Penalties for high-level wildlife trafficking offenders should be comparable to those imposed for other forms of transnational organised crime, such as drug or arms trafficking, to reflect the profit-driven and disastrous nature of wildlife trafficking.
Meanwhile, over-criminalisation of low-level offenders such as subsistence poachers should be avoided, ensuring fairness while maintaining focus on disrupting the higher levels of criminal networks.
This is one of the recommendations of the the Wildlife Justice Commission in its new report examining whether wildlife trafficking was treated with the seriousness it deserved in 19 national legal systems.
The report provided an assessment of how the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Untoc) had been incorporated into domestic legislation and how effectively it was being implemented to tackle wildlife trafficking.
The Untoc was adopted in 2000 in response to the growing global threat of organised crime. It provided a new legal framework for international cooperation to combat transnational criminal activities, including measures against money laundering and corruption, confiscation of criminal proceeds, mutual legal assistance, joint investigations and the use of special investigative techniques.
The report presented research conducted by the WJC on how wildlife offences were criminalised and penalised in the domestic legislation of 19 of the most prominent jurisdictions along the global rhino horn supply chain. The 19 countries researched are the ones implicated in the seizure of 100kg or more of rhino horns as either source, transit or destination locations along the trafficking routes between 2012 and 2021.
This ranges from Czechia with 101kg rhino horns seized, Singapore, (117kg), China and Mozambique (1,294kg each) and South Africa (3,754kg).
The research found that all 19 key jurisdictions criminalised offences in four major categories: trafficking, illegal hunting, illegal trade and illegal possession.
The report noted that in several southern African countries, law enforcement efforts had traditionally focused on the poaching level rather than higher up the criminal value chain.
In many cases, poachers had been sentenced harshly for their crimes, while there were various examples of cases involving higher-level suspects that have been delayed in the court system for many years.
The report cited the case of three poachers who were sentenced to a combined 105 years’ imprisonment in South Africa in September 2021 for killing three rhino. They contrasted this with the cases of suspected rhino kingpin Dawie Groenewald, who was arrested in 2010. His case is expected to be heard only next year and the case of former policeman and suspected rhino kingpin Joseph “Big Joe” Nyalungu, who was first arrested in 2010 and again in 2011, 2012, 2018 and 2023.
“It can be observed that high sentences for lower-level offenders in rhino poaching cases have done little to slow down the poaching problem, while there are also reports of high rates of re-offending among arrested rhino poachers in some jurisdictions.
“This misalignment in focus means those who sustain and profit most from the trade — the high-level traffickers — are not held to account.
The report said lasting disruption and deterrence required consistent application of strong custodial sentences and asset forfeiture against high-level actors, ensuring both the removal of key figures from criminal networks while dismantling the financial incentives that sustained the trade.
The report said ultimately, one of the main objectives of law enforcement was to prevent and deter crime.
It said criminological research suggested that strong sentences on their own could not deter crime, but there must also be sufficient probability that the punishment will be incurred if the crime was committed.
“It is for this reason that perceptions of the certainty of being caught and punished are a more powerful deterrent than increasing the severity of the punishment.”
Consistent and well-targeted law enforcement efforts therefore play a vital role in deterring crimes, to demonstrate certainty.
The report acknowledged that measuring deterrence and the impact of law enforcement efforts was complicated. It said wildlife seizures, arrests, prosecutions and convictions were common metrics, but quantitative data alone provided a limited picture.
It said for instance, seizure data only revealed the detected and reported instances of illegal trade where there had been law enforcement effort, representing an unknown fraction of the real quantities of wildlife products being trafficked.
“On the other hand, not all arrests carry equal strategic value, and the removal of one principal at the head of the network far exceeds the impact of arresting numerous low-level offenders.”
The WJC findings indicated that consistent and strategic law enforcement efforts in trafficking hotspots could trigger changes in the perceived level of risk associated with wildlife crime and generate a meaningful deterrence effect.
“One of the clearest examples of deterrence in the wildlife trafficking landscape can be observed in Nigeria, which is a significant exit point for pangolin scale and ivory trafficking from Africa to Asia.
“Thanks to concerted efforts in recent years involving national law enforcement authorities and support from multiple stakeholders, including international organisations and civil society, Nigeria is turning the situation around.”
The report recommended that high-level traffickers should face proportionate custodial sentences, with the possibility of additional penalties (compensation, asset forfeiture) if relevant to the case, without the option of substituting fines in lieu of imprisonment.
It said low fines risk being treated merely as a cost of doing business rather than a meaningful penalty, given the vast profits that high-level traffickers could derive from the trade, significantly undermining proportionality and deterrence.
Olivia Swaak-Goldman, executive director of the WJC, said the report reflected both the progress made and the challenges ahead in ensuring wildlife trafficking was treated as the serious transnational crime it is.
“Its findings are a call to action for sustained strategic enforcement, international cooperation, and investment in the tools and partnerships proven effective in disrupting organised crime.”
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