Wildlife trade is the harvesting and selling of dead or living animals and plants, as well as their related products. Revenues from wildlife trade total at about $10 billion dollars a year, making it the third largest illegal market after drugs and weapons. 

Wildlife trade is considered the second biggest threat to Earth’s biodiversity, following the destruction of habitats. Countless species have been decimated to the brink of extinction through wildlife trade, e.g., elephants, rhinos, and pangolins. 
Besides the well-known examples of illegal wildlife trade, e.g., the poaching of  elephants and rhinoceros, thousands of other species are exploited in similar  intensity. Wildlife trade, however, isn’t illegal in all instances. Countless species of  animals and plants are sold legitimately as food, pets, ornaments, leather, and  medicine. When an increasing proportion of wildlife trade becomes illegal and/or  unsustainable, it poses a threat with severe impacts on species survival in the wild. 

​IMPACTS 

Zoonotic diseases 
Many infectious diseases in recent history have been traced back to wild animals. Wildlife trade diminishes the buffer zones between anthropogenic and natural  habitats through habitat destruction, increasing the likelihood of people getting in  contact with zoonotic diseases. Additionally, species illegally traded are likely to  be sold in places with low enforcement of hygienic standards, increasing the risk  of spreading diseases even further.

Biodiversity 
Illegal wildlife trade causes imbalances in entire ecosystems and takes significant  influence on vital biological links. Furthermore, it decreases the genetic pool of  targeted species, increasing the vulnerability to diseases of any kind. 
The illegal trade of wildlife has already pushed a variety of species to the brink of  extinction, both directly (e.g., Northern white rhino) or indirectly (e.g., Vaquita). 

Incidental killing 
The incidental killing of non-target species not only poses a severe problem in marine ecosystems. Traps laid out for certain species in terrestrial ecosystems,  cause the death of a variety of other species sharing the same habitat.  

Hot spots of wildlife trade 
Though wildlife trade is a global phenomenon, it is particularly threatening in  certain areas of the world. Hotspots of wildlife trade include the international  borders of China, East- and Southern-Africa, Southeast Asia, the eastern borders  of the EU, local hotspots in Mexico and the Caribbean, Indonesia and New Guinea  as well as the Solomon Islands.

​Find further information on 
-https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade 
-https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/there-are-no-winners-illegal-trade-wildlife
-www.fws.gov/international/travel-and-trade/illegal-wildlife-trade.html
-https://www.nrdc.org/stories/wildlife-trade-101​

Videos to watch: 
-https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPpoJGYlW54?feature=oembed
-https://www.youtube.com/embed/f0fUlWJ8VsE?feature=oembed
-https://www.youtube.com/embed/jjtEJHQluCQ?feature=oembed

Source: ZSL Zoo