Page 9 - Impact Report_2019 PDF
P. 9
This critically endangered Bourret's box turtle was found
in a package at O’Hare Airport.
Rescuing Trafficked Animals
The wildlife trade has driven many species to extinction or near “Oftentimes, we’re one of the first institutions USFWS or the
extinction. Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited U.S. Department of Agriculture calls because we have the ability
institutions, including Brookfield Zoo, are rehabilitating trafficked to take a wide variety of different species,” said Snider, curator of
animals and working to shut down the illegal wildlife trade. Herps & Aquatics at the Brookfield Zoo. “We help out where we
can.” Confiscated animals Snider has received include Oriental
The turtle’s life began on the cool, moist floor of a tropical fire-bellied newts, Chinese giant salamanders, medicinal leeches,
forest in Southeast Asia. Last November, she was found at orchid mantids, and a variety of other reptiles and amphibians.
O’Hare Airport, sealed in a box with a Hong Kong postmark.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) confiscated the turtle These animals and countless others are victims of the illegal
and called CZS’s Andy Snider with a question he’d heard trade in wild plants, animals, and animal parts. The multi-
before: “Can you take this animal?” billion-dollar industry has many players—from organized crime
WILDLIFECONNECTING PEOPLE. COMMUNITIES. &
2,500+ TOTAL ANIMALS; 425 SPECIES 3,556
TOTAL ANIMALS DOES NOT INCLUDE 1,108 INVERTEBRATES. LAB SAMPLES
PROCESSED
573 NEW ANIMALS; 109 SPECIES
REPTILES AMPHIBIANS FISH BIRDS MAMMALS
348 266 337 1,172 398
CHICAGO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY | 2019 IMPACT REPORT 7
