© 2007 Adam Oswell

Wildlife 1 highlights the Asian wildlife crisis and seeks to effectively address it through innovative monitoring, reporting and public engagement programs.

© 2007 Jonathan Tan

This initiative is a response to an issue of enormous international concern. The rapid speed with which more and more species are being critically endangered is something that must be urgently addressed. However the scale of developmental problems within Asia is such that the plight of the region’s wildlife has been marginalised. For local communities struggling to feed and educate themselves, wildlife extinction is a peripheral concern. This has also made it imperative for governments in the developed world to not only take an interest in the alarming state of wildlife depletion – but to adopt an active role to support wildlife conservation. Wildlife 1 reveals how desperate the situation has now become.



From the pristine jungles of Cambodia and Indonesia to the great national parks of Australia, India and Nepal, wildlife is being plundered and trafficked on an unprecedented scale. Booming markets created by globalisation and the ease of smuggling has boosted this trade to new and uncontrollable levels. The scale is enormous. According to the latest official estimates, the worldwide black market trade in wildlife is worth more than US$10 billion per year – exceeded only by the illicit international trade in drugs and arms. A significant part of this lucrative trade comes from East Asia, South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Recent reports also reveal that some of the proceeds are being diverted to assist terrorist groups. Wary of the strict policing and penalties for drugs and arms, some terrorist organisations are now turning to wildlife.


© 2007 Adam Oswell

It is estimated that wildlife traders export 25,000-30,000 primates every year - along with 2-5 million birds, 10 million reptile skins, and more than 500 million tropical fish.


© 2007 Jean Duplay

The exploitation of wildlife is centuries old. Thirteenth-century Cambodia boasted thriving markets for tigers, panthers, bears, wild boars, stags and gibbons. China has long pillaged the animal world for its supposed medicinal benefits, and today remains one of the trade’s biggest players. With the arrival in Asia of European colonialists, and soaring demand from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the killing has steadily risen to the record levels we see today.


© 2007 Kiran Man Chitraka

Some animal parts have been embued with near-magical properties. Superstitious Chinese believe eating the flesh of a tiger will give them some of the animal’s strength, while tiger’s penis is highly prized as an aphrodisiac. Countless other animal parts - rhinocerous horn, shark fin, bear gall, monkey brain - have been credited with similar potency. Scientific studies have proved these beliefs wrong, yet the trade of animals continues largely unchecked, fueled by myth, ignorance, greed and corruption.


© 2007 Patrick Brown

The regions rich bio-diversity is also suffering a full-blown assault on its wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Rare animals are being hunted down illegally to fund guns and explosives procurement for militants conducting guerilla operations against local and federal governments.


© 2007 Adam Oswell

Wildlife trade is now so large it could have irrevocable consequences for life on our planet. More and more species now stand at the verge of extinction. The disappearance of keystone species disrupts the food chain, which in turn affects the balance of nature. In India, environmental abuse and the annihilation of animal life has turned lush jungles into empty deserts. Similar nightmare scenarios are being played out across the globe.


© 2007 Patrick Brown

Attempts to halt the animal trade have so far been too little, too late. One problem is catching the traders, many of whom are known to anti-trafficking authorities, but who operate unhindered due to official corruption and inertia. Small-time operators - usually impoverished locals forced into poaching and trading wildlife on the black market - are caught and jailed, but the powerful syndicates remain and continue to operate. Using a complex web of companies and agents to conceal the true nature of their business, smugglers every year successfully transport thousands of bears, small monkeys tortoises and rare birds from the forests and jungles of Asia to ‘collectors and consumers’ in the developed and developing world.


© 2007 Jonathan Tan

The problem seems insurmountable but reducing the trade is possible. Education, awareness and effective enforcement through community based monitoring and reporting networks is crucial in securing the viability of bio-systems in the region along with the removal of antiquated and false beliefs about the potency of animal parts, thereby decreasing the demand for them. Remove the consumer and develop effective enforcement based on reliable intelligence,  monitoring, and reporting and we are one major step closer to stopping this destruction.


© 2007 Jonathan Tan

Photography:

Over ten years has been spent in key locations in the region such as national parks and protected areas, border markets and regional hubs where trans national wildlife trade, conservation programmes and local officials are active. This is the first project of its kind to document the issue so comprehensively. Countries visited include, Australia, Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong,  India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.


© 2007 Patrick Brown

Research & Interviews:

Wildlife 1 investigates subjects such as the history of wildlife killing in Asia; Chinese cultural beliefs that perpetuate its rampant consumption of wildlife; bear farming in Vietnam and China; Ivory and Rhino horn smuggling from India and Africa to Asia; the threat faced by animals such as the tiger; the Tibetan antelope (for its exquisite and highly valued fleece), sharks and the fin trade, the exotic bird markets of Indonesia, anti-poaching patrols in Cambodia, Thailand, northeast India and Nepal; ground-breaking projects designed to wean poachers and villagers off a long-term dependence on wildlife; organized criminal syndicates involved in large-scale trafficking of endangered wildlife and key individuals fighting this major global crisis.