US second to China in illegal wildlife trade: official

Yahoo News 9 Jun 08;

The United States is second to China as the biggest market for illegal wildlife and wildlife parts, with demand fueled by interest in traditional medicine, a US official said Monday.

"The biggest market for illegal wildlife and wildlife parts is China," according to Assistant Secretary of State for Environment, Claudia McMurray. "But the number two market is the United States."

Wildlife trafficking is worth an estimated 10 billion dollars a year, according to Interpol figures she cited. But she did not have individual estimates for how much goes to China and the US.

Consumers were buying while traveling, on the Internet or in shops in the United States, McMurray said at a news conference highlighting a public awareness campaign launched by US embassies around the world against the illegal wildlife trade.

"In most cases, they think the products are perfectly legal. We consider it our job in the US government to tell Americans that that is not the case," she said.

McMurray said interest in traditional Chinese medicine was fueling demand for illicit wildlife trade in the United States and that it was coming not just from people of Asian origin.

She added that there was also growing demand in the United States for live exotic pets.

Actress Bo Derek, who is US special envoy for wildlife trafficking issues, said "it was very embarassing for me to find out that the US is number two in consuming endangered wildlife."

She said China had been helpful in boosting public awareness about wildlife trafficking.