POLITICS
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.

Photograph by Chris Johns

Photograph by Steve Raymer, National Geographic

Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic

Photograph by Sandip Kumar, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-3.0

Photograph by Kydd Pollock, courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Photograph by Bruce Dale, National Geographic

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