At the same time, border closures and travel restrictions slowed illegal trade in certain high-value species.
Rhino horn is being stockpiled in Mozambique, the report said, and ivory traders in Southeast Asia are struggling to sell the stockpiles amassed since China’s 2017 ban on trade in ivory products. The pandemic compounded their plight because many Chinese customers were unable to travel to ivory markets in Cambodia, Laos and other countries.
“We have witnessed some trade via air while major ship routes are still closed but we expect a flood of trade once shipping avenues reopen again,” Jansen said. But she has heard about increased hunting of animals outside parks. “We are expecting to see an increase in bushmeat hunting for food – duikers, antelopes and monkeys,” she said.
A clutch wire snare which had been used to capture a leopard in Karnataka, India. Snares like this have become increasingly common in southern India's dense forest amid the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, as people left jobless turn to wildlife to make money and feed their families. Picture: Jose Louies/WTI via A