30,000 Animals Rescued from Illegal Captivity in the Largest Wildlife Trafficking Raid in History

30,000 Animals Rescued from Illegal Captivity in the Largest Wildlife Trafficking Raid in History

Poaching suspects and the elephant ivory they were holding in Angola – credit, INTERPOL, released INTERPOL recently executed the largest-ever edition of its annual series of coordinated of raids to dismantle criminal shipments and networks of trafficked and poached wildlife. Called Operation Thunder, some 30,000 live animals were seized in 4,620 raids across 134 countries, 30% more than last year. INTERPOL identified 1,100 suspects and issued 69 notices of criminal activity to participating nations’ police forces. Operation Thunder took place between September 15th and October 15th. It included law enforcement agencies like national police, customs, border security, and forestry and wildlife authorities. In terms of live animals awaiting transfer or sale into illegal captivity, the operation rescued 6,160 birds, 2,040 terrapins, 1,150 reptiles, 208 primates, 49 pangolins, 10 big cats, and some 19,000 other species, including more infrequently trafficked mammals, fish, amphibians, and a not…