Rhinos (& Pangolins) Are The World's Most-Trafficked Animals

Wildlife trafficking is the world's fourth largest illegal trade when including fisheries and plantlife, after narcotics, human trafficking and counterfeit products, according to the U.S. Homeland Security. 

According to Germany’s Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, wildlife crimes are frequently associated with other types of crimes, such as money-laundering, corruption as well as tax and customs fraud, but these are only rarely pursued when dealing with wildlife offenses.

The overlapping of wildlife crime with other serious organized crimes makes it a “convergent crime”.

While shark-finning has gained prominence in the news recently, as Statista's Anna Fleck shows in the following chart, the animals most affected by illegal wildlife trade in 2015-2021 were rhinos, pangolins and elephants, together accounting for nearly three quarters (73 percent) of all of all seizure records.

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Interpol warns that as the illegal wildlife trafficking sector continues to grow, it is contributing to pushing species towards extinction. This too is highlighted in the World Wildlife Crime Report 2024, which reveals how 73 percent of the trafficked mammals seized between 2015 and 2021 were considered under threat, while the same was true for 62 percent of the seized amphibians and 59 percent of reptiles.