MELBOURNE, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- A new international study has revealed the vast and largely unmonitored trade of wildlife around the world, warning of growing risks to biodiversity and biosecurity.
The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers from Australia, the United States, Europe, and South America, explored two decades worth of global wildlife trade networks into the United States, focusing on where species came from, in what quantities and trade route patterns, according to a news release of the university on Wednesday.
"Our findings show that not only do large numbers of species still get taken from their native environments and traded, but there are also clear issues of data misinformation and blatant laundering or trafficking," said University of Melbourne Professor Alice Hughes, who led the study published in Current Biology.
Despite the massive volume of global trade which is estimated to cover over 70,000 animal species, Hughes said data is incredibly difficult to find and what does exist is rife with discrepancies, calling for stronger monitoring, data-sharing and collaboration among governments, scientists, and industry.
Tropical regions were found to export the widest range of wild species, and rare and newly described species, such as cave geckos, were in the high demand, researchers said, adding many traded animals appear in markets within a year of being scientifically described.
Researchers warned that wildlife trade poses serious biosecurity threats, such as importing pests and pathogens and species that could become invasive, citing the spread of Chytrid, a deadly fungal disease, which has contributed to the extinction of multiple frog species, likely via traded Xenopus frogs. ■
