“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and the illegal wildlife trade!

In the movie “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”, the Jurassic World theme park is abandoned by the humans and the dinosaurs roam freely on the island - until a volcano threatens to explode and extinguish all live on the island. 

Despite this threat, Owen Grady, former trainer of the raptors, and Claire Dearing, former manager of the park, return to the island to save the animals from extinction and take them to a sanctuary in Lockwood in America. 

However, after arriving on the island, Owen and Claire realise that they have been tricked. The dinosaurs are being sold on an illegal animal market instead of being saved. 

Mere coincidence with reality?

Smuggling animals is a lucrative business. According to figures from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the most popular way to sell illegal animals is via the internet. The last study counted 5,381 ads on 106 sites on which over 11,000 illegal species had been offered for sale, amounting to a total value of US$ 3,942,329.

From the wilderness for: 

• Restaurants: in some restaurants the animals are served like spices. To give you an idea: a tiger penis soup to restore your manliness costs 300 euros on the black market in Taiwan. 
• Pharmacies: the Chinese medicine is considered one of the biggest threats to numerous species. For example, the bile of the moon bear - Asian black bear - is prescribed for a series of illnesses, like fever, pain, abscesses, internal bleeding and even cancer. It’s assumed that the majority of the Chinese population trusts the traditional medicine. 
• Fashion: the fashion industry isn’t any different. In Italy alone, 9,000 products made of protected plants and animals were found a few years ago during the operation Marco Polo in Rome and Milan. 

The facts speak for themselves and the message of the movie is clear. The extinction of some species are in our hands! This type of trade is, of course, closely linked to the level of poverty in the affected countries. If the governments created alternatives to earn a living, those people wouldn’t need to rely on poaching. 

Maybe then we would only see these type of crimes in movies, which, unlike reality, would always have an happy ending. 

Thank you for reading this!

Wilgen and the alugha team!

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