With the illegal trade in wild animals, Brazil loses money and its biodiversity

One gram of coral snake venom is worth up to R$ 110,000 on the international market. The snake is now one of the animals most sought after by animal smugglers. The venom is used in the production of medicinal products, one of the major markets for international biopiracy. According to the campaigning organisation, RENCTAS, the trade in wild animals is worth US$ 1 billion per year. Only the trade in drugs and arms are worth more.

Brazil is losing a significant proportion of genetic resources. RENCTAS said that the trade removes 38 million specimens of Brazilian fauna each year.

For every ten animals, only one survives its journey. The others die whilst being captured or while being transported.

According to data published in the final report of the Commission of Parliamentary Inquiry on the Trade in Wild Animals last February, the illegal trade circulates US$ 10 billion per year. Many of the drugs used to treat hypertension use active ingredients taken from snake venom. The sale of these drugs alone generates some US$ 500 million each year.

Dener Giovanini, co-ordinator of RENCTAS, said that snake venom is worth more than gold. A substance 27 times more powerful than morphine, which may transform the use of anaesthetics, has recently been discovered in frogs native to Amazonia. Giovanini said that this discovery has confirmed the species'' place on the list of threatened species.

The growth sector in the trade is the smuggling of animals for use in medical reseach.

The Parliamentary Inquiry discovered that 466 foreign researchers entered Brazil to carry out research last year. There is almost no control over their activities. Ecotourism may also be used a cover for the illegal trade. In Manaus, seven Swiss tourists were arrested in possession of a collection of 326 butterflies.