Classroom Ideas, Current Event Connection, Main

Meet Prince William, Wildlife Advocate

POLITICS

The Duke of Cambridge is a vocal advocate for imperiled wildlife such as elephants and rhinos, and is making the issue of wildlife trafficking the subject of his U.S. visit. (Nat Geo News)

Use our resources to better understand wildlife trafficking, and the market for ivory in particular.

Teachers, scroll down for a short list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit.

Discussion Ideas

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, is a vocal opponent of wildlife trafficking. Watch the video above or read his impassioned speech to the World Bank here. What is wildlife trafficking?
- According to our glossary (itself shamelessly poached from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service!), wildlife trafficking is the “poaching or other taking of protected or managed species; and the illegal trade in wildlife and their related parts and products.”

Prince William has announced the formation of a royal task force to work with the international transportation industry to examine its role in wildlife trafficking. What parts of the transportation industry do you think may work with the royal task force?
- airlines: Traffickers may smuggle animals or their products in luggage or even on their bodies. Read about “6 Bizarre Animal Smuggling Busts” here. (Ah, the old slow-loris-in-the-underwear trick.)
- shipping: Traffickers may smuggle animals or their products in cargo containers. Read about how 359 elephant tusks were found smuggled in ship containers.
- vehicle traffic: Traffickers may transport animals or their products in trucks, cars, or even motorcycles. Watch our short video “Trafficking Poached Ivory” for information on how poachers get their illicit goods to market using:
  - motorcycles
  - canoes (!)
  - bicycles
  - cars and trucks

What are some animals that suffer from wildlife trafficking? This blog post about wildlife trafficking might give you some ideas.

Elephants are slaughtered for their ivory tusks, which are used as decorative items. Photograph by Chris Johns — Elephants are slaughtered for their ivory tusks, which are used as decorative items. Read more about the “Battle for the Elephants” here.
Photograph by Chris Johns

Black rhinos, like this beauty in Aberdare National Park, Kenya, are critically endangered. There are fewer than 6,000 in the wild. Photograph by Steve Raymer, National Geographic — Rhinos are killed for their horns, which are used in medicines in China and Southeast Asia. Here’s a fantastic map of the rhino trafficking routes.
Photograph by Steve Raymer, National Geographic

Tigers are killed for their bones and other body parts, also used in some Eastern Asian medicines. Watch our video on how Thai police are helping to stop tiger poaching in its tracks. Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic — Tigers are killed for their bones and other body parts, also used in some Eastern Asian medicines. Watch our video on how Thai police are helping to stop tiger poaching in its tracks.
Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic

Pangolins are funny-looking mammals native to tropical parts of Africa and Asia, like this one in Sri Lanka. Pangolins are killed for their scales (used in medicines) and meat. Read our blog post on pangolin trafficking written for World Pangolin Day (third Saturday in February, mark you calendars). Photograph by Sandip Kumar, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-3.0 — Pangolins are funny-looking mammals native to tropical parts of Africa and Asia, like this one in Sri Lanka. Pangolins are killed for their scales (used in medicines) and meat. Read our blog post on pangolin trafficking written for World Pangolin Day (third Saturday in February, mark you calendars).
Photograph by Sandip Kumar, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-3.0

Green sea turtles are native to the expanded national monument. Photograph by Kydd Pollock, courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. — Hundreds of tortoises and turtles (like this green sea turtle) are sometimes killed for their meat, but more often traded as exotic pets. Here’s an article about trafficking in sea turtles.
Photograph by Kydd Pollock, courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Birds, like this beautiful Amazon parrot, are captured and sold as exotic pets. Read our blog post on what may be the "worlds' most traded wild birds." Photograph by Bruce Dale, National Geographic — Birds, like this beautiful Amazon parrot, are captured and sold as exotic pets. Read our blog post on what may be the “worlds’ most traded wild birds.”
Photograph by Bruce Dale, National Geographic

Despite their size, whale sharks like this one (another offshore species) actually pose very, very few threats to people. They are a vulnerable species. Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic — Sharks and rays are caught for their meat, cartilage, oil, and other body parts. (Blue sharks like this one are often caught for shark fin soup.) Here’s a fantastic graphic on overfishing of sharks and rays. (And here’s a blog post about the graphic.)
Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic

In the Nat Geo News article, John Heminway, director of “Battle for the Elephants,” says Prince William is right to focus his trafficking efforts on the trade with East Asia, saying “[T]here’s only one way to stop this: to get the Chinese to stop.” Stop what? Why focus on China?
- China is the biggest market for goods made from trafficked animals, mostly ivory. Reducing the demand from and supply to China would radically reduce the market for trafficked wildlife and wildlife products. Read more about the complex economics of the ivory trade here.

TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT

Nat Geo: On U.S. Visit, Prince William Takes Aim at Wildlife Trafficking

Nat Geo: Battle for the Elephants Education

Nat Geo: 6 Bizarre Animal Smuggling Busts

Nat Geo: Wildlife Trafficking: Beyond Elephants and Ivory

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

%d bloggers like this: