used by traffickers to transport these illegal products – alive or dead.
A tiger cub in her luggage
In July 262kg of ivory was seized at Zurich airport, and last week 110kg of ivory was seized at Heathrow airport in London in transit from Angola to Germany.
Godson gave more examples. A passenger in Melbourne was found with 51 tropical fish in 15 plastic bags concealed in an apron under her dress; in Taipei airport 67 birds were found in the pants of a man returning from Vietnam; at Los Angeles airport 12 rare songbirds from Vietnam were individually packed and tied to a man’s socks; in Rio de Janeiro a man en route to London was found with 1 000 spiders; at the airport in Bangkok a woman was found with a two-month old tiger cub in her luggage; and in Argentina a total of 247 reptiles and spiders were found in a man’s luggage.
“Iata is raising awareness of this emerging issue with airlines and other aviation partners. Our aim is to support enforcement authorities in the identification and reporting of suspicious shipments,” said Godson.
This includes the training of airport and airline staff to identify and report suspicious shipments.
“We hope that through participation in various initiatives, Iata and the aviation industry can demonstrate that we are playing our part in combating this evil trade,” said Godson.
* Carin Smith is a guest of Iata at its global media event.
