State of the Apes Webinar: Killing, Capture, and Trade


The illegal wildlife trade is a sophisticated and colossal industry occurring in nearly every country on the planet. It has an estimated annual value of US$10 billion, is often conducted in conjunction with organized crime, and destroys critically endangered wildlife populations. But even more disturbing is the economic domino effect the illegal wildlife trade sets in motion: Habitats are destabilized, food security is compromised, tourism is disrupted, zoonotic diseases are passed between species, and all of it is felt most by the world’s poorest communities.

While eradicating wildlife crime does not have a one-size-fits-all solution, there are ways to mitigate its impact. A new publication from Arcus Foundation and Cambridge University Press—State of the Apes: Killing, Capture, Trade and Conservation—provides much-needed data and potential solutions through its exploration of the global trade in bonobos, chimpanzees, gibbons, gorillas, and orangutans.

In this webinar, we talked with State of the Apes contributors and other conservation experts to explore the findings of the book, the fourth volume in a series. We discussed the nature of this vast and complicated supply chain, and also looked at ways that policymakers, government agencies, businesses, and communities can address this immense threat. Their solutions can help safeguard not only the world’s endangered ape species, but also the only non-endangered apes: humans.

Host:

Asha Tanna, broadcast journalist and primatologist

Panelists:


Video and Q&A Chat Transcript Downloads