Each year millions of animals of all types are captured from the wild and sold in the international live wildlife trade. The commercial uses of these animals include the exotic pet trade (birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish), biomedical research and teaching (primates, reptiles, amphibians, and fish), stocking of public or private game farms and hunting ranches (deer, antelope, rhino, and wild sheep), and food (reptiles, amphibians, and fish).

The trade in live wildlife results in the injury and death of a large percentage of the animals captured. Mortality rates vary depending on the type of animal, the country of origin, the capture and transport techniques used, and—ultimately—the ability of the species to withstand extreme physical and psychological trauma and adapt to a captive environment.

A "Free" Product

It may seem odd that a business based on trade in a live animal would not take all measures necessary to ensure that the "product" was delivered alive to the buyers, if only to ensure a profit. However, this is not the case. This is because animals captured in the wild are essentially "free" to those who capture them. There are no costs associated with feeding and rearing the animals, as there might be on a farm. Therefore, those who capture wildlife have no investment in the animals at the point of capture. If it is easier to capture many animals using techniques that result in high mortality or injury, then it is worth it to those engaged in this enterprise—provided that some of the animals survive to the point where they are sold to the exporter.

Capture Mortality

Studies of a number of commercial live wildlife trades (the trade in birds and reptiles for the pet trade and the trade in primates for biomedical research, for example) indicate that mortality at capture can be very high. For example, finches and waxbills captured in Senegal for the exotic pet trade experience a 40 to 50% mortality rate prior to export. A recent study of the export of birds and reptiles from Tanzania indicated that 31% of birds captured die before export.

Air Transport Guidelines

Once the animal is exported, it has entered the international transport phase of the trade. Virtually all live wildlife traded for commercial purposes is transported via air. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has established voluntary industry guidelines for shipping animals of all types. These guidelines are regularly updated when experts bring information to the attention of the IATA Live Animals Board, which is composed of airline representatives.

Because the guidelines are voluntary, there is no penalty for failure to comply. Therefore, many airlines do not ensure that live animals are shipped in accordance with the guidelines. There is evidence that even when officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) advised airlines that shipments don't not meet IATA standards, airlines have refused to enforce the guidelines, resulting in the death of animals.

Transport Regulations

A United Nations treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), requires live animals covered by the treaty to be shipped in accordance with IATA guidelines. However, most importing and exporting countries do not adequately enforce this requirement. For example, in the United States, fewer than 25% of live animal shipments are inspected by FWS agents. When shipments are inspected and violations are found, FWS agents often give the importer a warning rather than taking the stricter measures allowed by law. When cases involving violations make it to federal court—which is rarely the case—the judges generally don't impose stiff penalties. Consequently, there is little incentive for those engaged in the live wildlife trade business to comply with the law. Furthermore, most species in the live trade are not listed on CITES, so most live wildlife in trade have no legal protection as far as shipping conditions are concerned. The Low Cost of High Mortality

Airlines are in the business of making money, and shipping wildlife is one way for them to accomplish this goal. If animals are killed during transport, it is generally the exporters who are held liable for unsuitable packing and not the airline for accepting the shipment, so there is no business reason for an airline to refuse shipment because IATA standards are not met. Exporters, in turn, do not seem overly concerned with proper shipping conditions, either because they are ignorant about proper conditions, or because importers accept high mortality and injury as part of the cost of engaging in the business and so do not hold exporters accountable for the poor shipping conditions. Importers may be willing to accept high mortality and injury because they pay the exporters very low prices for the animals which they, in turn, will sell for high prices in the importing country. For example, common green iguanas imported to the United States from Central America for the pet trade are purchased by importers from exporters for $1.80 and sold by importers to retailers for $9.00.

Mortality during transport also varies according to the species, the country of export, and the airline involved. Because the transport portion of the trade is relatively short, mortality rates during this phase are often lower than at other stages. For example, an average of 4% of the birds imported to the United States were dead on arrival. However, for some sensitive species—the silver-beaked tanagers, for instance—30% or more were dead on arrival.

Upon Arrival

By the time a live animal arrives in an importing country, it has survived a multitude of physical and psychological abuses, ranging from injury during capture, to enduring crowded and filthy conditions, to dehydration and starvation, to being removed from family and its customary environment. Those who survive are severely stressed; many die within a year of arrival in an importing country. One study indicated that 90% of reptiles die in the first year of captivity. Many countries require that some types of live animals be quarantined upon arrival, which allows for the collection of data on mortality rates at this stage. According to U.S. government records, 10% of birds imported to the United States die during the 30-day quarantine period; many others are euthanized because they are found to harbor viruses dangerous to U.S. agriculture.

Devastating Wild Populations

From a conservation perspective, the trade in live wildlife is extremely wasteful. Few exporting countries have conducted studies to ensure that the number of animals taken for trade is biologically sustainable. Often even when studies are conducted, the results are based on the number of animals exported, not on the number captured, so the results cannot be used to scientifically establish sustainable take levels. While the export of species covered under CITES requires the exporting country to issue a scientific finding that the export will not be detrimental to the species, most live wild animals in trade are not covered by CITES, and most exports are allowed without proper scientific study. Many species (including, unfortunately, those supposedly protected by CITES) are over-exploited. Furthermore, the trade in live wildlife often results in the destruction of wildlife habitat. Methods used to collect live wild animals often involve destructive techniques such as chopping down trees to get to birds nests or prying open burrows to get to reptiles hidden there.