Abstract

ASPRILLA-PEREA, Jeferson; SERNA-AGUDELO, Jorge Eliecer  and  PALACIOS-ASPRILLA, Yacira. DIAGNOSIS ON ILLEGAL SEIZURE OF WILDLIFE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CHOCÓ (COLOMBIAN NORTHERN PACIFIC). rev.udcaactual.divulg.cient. [online]. 2013, vol.16, n.1, pp.175-184. ISSN 0123-4226.

Chocó department belongs to the eight places with the major illegal wildlife commercial trade and wildlife confiscation registered in Colombia. Nevertheless, there is no clear statistic about species frequently involved; a serious assessment about wildlife decommissions (processes and management) have not been carried out. This Information could be used as tool to support implementation of resource management or as conservation strategy. This study describes seized wildlife in the department of Chocó during six years (2005-2010), based on an intensive revision from official databases of environmental authorities and interviews with officials. The results showed that 80% of the seized wildlife is composed of birds and mammals. Trachemys callirostris callirostris (turtle Icotea) was the most seized species (161 individuals corresponding to 22.2% of illegal wildlife seized). The municipality of Quibdó is the geographical area of Chocó department where the highest number of individuals and species were confiscated. No established routes for illegal wildlife trafficking were found. In terms of conservation the majority of confiscated species (80.6%) are in a category of threat according to criteria established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. Fish, bird and mammal species seized in Chocó department are under the highest threatened level by the UICN criteria.

Keywords : Illegal wildlife seizure; environmental authorities; conservation.

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