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The wildlife trade is thriving. It would thus bring in several billion euros each year. And it’s not the dangerousness of predators that stops buyers.
Large beasts held in the arms and dangerous reptiles present in living rooms. More wild animals make the object of trafficking. An animal park collects more than 400. A monkey, educated to pick pockets, even kept some reflexes. Lately, it is the servals, small cats with spotted coats, who arrive the most. “We receive calls almost every week from all over France for these animals. We are several shelters able to accommodate them in France, but it is starting to become complicated, because everyone has them. a lot”, reports Patrick Violas, director of the refuge.
Many felines are victims of fashion. Some influencers pose with these animals. On social networks, a French person is exposed to lion images four times a day on average. Traffic proliferates on the Internet. An advertisement thus offers a baby serval at 2,000 euros per kitten. A certificate of competence is mandatory to become one owner, but the saleswoman does not has priest. Wildlife trafficking is the fourth most lucrative in the world. Some animals are poached, illegally imported via ports or airports.