Take Memories, Not Lives

You may have negotiated the price of an elephant trinket at a floating Thai market like an expert, or sneakily broken a piece of coral off of the Great Barrier Reef for a unique souvenir. Maybe a local explained the special healing powers of the rhino and you decided to purchase a piece of its horn.

But were you aware that you were perpetuating the world’s fifth most profitable illegal trade?

Not every product for sale is legal to bring home. In fact, incognizant travelers are at risk of facing unexpected fines and having their invaluable souvenirs confiscated at customs.

Although an individual can legally possess an animal product not protected by a national legislation, it is against the law to transport some of these products across international borders. These regulations catch many travelers off-guard, as the average consumer has limited knowledge on the subject.

The global trading of illegal wildlife products—worth billions of dollars annually—is causing the current rate of species extinction to soar far higher than nature intended.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that populations of vertebrate species have declined by over 50 percent in the last 40 years. Wildlife crime is now the greatest threat to species of elephants, rhinos and tigers. Thousands of animals are killed each year for their profitable parts, despite bans on the international trade of these products.

A recent study conducted by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade-monitoring network, found that Boston had the fourth highest number of observed ivory products in the United States—188 items sold by 22 different vendors. This contributes to the annual poaching of over 30,000 elephants worldwide.

In an effort to combat the epidemic, the U.S. recently revised its policies regarding elephant ivory in hopes that illegal trade within the U.S. will decline. The new regulations require a seller to provide buyers with the legality of the piece of ivory so tourists can more easily identify ethically sourced souvenirs.

China, considered a “wildlife trade hotspot,” is also making efforts to help end the unlawful ivory trade. The country has announced a ban on African ivory trade by the end of 2017. This could significantly help the remaining elephants, since 63 percent of ivory currently sold in China is illegal— despite the global ivory trade ban since 1989.

“An interesting challenge is how efficient the processes can be at stopping this illegal trade,” said Connor Mullen, a graduate student at the Boston University School of Law, and copresident of the BU Environmental and Energy Law Society. “Especially if a product is one that you can smuggle through customs easily. Ivory, for example, is highly regulated and carefully watched, but what about other products?”

Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a federal law that protects endangered wildlife and plants, the term “wildlife” includes any part, product, egg, offspring, dead body or parts of the body of any member of the animal kingdom. Thus, the ESA protects the most popular illegal wildlife souvenirs: ivory; horns; sea turtles; furs and skins; corals and shells; medicinal ingredients; and caviar. Travelers should be cautious if considering the purchase of one of these types of products, especially if they are in a place where wildlife trade is particularly threatening. These locations include China, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Mexico and the Caribbean.

If you're in doubt, don't buy it."

“You can help save nature by asking basic questions and getting the facts before you buy something,” said Crawford Allan, the director of TRAFFIC North America. “The best piece of advice I have for you is if you’re in doubt, don’t buy it.”

To help travelers make more conscious consumer decisions, WWF has composed a list of four critical questions an individual should be able to answer before they purchase a wildlife product regarding what the product is made of; where the product came from; whether the country you visited allows for the sale and export of the product; and whether or not you need documents or permits from that country in order to bring it home to the U.S.

Not only does illegal wildlife trade directly harm the animals that it makes profitable products from, it also indirectly harms other species.

The process of hunting or poaching these endangered animals may result in the accidental killing of other species. Or an illegally imported species may be invasive or competitive with another country’s native species.

Moreover, the conservation of endangered wildlife is also critical for the direct protection of other dependent species. Coral reefs, for example, are home to 25 percent of all marine life—fish, turtles, sponges, algae and more. In fact, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest living thing on Earth. Many travelers purchase coral jewelry or home decor abroad, unaware that corals are living animals and that it takes decades for reef structures to grow.

The U.S. is the greatest overall consumer of coral organisms in the world, but only black coral from Hawaii is legal to harvest. Travelers should be cautious when purchasing red coral souvenirs overseas.

Rangers on the front lines actively help protect threatened species against poachers. But their commitment to doing so puts their own lives in danger. According to the Thin Green Line Foundation, 1,000 rangers were killed in the line of duty over the last 10 years. The illegal wildlife trade not only harms endangered animals, but also imperils the individuals who are devoted to saving them.

Ultimately, the consumer is just as much responsible for wildlife crime as the traders or poachers who respond to the demand for wildlife products.

Robbie Marsland, UK director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), puts it simply: “Tourists need to remember if they don’t buy, animals won’t die.”

BY CHLOË HUDSON | ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA WEST | DESIGN BY JAMI RUBIN