US cuts to foreign aid have weakened anti-poaching efforts in Africa, with Mexican cartels and Chinese triads ramping up their presence in the illegal trade.
Around $23 billion in illegal wildlife — much of it used for traditional medicine in East Asia — is traded each year, with many governments and conservation agencies formerly relying on USAID to fund their anti-trafficking efforts.
However the sudden shuttering of the aid agency earlier this year has led to a free-for-all, with international crime groups piling into the trade.
“The traffickers are loving it,” a conservationist told the Financial Times. “With fewer restrictions, they think: ‘No one will catch us, so let’s go for it.’”
