The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are working together to stop wildlife trafficking, according to an MDC news release.
Wildlife trafficking consists of poaching or taking of a protected or managed species to sell for profit. This includes buying or selling living animals or animal parts such as bones, skins, meat, and other products in violation of state or federal laws.
Wildlife trafficking is a worldwide problem with some cases having roots in Missouri. While wildlife trafficking once was predominantly a crime of opportunity committed by individuals or small groups, that has changed to international criminal cartels that are well structured, highly organized and capable of illegally moving large commercial volumes of wildlife and products, according to the MDC.
From killing elephants in Africa for their tusks to poaching rhinos for their horns, these represent just a few of the targeted species for international wildlife traffickers.
In response to this crisis, Presidential Executive Order 13648 was created to establish a task force and implement a plan to combat wildlife trafficking. The plan centers on three objectives: strengthening enforcement, reducing demand and expanding international cooperation. This cooperation includes several wildlife trafficking investigations taking place in Missouri.
In Missouri, conservation agents have had a big role in working to stop wildlife trafficking both locally and globally. Agents have been fighting illegal caviar trafficking from paddlefish poachers on Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake and Table Rock Lake for years.
Caviar is a delicacy created by preserving fish roe in special salts. According to MDC, about 20 pounds of eggs or more can be harvested from a large, pregnant paddlefish.
"Caviar prices in illegal or black markets vary," MDC Protection Division Chief Larry Yamnitz said in the release. "A common black-market price is about $13 an ounce. Therefore, a single large female paddlefish with about 20 pounds of eggs is carrying about $4,000 worth of potential caviar for black market sales."
MDC agents, USFWS and other state wildlife agencies have successfully stopped more than 100 people from Missouri and eight other states from trafficking paddlefish eggs from Warsaw in order to sell them as caviar. Currently, 240 out of 256 state charges have been completed through the court system with more than $61,000 in fines and court costs collected. Some federal cases are still ongoing.
"It's important that our conservation agents were a part of this because this is just one example of Missouri's wildlife being exploited for commercial gain," Yamnitz said. "If MDC didn't put a stop to this, it could have wiped out Missouri's paddlefish."
Missouri also played a role in another large, nationwide criminal investigation. The investigation continues, but so far, it has led to 41 arrests, 30 convictions and the seizure of smuggled elephant tusks and rhino horns with street value of more than $75 million. Some of the rhino horns seized in the investigation were trafficked through a resident who lived in Macon.
"Wildlife trafficking also includes the illegal transportation of whitetail deer across the country and the illegal movement of animals significantly increases the risk of spreading wildlife diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease," Yamnitz said. "Our agents are actively involved in several investigations involving this around the state."
The Show-Me State also has healthy turtle and snake populations. The international demand for such species makes Missouri a prime location for illegal wildlife trafficking for those also.
Yamnitz added illegal wildlife trafficking investigations are complicated and often take months to even years to complete. From conservation agents going undercover and dealing with intense situations to filling out paper work and using high-tech video surveillance, agents have to be prepared for anything when dealing with illegal wildlife trafficking.
MDC encourages the public to report any wildlife violation or concerns of wildlife trafficking to a local conservation agent or by calling MDC's Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-392-1111. If an individual provides information to MDC and it results in an arrest, that individual may receive a reward. The Conservation Federation of Missouri assigns the reward based on the severity of the violation involved. Rewards range from $50-$1,000 or more.