Wildlife traffickers creeping back as pandemic restrictions ease - UNFILE PHOTO: A pangolin walks during a news conference after customs personnel confiscated live pangolins, in Bangkok, Aug 31, 2017. Jeremy Douglas, UNODC's representative for Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific, said that the pandemic has gifted authorities an opportunity to do more to discourage consumers and clamp down on the traffickers' supply lines. Southeast Asia, one of the world's most species-rich regions, has long been a hotspot for wildlife trafficking. Some governments have seized on the pandemic as a chance to impose much-needed bans on the wildlife trade. StockpilesThe hunting of wildlife and extraction of illegal animal products did not entirely stop during the pandemic.

Source: Bangkok Post September 21, 2021 06:33 UTC