Quantitative Investigation of Wildlife Trafficking Supply Chains: A Review

The illicit wildlife trade is a pervasive and global problem that has far-reaching impacts on both society and the environment. Aside from threatening numerous species around the world and acting as a po-tential disease transmission vector for several zoonotic diseases, including the COVID-19 pandemic, this complex system is often linked with other illicit networks such as drugs, weapons, and human traffick-ing. The annual monetary value of wildlife trafficking is estimated to be over twenty billion USD, and, unfortunately, wildlife trafficking has several unique characteristics that make it difficult to disrupt in an effective and efficient manner. There has been much research and media awareness around wildlife con-servation and moral issues surrounding the illicit wildlife trade, but little is known about the supply chain structures and operations of these illicit networks, especially from a quantitative, analytical perspective. This research reviews wildlife trafficking through an operations and supply chain lens. By understanding the unique challenges faced in impeding wildlife trafficking, we present opportunities to resolve them us-ing analytical techniques. We provide the groundwork for future developments in detection, interdiction, reduction, and possibly, elimination of illicit wildlife trade.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )

Automated summary

Illicit wildlife trade is a global problem with significant impacts on society and the environment. This complex system not only threatens numerous species and acts as a potential transmission vector for diseases, including the COVID-19 pandemic, but also has connections to other illegal networks such as drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. Despite the high monetary value of wildlife trafficking, it is difficult to disrupt due to its unique characteristics. This research examines wildlife trafficking through an operations and supply chain lens, providing opportunities for future improvements in detection, interdiction, reduction, and possible elimination of this illegal trade.