Bill Description:
This bill adds the offense of wildlife trafficking (in amounts worth $10,000 or more) to the racketeering and money laundering statutes and to the Travel act. Violations prosecuted under these new authorities would be punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000 dollars.[teaserbreak]
The bill also instructs that money collected from fines and forfeitures under this Act may be used for conservation purposes.
The species included in the definition of “wildlife trafficking” for this bill are those protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the African Elephant Conservation Act, and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act.
Background:
These harsher penalties are necessary because, currently, violations of most wildlife trafficking laws carry a maximum one-year sentence and lower fines. This provides little deterrence to would-be poachers.
African elephants, rhinos, and tigers — three of the species included in this Act — are in particular need of protection.
Elephants, poached for their ivory tusks, are nearing extinction in some parts of Africa due to the high price of ivory and consumer demand. An average of 96 elephants are slaughtered daily by poachers, and over 100,000 have been killed in the past 3 years. Check out the Bloody Ivory website for details on the tragic elephant slaughter and illegal ivory trade, and be sure to read the summaries of our ivory reports (phase 1 and phase 2), which detail the groundbreaking information uncovered by our investigation of illegal wildlife trafficking in Africa and its global market.
Rhino horn is used in some types of Asian traditional medicine. In Vietnam, specifically, there is the belief that it cures cancer. Even though it has no actual curative power, this market is fueling the slaughter of more than 1,000 rhinos per year. Only 25,000 black and white rhinos remain across all of Africa, and they could become extinct in the wild in as little as 12 years.
Tigers are killed for every part of their bodies, which are used in traditional medicine and as a status symbol in some Asian cultures. This threat, combined with habitat loss, means that there are as few as 3200 left in the wild.
Take Action:
Write to your U.S. Senators and ask them to cosponsor this important legislation!
Read the full text and follow its progress here.