Gambling on Extinction

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Unscrupulous investors, speculating on the disappearance of rare animals, and increased demand for animal products from Asia are pushing endangered animals into extinction.

Worldwide, the illegal trade in endangered animals is booming. No longer just the work of individuals or small gangs, it is now dominated by well-organised and equipped international cartels. Wildlife poaching has become the most lucrative illegal business, after the trade in drugs and weapons, with an annual turnover of an estimated twenty billion dollars.

Today, only 3,200 tigers roam the wild. At the current rate of poaching, elephants, rhinos and tigers living in the wild will be extinct in our lifetime. Who are the global players in this deadly game of power, greed and profit? Who pulls the strings and who are the customers? And why have ivory and rhino horn become perfect investment opportunities?