The report, “In Plane Sight: Wildlife Trafficking in the Air Transport Sector,” produced by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies as part of the USAID Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) Partnership, revealed the principal role airlines play in the endangered wildlife black market:
“The air industry in particular presents an efficient option for traffickers looking for a way to move live animals or wildlife products quickly. Chances that trafficking attempts will be identified are reliably low; even in the United States, a program to discreetly test airports’ enforcement success rates found that screeners failed to identify banned material 95% of the time”
Jon Godson, Assistant Director of Environment at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), says in the ‘In Plane Sight’ report that airlines are starting to recognize the need to combat wildlife trafficking and are stepping up as leaders in this global effort. Singapores Airlines’ decision [23 August 2018] not to support SA’s legal export of 1,500 lion bone skeletons is just this – a step up.