Dener Giovanini - IA de Investigación especializada en el MIT

Dener Giovanini

Taking Animal Trafficking
Out of the Shadows
RENCTAS Uses the Internet to Combat
a Multi-Billion Dollar Trade

Animal trafficking, the third largest illegal trade in the world after drugs and arms,
is a US$20 billion business. Brazil is estimated to account for up to 15% of this illicit global trade.1 In Brazil alone approximately 38 million animals are poached every year, posing a deep threat to regional and global biodiversity. The trade is as wasteful as it is massive; nine out of ten animals die while being captured or trans- ported, often in torturous circumstances. Animal trafficking is threatening Brazil’s biodiversity at an alarming rate. Over the past 10 años, the official list of Brazilian animals threatened by extinction has nearly doubled. Hoy, encima 600 species are on this “death row.” Animal trafficking has played a significant role in the growth of this list. Many species run the risk of disappearing exclusively as a result of their illegal trade. In addition to contribut- ing to the reduction of biodiversity, wild animal trafficking is responsible for the transmission of diseases and disproportionately harms poverty-stricken commu- niidades. As Environmental Secretary in the municipality of Três Rios, a small city in the southern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, in the mid-1990s, I was alarmed by a growing number of incidents involving captured wild animals in my jurisdiction. Sensing a problem of significant magnitude, in early 1999, I founded an organiza- tion to address animal trafficking at the local level. My two colleagues, Raulff Lima and Sergio Peixoto, and I named our organization the National Network to Fight the Trafficking of Wild Animals (the Portuguesa acronym is RENCTAS). In seven years, RENCTAS has become the leading force combating illegal animal trafficking Dener Giovanini is founder of the National Network for Combating Wild Animal Trafficking (RENCTAS). Prior to founding RENCTAS, Giovanini was Environmental Secretary of Três Rios, a city in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. En 1999 he was elected an Ashoka Fellow, and subsequently honored as a Schwab Social Entrepreneur. En 2003 he was named co-winner of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Sasakawa Environment Prize, among the world’s most prestigious environ- mental awards. © 2006 Tagore LLC innovations / invierno 2006 25 Descargado de http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/1/2/25/704251/itgg.2006.1.2.25.pdf by guest on 08 Septiembre 2023 Dener Giovanini in Brazil, and is among the major organizations of its type globally. When we began, animal trafficking was a non-issue in Brazil. Today it is a pub- lic concern addressed regularly on Brazil’s major news outlets. We have worked to effect this change by documenting the particulars of the trade, enhancing public awareness, educating law enforcement officials, influencing legislation, and shap- ing public policy. Central to these successes is our use of the Internet to convert animal trafficking from an unknown and un-quantified issue to a high-priority item on the national policy agenda. A BURGEONING TRADE CAUSING ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC DAMAGE While animal trafficking has escalated dramatically in recent years, it is not a 20th- century phenomenon. Five hundred years ago, when Europe began colonizing the world, voyagers returned with unknown animals as evidence of having discovered new continents. These animals drew attention and curiosity in Europe, and were soon exhibited and traded in the streets.2 The possession of wild animals was a symbol of power, wealth, and nobility. This status and curiosity fueled the creation of a profitable business. Brazil has long been a prime source of “exotic” animals. With an area covering more than 8.47 million square kilometers, Brazil has one of the richest fauna worldwide. It has the greatest number of species, with approximately 3,000 terres- trial vertebrates and 3,000 fresh water fishes.3 Brazil is the richest country in mam- mal diversity, con 524 species4 and ranks third in birds, with nearly 1,677 species, 5 fourth in reptiles, con 468 species, and first in amphibians, con 517 species.6 Traffickers plunder Brazil’s living resources for four markets. The first market is made up of collectors and private zoos. Although these collectors and private zoos hold illegally extracted animals, many in fact have government authorization to operate. Private collectors are generally extremely wealthy individuals who maintain collections for reasons of vanity. Although this is a serious problem in Brazil, the problem is far more extensive abroad since these collectors are out of the reach of Brazilian law. Supplying private collections is perhaps the most destruc- tive type of wildlife trafficking because its primary focus is the most endangered species; the rarer the species the higher an animal’s value. The lear’s macaw, Por ejemplo, fetches US$60,000 on the international market.

The second trade, biopiracy, extracts chemicals from animals for research and
production of medicines. This industry is growing daily, with the incursion of ille-
gal researchers within Brazil in search of new species. Huge revenues are garnered
from these activities. The nigriventer spider venom is coveted for research on a new
and more effective analgesic substance, with a value of up to US$4,000 a gram and the market value for hypertension drugs uniquely derived from one Brazilian snake species is US$500 million.

Biopiracy is supported through a complex operational system that navigates
loopholes in laws and discrepancies in international accords. Many animal and

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Taking Animal Trafficking Out of the Shadows

plant-based chemical substances leave one country illegally but arrive at their final
destination as legal. This occurs, among other reasons, because the information-
sharing among nations is still deficient. Many countries allow pirated animal
materials to enter their territory, unaware of their illegal origins. The organized
gangs who operate in this market deploy diverse types of fraud, from falsification
of documents to bribing pub-
lic officials. In some cases ani-
mal or plant products are even
patented, which requires years
to resolve through internation-
al courts.

Pet animals are the third
market. Boas, turtles, macaws,
marmosets, and many other
creatures are captured; the few
that survive end up in private
homes in the United States,
Europa, Asia, or elsewhere. El
fourth category, fauna prod-
ucts, consists of parts of ani-
mals, such as reptile skins or
bird feathers, which are used as
ornaments and in crafts that
cater to the fashion market.

Within Brazil, most stolen

animals are transported by trafficking networks operating across highways in
trucks, buses, and cars. Corruption and fraud often facilitate the process.
According to the Brazilian Federal Police, smuggling is likely to be supported and
facilitated by government officers assigned to strategic positions such as ports, aire-
ports, and customs offices; on the international side, researchers acting for inter-
national traffickers use government-issued credentials. También, “animal laundering”
is carried out in Brazil through zoos or so-called scientific, conservationist, o
commercial breeding grounds which provide false certificates claiming that ani-
mals were born in captivity. Even when animals are recovered during busts or sting
operaciones, many cannot be returned to nature. Close to 60% are found in condi-
tions so poor as to make their return impossible. These animals must spend the
rest of their lives in captivity.

Brazil’s animal trafficking supply chain flows through three groups: suppliers,
middlemen, and consumers. Suppliers are usually extremely poor people from the
backlands of Brazil for whom the fauna trade is a supplementary source of income.
The middlemen range from regatões (boatmen of the Northern and Mid-Western
regiones), to farmers, truck and bus drivers, and street peddlers. Small and medium
traffickers connect these rural middlemen with the larger, international networks.
Large-scale international traffickers operate globally and deploy the same smug-

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Dener Giovanini

gling and corruption tools as other international trafficking networks. Some zoos
and breeding grounds also participate at this level. On the consumer end, animals
and animal products land in homes, zoos, aquaria, circuses, private collections,
tanneries for industry, fashion stylists and producers, and pharmaceutical indus-
intentar.

Like the drug trade, animal trafficking capitalizes on an asymmetric econom-
ic relationship between the source, usually developing countries with fragile and
under-funded enforcement capacity, many of whose citizens desperately need
income, and the demand, wealthy countries with purchasing power. This dispari-
ty brings corruption, further eroding the ability of Brazil and other developing-
country governments to build strong and accountable institutions. The responsi-
bilities of the various enforcement agencies are fragmented geographically by local,
national, and regional jurisdictions and bureaucratically by “silos” of operation.
Their lack of coordination undermines the ability of enforcement agencies to take
on the complex networks used by traffickers to move animals from their point of
capture or breeding to the final purchaser.

An alarming development with far-reaching consequences for Brazil and other
nations is the integration of trafficking activities, especially between animal traf-
ficking and the drug trade.7 For example, officials in Miami recently apprehended
a shipment of snakes together with packages of cocaine. As animal traffickers
become part of larger and more violent global criminal organizations, their capac-
ity to outgun and outmaneuver enforcement efforts grows.

One area where animal trafficking differed notably from the drug trade was in
the degree of public awareness of the scope and scale of the problem. In Brazil in
the late 1990s, the animal trade was unknown. Ignorance of the problem spanned
all regions and socio-economic strata of Brazilian society. Por ejemplo, in an arti-
cle published in a daily newspaper an economist and former elected representative
was quoted criticizing Brazilian environmental enforcement because it arrested a
German trafficker. According to him, the intention of the “poor fellow” was to help
Brazil get rid of such plagues as spiders and other venomous animals. The animal
trafficking business operated almost entirely under the radar.

USING THE INTERNET TO GATHER AND ORGANIZE
INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRADE

When Raulff Lima, Sergio Peixoto, and I started RENCTAS in Três Rios in 1999,
information technology, including the Internet, was not part of our plan. Nuestro
small team began by delivering workshops on the animal trafficking problem, y
we began collaborating with law enforcement groups and environmental agencies
locally and nationally. We also provided support to research projects concerning
conservation of endangered species and carried out national awareness campaigns.
Yet in trying to bring attention to the problem, we were confronted with indiffer-
ence caused by a sustained lack of information.

Many of the advocacy and training activities in which we engaged were fairly

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Taking Animal Trafficking Out of the Shadows

traditional for non-governmental organizations (ONG) at the time. Sin embargo,
from the outset, the other critical component of our work was researching and
investigating trafficking activity so we could report it to the enforcement authori-
ties for action. Initially, all our research, tracking, and reporting of the illicit ani-
mal trade was paper-based. This changed late one Saturday night in our first year
of operation. I was home when I received a call at 10:00 p.m. from a police officer
at an international airport. She had just apprehended a foreign citizen who had in
his suitcase nearly 500 toads and 200 serpientes. He was bound on a flight to a
European destination. As this individual was claiming that he was unaware that
taking these animals out of the country was illegal (a common ploy by traffickers),
the officer urgently needed to corroborate whether he had been involved in other
criminal trafficking activity in Brazil, as this would escalate the gravity of the
charges. Without this evidence, the police would be required to let him go after a
brief detention and confiscation of the animals. With the clock ticking, I quickly
called several colleagues away from their normal Saturday night festivities and
together we began to search frantically through our piles of files containing
aproximadamente 30,000 documentos. En 5:00 a.m., having given up, I sat in my chair,
despondent—and saw the paper I had been looking for, face up on the floor
among all the other papers.

Having found the needle in the haystack, we immediately phoned the police
officer, who told me that, regretfully, they had just released the suspect due to lack
of evidence proving deliberate intent to traffic animals. At that moment we real-
ized the imperative of collecting information electronically. Soon thereafter we
purchased database software and computers, and digitized our records.

Sin embargo, the story of the snake-trafficker resolved itself favorably. Uno
year later, I received a phone call from a judge in the Amazonian city of Manaus,
who had participated in one of our training workshops. She informed me that the
following day she would make a judgment on a case involving a foreign citizen who
claimed no knowledge of Brazilian law regarding animal transportation. Three
minutes later I had pulled the records on the individual, the same who had gotten
away the year before! Esta vez, the government had the information it required
to press the case.

This “back end” database allowed us to track larger volumes of criminal activ-
idad; sin embargo, we quickly discovered that criminals didn’t appreciate being tracked.
At that point our base of operations was very local (in the state of Rio de Janeiro)
and very high-profile through talks we gave, our interactions with law enforce-
mento, Etcétera. One day I was in a local hotel giving a speech when through a
door I saw a gun pointed at my head. The message was clear; the traffickers were
giving me a “last chance” to withdraw our activities. This threat, coupled with an
increasing volume of e-mails from citizens and collaborators, made clear the
advantages–and necessity–of “going virtual.”

Although we were dragged by circumstance and frustration into the informa-
tion age, once online we were deliberate and aggressive in how we used our new
capacity. From this point forward we chose the Internet as the primary venue for

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Dener Giovanini

nuestro trabajo. The original core model of our virtual operation consisted of a website
we developed to allow ordinary citizens to report tips–instances of animal capture,
sale, transport, or illegal breeding. RENCTAS investigated the tips and passed the
findings to local law enforcement for action.

Our investigators also began using the Internet to scour auction sites, chat
rooms, and pet and collector bulletin boards for clues to illegal animal trafficking.
RENCTAS also employed old-school investigative tools such as the telephone and
even a CB radio to speak with truckers. The Internet, sin embargo, proved the most
efficient and effective way to gather information. As those who live by the sword
die by it, those who trade on the Internet can also get caught in it: One of our tech-
niques for identifying middlemen and sellers has been to pose as buyers on some
of the more than 5,000 animal sites that cater to animal traffickers.

The Internet has also provided a higher degree of anonymity to those wishing
to report animal trafficking crimes without being detected, as they might be by
walking into a local police station in a small town. But even with the Internet, nosotros
must be careful. Given the risks inherent with digitally storing personal informa-
ción, all tips are immediately taken off computers and stored separately in safe
locations to protect the individual informers.

By the late 1990s, e-activism was nothing new. What was novel, sin embargo, era
our approach to it. Many NGOs were active online through chain-letter petitions,
letter-writing campaigns, and general list-serv-based forums for discussion. Estos
activities tended to be one-directional, directed at already mobilized constituents,
and they rarely linked the common citizen to tangible results.
In contrast, nosotros
internally mandated that each tip receive a personalized response and gave priori-
ty to updating our tipsters on the results of their contributions. It was clear to us
that virtual and anonymous online interactions required heavy personalization to
effectively build a community base.

TAPPING THE STRATEGIC LINK
BETWEEN VIRTUAL INTERACTIONS AND MEDIA DISSEMINATION

From this model of heavily personalized online information brokerage, two chal-
lenges began to emerge. Primero, although RENCTAS could investigate many local
casos, enforcement spanned many local, sub-national, and national government
levels in Brazil, a huge country. A second growing challenge for our investigative
staff of two was the sheer volume of tips, which were coming into our system at an
average of 30 per day. The problem of improving our coordination with govern-
ment enforcement agencies was partially addressed by our move, after one year of
operación, from the state of Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia, the country’s capital, en
Enero 2000. This gave us proximity to the federal government’s federal police
and environmental agencies such as IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for Natural and
Renewable Resources) and the Ministry of Environment.

Our move to Brasilia also coincided with a shift in the balance between virtu-
al and traditional interactions. While we maintained our website for tip-gathering

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Taking Animal Trafficking Out of the Shadows

We used

and for nationwide reach—continuing to broker information between citizens and
law enforcement officials—we began to leverage the value of that capacity in novel
and powerful ways. The tips we received related, variously, to each point along the
traffickers’ supply chain, from source to final buyer. We began to translate the
information in those tips into a clear picture of the trade. By aggregating the bits
and pieces we gathered through the Internet, we achieved an understanding of the
process of animal trafficking
unsurpassed by anyone except,
tal vez, the traffickers them-
selves.

The tips we received related,
variously, to each point along
the traffickers’ supply chain,
from source to final buyer. Nosotros
began to translate the
information in those tips into
a clear picture of the trade.

this aggregated
information to tell a compelling,
and tragic story. In January 2000,
at the same time as our move to
Brasilia, Brazil’s largest television
network, Rede Globo, broadcast a
five-part series on animal traf-
ficking called “Life for Sale” based
on the work of RENCTAS.8 In
addition to dramatically boosting
awareness of the problem, el
Globo series generated an explo-
sión de 28,000 new tips, consultas, and other information through the RENCTAS site
from throughout the country. In the Brazilian print press, coverage of animal traf-
ficking in the country’s four leading daily newspapers multiplied fourfold between
1999, the year of RENCTAS’ inception and 2006. RENCTAS and the problem it
combats have been featured in the leading international press as well, incluido
The Economist, the BBC, National Geographic, and the Christian Science Monitor.
One reason our media work in Brazil has been so effective is that we have
appealed to a sense of national pride in one of our most distinctive attributes: nuestro
biodiversity, as symbolized by beautiful and unique animals. Appealing to the
emotional side of the problem also served another purpose: it gave us political cov-
erage and thus protected us from counterattacks, be they from corrupt officials or
the traffickers themselves.

Increasingly we learned to manage the interplay between our Internet work
and press coverage of animal trafficking. Por ejemplo, each time a story appeared
in a local newspaper, our staff sent e-mails with a link to the article to our sub-
scribers, encouraging people to write the newspaper to thank them for covering
the issue. This positive reinforcement motivated more coverage that, Sucesivamente, drove
even more traffic to RENCTAS. The dynamic between Internet and media ulti-
mately served our goal of creating awareness of a formerly invisible issue. The next
question was how to translate this awareness into changes in policy and practice.
We came to understand that many of the visitors to our website were environ-
mentalists who would respond to pleas for action. Using postings on the home

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Dener Giovanini

page of the site along with the “push” of e-mail messages to over 60,000 sub-
scribers, we developed the capacity to galvanize people to respond to specific issues
or threats. Por ejemplo, en 9:00 soy. one morning we learned that a measure with
harmful implications for wildlife conservation would be discussed and decided
upon that day at 11:00 soy. in one of the Brazilian government agencies. We post-
ed the news on our site and via our e-mail listserv. Por 10:30 soy. 25 activists
dressed in black RENCTAS “uniforms” and wearing dark glasses were flashing
cameras at the participants arriving at the meeting. Our goal was to apply pressure
on decision makers by evoking an intimidating image, while suggesting that their
picture might appear in the media associated with an unpopular decision. We suc-
ceeded in influencing the outcome of this policy decision with only five minutes of
effort that morning. We increasingly use this type of “power of persuasion” to
accomplish our goals.

RENCTAS AND BRAZIL’S GOVERNMENT

In our early efforts to build relationships with local, national, and international
government organizations, we found that government attitudes about the problem
encompassed everything from inertia to outright obstruction by officials who were
probably compromised by the trafficking trade. We developed a two-pronged
approach to meet this challenge. Primero, we discovered pockets of enthusiasm among
lower-level government technical staff, many of whom were committed to saving
the environment. In contrast to many more combative Brazilian activist NGOs at
el tiempo, we were cooperative with the government. Al mismo tiempo, RENCTAS
never accepted government grants or program support to ensure its complete
autonomy. This stance has played a key role in building trust and respect with gov-
ernment officials, who realized that RENCTAS was not after their money.

Our strategy of collaborative autonomy allowed us to build support from the
bottom up in ministries and police agencies. We combined this with top-down
political pressure generated by the increasingly visible cycle of media publicity and
the growing volume of tips and other forms of citizen involvement flowing into
RENCTAS through the Internet. RENCTAS and the animal trafficking problem in
Brazil could no longer be ignored. As a result of our efforts, the Brazilian
Parliament created an Inquiry Commission to investigate the problem and the
Federal Police launched and implemented a national campaign against animal
trafficking. Interpol, the Brazilian Federal Police, IBAMA (the Brazilian national
environmental agency), Estados Unidos. Department of Justice, CITES (the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, headquar-
tered in Switzerland), WEG (Wildlife Enforcement Group, New Zealand) have all
grown to depend on RENCTAS for information and collaboration.

As time progressed, RENCTAS has increasingly diversified its operations and
has taken on training programs for police, hosted international conferences, y
published a book detailing the levels and patterns of animal trafficking.9

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Taking Animal Trafficking Out of the Shadows

KEEPING PACE WITH AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL AND INTEGRATED
TRAFFICKING NETWORK

Just as the Internet has evolved, so have we. While we continue to use the Internet
to drive enforcement, media coverage, activism, and public policy domestically
and internationally, we are also expanding our use of Web conferences and instant
messaging to interact online in realtime with our collaborators. We are also
expanding our use of “just-in-time” activism, relying especially on our advocacy e-
mail list of 60,000 thousand
activists for pointed, rapid
mobilization focused on pub-
lic policy decisions.

As with all other forms of global
criminal networks, from drug
traffickers to terrorists, animal
trafficking networks increasingly
deploy technology to their
advantage to circumvent local
enforcement and to capitalize on
the lack of both legislation to
regulate their online activities
and government information-
sharing to pursue them.

Ironically, while it was the
traffickers who drove us to the
Internet in 1999, now we have
driven them into more virtual
spaces. The clearest evidence of
this is the disappearance of
open markets in Brazil where,
until a couple of years ago, uno
could purchase huge varieties
of birds, reptiles, and even pri-
compañeros. As with all other forms
of global criminal networks,
from drug traffickers to terror-
istas, animal trafficking net-
obras
increasingly deploy
technology to their advantage
to circumvent local enforce-
ment and to capitalize on the lack of both legislation to regulate their online activ-
ities and government information-sharing to pursue them. Our challenge is to
keep pace with them, which we do by increasing our undercover presence in their
online worlds. We are also working to influence government regulation over these
activities; most recently we succeeded in providing the Brazilian justice ministry
with information on over five thousand violations based on our research of offers
of illegal animal sales on the Internet.

One of our most significant recent actions has been to move directly into the
distribution channels by partnering with transportation companies that have
served, often but not always unwittingly, as the conduits for animal trafficking. Nosotros
currently partner with the Itapemirim Group, one of Brazil’s largest passenger
transportation companies. Itapemirim was even considered an “accomplice” of
traffickers by some sectors of the government and society since its buses were often
used by traffickers. This bad publicity eventually compelled Itapemirim to rethink
its position in the market. By partnering with RENCTAS, the firm and its clients,

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Dener Giovanini

suppliers, and employees have been educated to realize that they were victims, no
villains. We have conducted a massive joint PR campaign to raise awareness among
the company’s drivers and passengers about animal trafficking. A second effort to
reach into the traffickers’ transportation networks in Brazil involves our collabo-
ration with the Martins Group, one of Latin America’s largest trucking firms which
travels over all of Brazil’s roads. The company’s entire team of truck drivers has
been provided with awareness training.

The aim of our partnerships with both Itapemerim and Martins is to make it
more difficult for animal traffickers to use transportation networks to transport
animals. By educating the drivers, cargo handlers, those in management positions,
and even the firms’ clients, we increase the level of vigilance and make it more dif-
ficult for all of these people to be co-opted into the animal-trafficking process.
Este, Sucesivamente, leads to fewer denunciations (tips) linked to specific buses or trucks
(pendiente, we believe, to reduced trafficking) which in turn translates into better busi-
ness for the transportation companies.

LOOKING AHEAD

Our work has garnered public recognition. En 1999 I was honored to be awarded a
fellowship by Ashoka for my work with RENCTAS, and in 2003 I received the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Sasakawa Environment Prize,
considered the highest distinction for environmental work in the world. En 2004,
Former Brazilian president José Sarney, then leader of the Brazilian Senate,
bestowed upon me the National Congressional Medal. At this ceremony he sum-
marized what we do:

The great merit of RENCTAS was, without doubt, to show Brazil a coun-
try we didn’t know. Today the trafficking of animals has come out from
the shadows thanks to the light that RENCTAS cast upon it to be seen by
all except those who refuse to look.

En efecto, lifting the curtain on this activity in Brazil is an important accomplish-
mento. Sin embargo, just as trafficking is both global and domestic, our work increas-
ingly involves both spheres. The challenge at home still looms large. Perhaps our
biggest barrier is the relative lack of a civic and philanthropic culture to support
wildlife preservation in Brazil, among other things. Getting companies and citizens
on board in sustainable ways is a huge uphill battle in a country with a limited his-
tory in philanthropy or corporate responsibly. Many of our future efforts in Brazil
will be directed in this area. On the global front, we must raise awareness among
the consumers of animals and their products. Currently we are working with the
Brazilian Foreign Ministry to conduct an awareness campaign abroad with posters,
brochures, and other educational materials through our embassies worldwide.

Desafortunadamente, the accomplishments of RENCTAS and our colleagues in other
organizations can not ensure the survival of the 600 Brazilian species now on
extinction’s “death row,” nor can they ensure the sustainability of our planet’s bio-

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Taking Animal Trafficking Out of the Shadows

diversidad. As with arms and drugs, traffickers service a demand. Until citizens—
particularly individuals and institutions in industrialized countries—hold them-
selves and their governments fully responsible for curtailing consumer demand for
illegally traded animals, the traffic will continue.

Agradecimientos

I thank Winthrop Carty for his work in translating this paper from the Portuguese,
and providing invaluable assistance in framing and organizing the ideas presented.
I also thank Ashoka for their support along multiple dimensions, including the
development of a previous case study of RENCTAS.10

We invite reader comments. Correo electrónico .

1. Rocha, F.M. (1995) Tráfico de Animais Silvestres, WWF. Discussion Paper.
2. Hagenbeck, C. (1910) Animales y Hombres. Hijos de Carlos Hagenbeck. Editores, Hamburgo-
Stellingen, . 483.
3. Mittermeier et al, (1992) “O País da megadiversidade”. Ciencia Hoje (14): pag. 20-27, 81.
4. Fonseca et al, (1996). Lista Anotada dos Mamíferos do Brasil. Ocasional Paper no. 4, Abril,
Conservation Internacional.
5. Sick, h. (1997) Ornitologia brasileira. Nova Fronteira, Río de Janeiro, pag. 912.
6. Mittermeier et al, 1992
7. This relationship is documented in the final report of the Brazilian Congress’s Parliamentary
Inquiry Commission on Animal Trafficking.
8. “Vida a Venda” in Portuguese.
9. “First National Report on Fauna Traffic in Brazil.” Available in PDF format from
.
10. Además, this article drew from a report written by Shannon Walbran, then of Ashoka in
2002 and from a case study co-authored by Stanley Yung, then of Ashoka, and Winthrop Carty, entonces
of the Ash Institute at Harvard University. For more about Ashoka see .

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