Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation brings together experts from around the world to document the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on pangolins and their conservation. It chronicles threats facing the species, explores the current initiatives required to protect them, and looks ahead at the future of pangolin science and conservation efforts. Led by a team of editors with more than 20 years collective experience in pangolin conservation, this book includes accounts of the species' evolution, morphology, and systematics. It discusses the role of pangolins in historically symbolic, mythological, and ritualistic practices across Africa, Asia, and Europe, as well as contemporary practices including international trafficking. Chapters in the latter portion of this book focus on conservation solutions, including law enforcement and international policy, behavior change, local community engagement, ex situ conservation, tourism, and other interventions needed to secure the future of the species. Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation is the latest volume in Elsevier's species-specific series, Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and students in species conservation science, planning, and policymaking. - Provides detailed accounts of the natural history and conservation status of each pangolin species - Explores the cultural significance of pangolins, historic and contemporary use, and international trade and trafficking - Discusses conservation solutions ranging from law enforcement and local community engagement to ex situ conservation, innovative finance, and tourism

This book considers a wide range of illicit industries in China, exploring what drives such activities, why consumers tolerate them to differing degrees, how attempts to regulate them are implemented and how such regulation is resisted. Industries considered include human smuggling, human organs trade, illicit pharmaceuticals, smuggling of animal parts, illegal logging and trade of woods, food safety and shadow banking. Throughout, the book describes how the shadow economy works, analyses the degree to which illicit activities are regarded as criminal and highlights the importance of the shadow economy for certain regions of China and certain sections of Chinese society. In doing so, it reveals the challenges of human security posed by these industries not only for China, but also for the global community, and considers a robust governance mechanism at both national and global levels to address these challenges. Overall, the book provides a very rich picture of a key aspect of China’s contemporary economy which is difficult to research.

Saving endangered species presents a critical and increasingly pressing challenge for conservation and sustainability movements, and is also matter of survival and livelihoods for the world's poorest and vulnerable communities. In 1973, a global Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was adopted to stem the extinction of many species. In 2015, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15) the United Nations called for urgent action to protect endangered species and their natural habitats. This volume focuses on the legal implementation of CITES to achieve the global SDGs. Activating interdisciplinary analysis and case studies across jurisdictions, the contributors analyse the potential for CITES to promote more sustainable development, proposing international and national regulatory innovations for implementing CITES. They consider recent innovations and key intervention points along flora and fauna value chains, advancing coherent recommendations to strengthen CITES implementation, including through the regulation of trade in endangered species globally and locally.

What does an unusually large, ugly, invasive species of toad have to do with global warming, international trade, and the survival of biodiversity? Quite a lot, actually. Mark Lewis's amazing and hilarious documentary Cane Toads tells the story of Bufo marinus, which was introduced to Australia in 1935 to control bugs but which quickly became a far greater menace than the beetles they eat. Today they number in the hundreds of millions and are taking over Australian habitats at 25 miles per year, spreading disease and killing native species as they go. Rogue Species explains the little-understood dangers of invasive species. Ranging from the zebra mussel (currently threatening the health of the Great Lakes) to the infamous kudzu vine (a Japanese import that now smothers seven million acres in the American southeast), these disastrous human blunders threaten the biodiversity on which all life -- including our own -- depends. The book will raise readers' awareness about the threat of non-native species, increase their appreciation of natural biodiversity, and explain what they can do to help protect unique ecosystems wherever they live or travel.

This book addresses the multidisciplinary challenges in biodiversity conservation with a focus on wildlife crime and how forensic tools can be applied to protect species and preserve ecosystems. Illustrated by numerous case studies covering different geographical regions and species the book introduces to the fundamentals of biodiversity conflicts, outlines the unique challenges of wildlife crime scenes and reviews latest techniques in environmental forensics, such as DNA metagenomics. In addition, the volume explores the socio-economic perspective of biodiversity protection and provides an overview of national and international conservation laws. The field of conservation medicine stresses the importance of recognizing that human health, animal health, and ecosystem health are inextricably interdependent and the book serves as important contribution towards achieving the UN Sustainable Developmental Goals, in particular SDG 15, Life on Land. The book addresses graduate students, scientists and veterinary professionals working in wildlife research and conservation biology.

Get the latest advances in zoo and wild animal medicine in one invaluable reference! Written by internationally recognized experts, Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine: Current Therapy, Volume 10 provides a practical guide to the latest research and clinical management of captive and free-ranging wild animals. For each animal, coverage includes topics such as biology, anatomy and special physiology, reproduction, restraint and handling, housing requirements, nutrition and feeding, surgery and anesthesia, diagnostics, and treatment protocols. New topics in this edition include holistic treatments, antibiotic resistance in aquariums, non-invasive imaging for amphibians, emerging reptile viruses, and African ground hornbill medicine, in addition to giant anteater medicine, Brucella in marine animals, and rhinoceros birth parameters. With coverage of many subjects where information has not been readily available, Fowler's is a resource you don't want to be without. - Fowler's Current Therapy format ensures that each volume in the series covers all-new topics with timely information on current topics of interest in the field. - Focused coverage offers just the right amount of depth — often fewer than 10 pages in a chapter — which makes the material easier to access and easier to understand. - General taxon-based format covers all terrestrial vertebrate taxa plus selected topics on aquatic and invertebrate taxa. - Updated information from the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) includes records from their growing database for 2.3 million animals (374,000 living) and 23,000 taxa, which can serve as a basis for new research. - Expert, global contributors include authors from the U.S. and 25 other countries, each representing trends in their part of the world, and each focusing on the latest research and clinical management of captive and free-ranging wild animals. - NEW! All-new topics and contributors ensure that this volume addresses the most current issues relating to zoo and wild animals. - NEW! Content on emerging diseases includes topics such as COVID-19, rabbit hemorrhagic disease, yellow fever in South American primates, monitoring herpesviruses in multiple species, and canine distemper in unusual species. - NEW! Emphasis on management includes coverage of diversity in zoo and wildlife medicine. - NEW! Panel of international contributors includes, for the first time, experts from Costa Rica, Estonia, Ethiopia, India, Norway, and Singapore, along with many other countries. - NEW! Enhanced eBook version is included with each print purchase, providing a fully searchable version of the entire text and access to all of its text, figures, and references.

This book explores China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the criminogenic potential for economic, financial, and socio-cultural cooperation across countries, where some are known for weak law enforcement and high levels of corruption. It examines whether these flows of capital are increasing the amount of organized crime in the newly linked regions and how law enforcement agencies are responding. Bringing together experts across the Global South and Europe, this book considers transnational organized crime and corruption across One Belt One Road (OBOR). It examines crime and corruption in China and its international United Front tactic; analyzes various forms of transnational organized crime such as trafficking of illegal drugs, looted antiquities, and wildlife and counterfeit products; and presents studies on corruption and organized crime in selected OBOR countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Poland, and Bangladesh. This book makes a significant contribution to the development of southern criminology and will also be of interest to those engaged with transnational organized crime, political economy, international relations, and Asian and Chinese studies.

In this book the author examines the illegal wildlife trade from multiple perspectives: the historical context, the impact on the environment, the scope of the problem internationally, the sociocultural demand for illegal products, the legal efforts to combat it, and several case studies from inside the trade. The illegal wildlife trade has become a global criminal enterprise, following in the footsteps of drugs and weapons. Beyond the environmental impact, financial profits from the illegal wildlife trade often fund organized crime groups and violent gangs that threaten public safety and security in myriad ways. This innovative volume covers several key questions surrounding the wildlife trade: why is there a demand for illegal wildlife products, which actors are involved in the trade, how is the business organized, and what are the harmful consequences. The author performed ethnographic fieldwork in three key markets: Russia, Morocco, and China, and has constructed a detailed picture of how the wildlife trade operates in these areas. Conversations with informants directly involved in the illegal business ensure unique insights into this lively black market. In the course of his journey the author follows the route of the illegal wildlife trade from poor poaching areas to rich business districts where corrupt officials, legally registered companies, wildlife farms and sophisticated criminal organizations all have a share. A fascinating look inside the world of poachers, smugglers and traders.