This new TRAFFIC study reveals Southeast Asia’s significant role in the legal and illicit trade of Madagascar’s rare and endemic wildlife and calls for intensified international co-operation to stem biodiversity loss. An assessment of wildlife trade between Madagascar and Southeast Asia showed that 30% of 121 seizure* incidents involving Madagascar between 2000 and 2021 clearly stated the involvement of any Southeast Asian country. The Southeast Asian countries were not only implicated because seizures took place there. They also played a role along the trafficking route as transit points, re-exporters or as intended destinations. Thailand was the most implicated Southeast Asian country, primarily as a destination country. Scrutiny of the 36 seizures involving Madagascar and a Southeast Asian country revealed that half of the confiscations took place in Madagascar before being trafficked to other destinations. Meanwhile, 12 seizures were intercepted in the Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, and six others occurred in other Asian, African and European countries and territories along the trade route.
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