Has making the exotic pet trade entirely illegal (in the US) actually damaged the market? Or has it only strengthened its appeal to buyers?

                                                                Source: mentalfloss.com




The economic principle I’m exploring is “Institutions are the ‘rules of the game’ that influence choices.”

 My research question to help me study the economic principle is “How does the varying legality of exotic pet ownership around the world influence the exotic pet trade?”

 My sub-research question is “Has making the exotic pet trade entirely illegal (in the US) actually damaged the market? Or has it only strengthened its appeal to buyers?”

 The articles “The Ins & Outs of Exotic Animal Smuggling” by The Mag on mentalfloss and “Facts about the Exotic Pet Trade” from National Geographic demonstrate this economic principle by showing that if their laws aren’t properly enforced, institutions will have little to no influence on the market.

 First, I decided to clarify the US’s laws on exotic animals. According to the first article, “There are several federal laws that prohibit the selling and interstate transfer of certain exotic animals in the U.S.” which “include the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, the Wild Bird Conservation Act and the Endangered Species Act.” Though these may seem fairly comprehensive, one of the main issues with enforcing them seems to be that while there are some nationally forced protections, specific laws can vary from state to state. Additionally, as I will cover later on in this post, the groups dedicated to seizing and investigating exotic animal smugglers have little funding and manpower, leaving many offenses to these laws unchecked.

 Second, I took a look at how prolific the trade was in the U.S. specifically. I found that “According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the exotic pet trade is a multi-billion dollar industry, second only to drugs and weapons on the black market. It's a $15 billion dollar business in the United States alone, with breeders and dealers selling animals over the Internet or in trade magazines.” Despite our laws, the exotic animal trade remains absolutely massive, with millions of dollars flooding into the market each day. While one would think that the laws would be a significant deterrent, that’s evidently not the case.

 Third, I wanted to know why and how the laws were so easily and so often broken. For one, smuggling animals into the U.S. is surprisingly easy - according to National Geographic, “it's pretty difficult to get caught smuggling endangered animals.” Apparently, “The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is staffed with fewer than 400 law enforcement agents; by comparison, the Drug Enforcement Agency has 11,000 employees.” Smugglers often get extremely light sentences; “if you're an animal smuggler with no prior convictions and you get caught with an equivalent cache of illegal butterflies, you might not even spend the night in jail.” Even repeat offenders aren’t punished with anything even nearing the severity of other national lawbreakers. “When Hisayoshi Kojima, the world's most wanted butterfly thief, pleaded guilty to 17 smuggling-related charges in 2007, he received 21 months in prison and a fine of just under $39,000. Such low-risk, high-reward conditions have led many drug traffickers to diversify into the wildlife business.” On top of all of that, “the traffickers often refuse to reveal their buyers, which makes it tough to figure out what motivates them.” While we may have laws in place against animal trafficking, there are a number of ways to circumvent them - and even those who are unsuccessful often get away with little to no repercussions. The market for exotic animals remains as successful as ever in the U.S.

 In my next blog post I will research the question: What is the psychology behind the market?