Conducting research and providing analysis on wildlife trade and its trends

Study on illegal trade of Leopard parts in India:

At least four Leopards have been poached and their body parts entered into illegal wildlife trade every week for at least 10 years in India, according to TRAFFIC’s latest study “Illuminating the Blind Spot: A study on illegal trade in Leopard parts in India” launched by Dr Divyabhanusinh Chavda, President, WWF-India on 28 September 2012. The study documents a total of 420 seizures of Leopard skins, bones and other body parts reported from 209 localities in 21 out of 35 territories in India during 2001–2010. Read more

Study on illegal trade, trapping and use of owls in India:

Use of owls in black magic and sorcery driven by superstition, totems and taboos is one of the prime drivers of the covert owl trade, finds a TRAFFIC India investigation into the illegal trade, trapping and utilization of owls in India. TRAFFIC India’s report entitled “Imperilled Custodians of the Night” was launched on 2 November 2010 by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon. Minister of Environment and Forests at his office in New Delhi. The prime investigator and author of the report is ornithologist Mr Abrar Ahmed. Read more

Study on India’s wild medicinal plants threatened through over-exploitation:

India is a hub of the wild-collected plant medicine industry in Asia, but key species have declined owing to over-collection to supply domestic and foreign medicinal markets, and action needs to be taken to ensure the sustainability of supplies, found a study released on 24 November 2012 by TRAFFIC. India has a highly developed herbal and pharmaceutical products manufacturing industry, although trade patterns are shifting for some species and China is a growing manufacturing centre for products such as taxanes (derived from Taxus spp). Researchers from TRAFFIC and IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, examined the trade in seven medicinal plants species with very different life histories, uses and trade patterns, to give a broad overview of Asia’s medicinal plant trade. India emerged as a major destination for trade in all but two of the seven species studied—Desert Cistanche and Himalayan Yew. Read more