Introduction: Wildlife Crime

Abstract

The poaching and the subsequent illegal trafficking of wildlife has become a booming local and global business (Alacs and Georges 2008) and is directly related to significant population losses for many species (Schneider 2012). In the last decade, countless media stories have been shared about the rise in poaching incidents particularly as they relate to the more photogenic animals, such as elephants, rhinos, and tigers. Many of these animals are critically endangered or have already gone extinct in the wild. For example, both the Western Black Rhino (Save the Rhino International 2015) and the Northern White Rhino are believed to be extinct in the wild (WWF 2015) as a direct consequence of rhino poaching for their horns. The poaching and illegal trafficking of animals and/or their by-products is not limited to only photogenic species. Pangolins, an insect-eating mammal that is similar to an armadillo, are not particularly attractive (Gill 2012) and do not receive much media attention, but are among the most poached mammals in the world for their meat and scales (Sutter 2014). The illegal wildlife trade is driven by a number of factors including the pet trade, accessories or luxury items, bush meat, and alternative medicines. As a result of the increased attention to ‘wildlife crime’, researchers from a variety of disciplines have begun to give this problem more attention. One of those disciplines is criminology. In fact, many criminology-related publications on the topic have been published within the last couple of years. For instance, a quick search of Criminal Justice Abstracts using Bwildlife conservation^ produced 236 articles or books published from 1937 to 2005, and 247 articles and books in the ten years spanning 2006 to 2015. Clearly, criminologists have become more interested in the sub-discipline of wildlife crime, also known as ‘conservation criminology’, and have made great progress in explaining why it happens, how the trade operates and offer solutions to reduce its frequency. The purpose of this special issue on BWildlife Crime^ is to create awareness of this global issue, increase dialogue with conservationists, and promote partnership research with park rangers and others on the ground. This special issue on wildlife crime covers a broad range of topics and includes conceptual and empirical papers. Eur J Crim Policy Res (2015) 21:299–302 DOI 10.1007/s10610-015-9290-x