2 Characterizing wildlife crime Chapter

logs and butterflies in a way that appreciates the rel- With the aim of gaining further insights into ative importance of each? How can the significance gender-related aspects of illegal wildlife trade, of seizures in different geographic regions or for dif- UNODC undertook research in 2023 in Colombia, ferent years be compared? Ecuador and Peru to explore the roles that women and men play in both. [...] Particularly in the study of organized Just 15 broad markets comprise the bulk of the ob- commercial-scale wildlife crime, it is the value of the served illegal wildlife trade based on standardized wildlife that motivates key participants along the seizure index analysis, split by animals and plants trade chain who break the law. [...] The declining trend in corals from 2020 can Examining the top species groups reported by be observed again, while the share of seizures of number of seizures per year during the period live specimens increased during the same period, 2015– 2021 shows that the share of coral species which could perhaps reflect increased restrictions in seizures decreased significantly while the share on the movemen. [...] Based on the WWCR3 analytical dataset, the total number of individual wildlife specimens reported by number during 2015–2021 was just under 13 72 characterizing wildlife crime 2 BOX 2.5 Estimating the value of illegal wildlife trade One of the biggest problems with the prevailing estimates of Within the total valuation of an illegal wildlife market, it can the value of the illegal wildlife trade i. [...] However, when ily clear from the data at which point of the trade seizures are analysed on the basis of the standard- chain the seizure was made and so what the role of ized seizure index, Asia and Africa emerge as the that region in the chain may be.