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A key motion under consideration at the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress would create guidelines for managing the wildlife pet trade, and that’s key because across the world, millions of live animals - mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians - are taken from the wild every year. The illegal and unsustainable wildlife pet trade depends on the appeal of live animals whose capture leaves forests and grasslands silent, stripped of the pollinators, seed dispersers and predators that keep ecosystems functioning.

Botswana's recent upsurge in rhino poaching is reaching a crisis point. More than 100 rhinos have been poached in under two years from a population of less than 400. Yet, the government remains resolute in its denial of a growing catastrophe. Former Botswanan president Ian Khama recently announced on social media that over 120 rhinos have been poached in the past 18 months.

Pangolins (Order: Pholidota) are considered a very rare and threatened group of mammal taxa, and are widely recognized as the most trafficked mammals globally. In recent years, Africa has become an increasingly important source to supply demand, particularly from Asian markets. However, the extent and scale of the trade within South Africa remains poorly documented. Our study aimed to investigate the extent of the illicit trade in the Temminck’s pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) in South Africa between 2016 and 2024.