New research finds global wildlife trade involves over 107,000 species
A study led by the University of Melbourne published in Science Advances reports that more than 107,000 species are traded worldwide.
Previous estimates were too low
Earlier calculations suggested around 50,000 species were involved in global trade. The new analysis indicates this number is more than double the previous figures.
Legal commerce drives biodiversity loss
Alice Hughes from the University of Melbourne noted that legal trade includes timber and seafood. Most of the activity involves common items rather than just illegal poaching of elephants or tigers.
Data gaps hide true scale
The research team found major gaps in current monitoring programs for wildlife collection. These missing data points suggest the actual number of traded species could be even larger than 107,356.
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