Wildlife crime: a conceptual integration, literature review, and methodological critique

Justin Kurland,Sara C Mcfann,Stephen F Pires,William D Moreto

doi:10.1186/s40163-017-0066-0

Abstract

Wildlife crime, including poaching and wildlife trafficking, threaten the existence of particular species. To date, research on wildlife crime has been primarily conducted by those with backgrounds in the biological sciences, however crime scientists, have much to offer in examining wildlife crimes. With this in mind, we aim to highlight general principals of crime science found through an in-depth review of the conservation literature. More specifically, to determine if, and how, different types of wildlife crimes cluster, to identify the existence of interventions for which the mechanisms mirror those found within SCP, and consider their effectiveness. Our review suggests that various types of wildlife crimes concentrate in time and space, among products, along certain routes, and at particular facilities. Further, some overlap exists between mechanisms used to mitigate more traditional crimes and those used to prevent wildlife crimes and protect threatened species. Of note are the attempts by those in the conservation community to increase the risk of crime, remove excuses for non-compliance of rules, and reduce provocations that contribute to particular types of wildlife crime. Given this overlap crime scientists may be able to collaborate with conservationists to draw on the extensive knowledge base of prevention studies to identify potential interventions, analyze their implementation, and evaluate the overall impact of an intervention.

Highlights

Wildlife crime is the illegal taking, trading, exploiting, possessing, or killing of animals or plants in contravention of national or international laws
Protected areas (PAs) creation was only half as successful as species reintroduction, captive breeding, and hunting restrictions for improving threatened animal populations (Hayward 2011). These results indicate that while PAs can potentially be an effective tool for conservation, other interventions that employ different situational crime prevention (SCP)-related mechanisms such as increasing the risk associated with illegal hunting on non-protected land with fines for overhunting may be or more, effective techniques for improving threatened species populations
With conservation software like the Management Information System (MIST) and Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART), a better approach to the collection of population data and patrol metrics such as catch-per-unit effort (CPUE) are becoming more prevalent. The combination of this all-purpose measure of patrolling effort and population estimates can provide some of the spatial and temporal data necessary to enrich our understanding of the numerous poaching problems that persist and in turn will help us in collaboration with conservationist to implement more effective evidence-based interventions. This in-depth review of the conservation literature sought to determine if, and how, different types of wildlife crimes cluster and to identify the existence of interventions for which the mechanisms mirror those found within SCP and assess their effectiveness

Summary

Introduction

Wildlife crime is the illegal taking, trading, exploiting, possessing, or killing of animals or plants in contravention of national or international laws. Much of the empirical research that touches on wildlife crime has originated from conservation biology, which is the scientific study of nature that aims to protect and enhance biodiversity (Kareiva and Marvier 2012). This is not surprising given the explicit relevance of this area of inquiry as it pertains to species populations and protected area management. It has been suggested that conservation efforts might be improved by analyzing various wildlife crimes in a manner akin to traditional crime types (e.g. how, when, where, and what is targeted) in order to identify patterns and the underlying opportunity structures involved (Kurland and Pires 2017). If the various forms of wildlife crime are concentrated like traditional crime categories, opportunity-reducing strategies such as situational crime prevention (SCP)

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