Australia’s animals are iconic worldwide. Their famous appearance and special adaptations have unfortunately made them prime targets for the illegal wildlife trade.
Estimated to be worth US$23 billion each year worldwide, the illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest criminal market, only behind drugs, arms, and human trafficking.
This trade is also the second greatest contributor to global species loss, only behind the devastation caused by habitat destruction.
Criminals view our iconic animals as a source of profit. They don’t care if an animal is crushed, suffocated, or has its limbs broken in transit.
Your Support Makes A Huge Difference
It’s believed that 93% of Australia’s reptiles, 87% of mammals, and 45% of birds only exist here. Unfortunately, their uniqueness drives their demand on the illegal market.
Precious Aussie icons like Shingleback Lizards and Cockatoos are being ripped from their homes. Often, they’ll be bound in gaffer tape and stuffed into boxes to be sold on the black market by criminals.
Taronga’s Wildlife Hospital team treated more than 100 illegally trafficked animals in the first five-month trial period.
Our team works closely with federal investigators to detect smuggling and provide information that can be used as evidence in court.
Taronga is a bio-secure, quarantined government facility. Both our technology and teams have the knowledge to scan, identify, and immediately treat the trafficked animals.
Your kind donation today will help save illegally trafficked animals and stop their suffering from this evil, illegal trade.
You have the power to protect Aussie wildlife and catch the criminals responsible.
How your donation will support us:
- Save illegally trafficked animals
- Stop their suffering
- Provide them with medical care
- Help catch the criminals
Please give generously to help rescue trafficked Australian animals and fight the illegal wildlife trade.
Australian Animals Need Your Help
Taronga plays a key role in detecting, identifying, and reporting trafficking to help catch criminals and bring them to justice. Taronga’s team of wildlife hospital staff, researchers, and keepers all play a crucial role. There’s no other facility like this in NSW.
Detecting The Smuggling
Taronga has developed an AI algorithm with our partners to detect trafficked reptiles. This is a groundbreaking piece of technology that’s bringing serious firepower to the fight back against illegal wildlife trafficking.
Your support will help improve our technology to detect even more smuggled species, such as birds and mammals.
Your donation will help fund research to identify smuggled wildlife with even greater precision.
Rescuing & Treating Animals
Taronga’s expert team is always ready to respond to a suspected case of smuggling. Our keepers identify, advise, and attempt to locate the origin of the trafficked species, while our Wildlife Hospital team administers urgently needed medical care.
More and more cases of smuggling are being uncovered each week.
Your donation will help provide the extra resources our team needs to rescue the growing number of animals at risk.
Catching The Criminals
Once rescued animals have been provided with the care they need, it’s our job to figure out where they came from. This information is crucial for catching and prosecuting criminals.
Taronga has the technology and expertise to determine whether a rescued animal is wild and from which part of Australia it originated, or if it was bred in captivity.
Your donation will help bring these criminals to justice.
