The sheer numbers and vast array of Latin American wildlife species offered for sale in one of Southeast Asia’s largest wildlife markets, in Thailand, has been steadily rising over the past two years, observers say, alongside animals from across the globe.The trend points to a broader shift in the global wildlife trade, with more species coming out of the imperiled Amazon and many of them sold as pets.Trafficked animals are often laundered from other South American countries through Peru, where regulations make it easier to export species abroad.Many of these species are threatened, plucked from the wild, and then face abhorrent conditions during the journey from the Amazon to Asia, raising further animal welfare concerns; many perish during transit.
BANGKOK, Thailand — In the narrow alleys of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market, the world’s wildlife is for sale.
Ensnared in jungles, fished out of rivers and plucked from wetlands across the globe, hundreds of exotic species are packed onto transcontinental flights only to end up on display in what experts say ranks as one of the largest wildlife markets on Earth.
Here, alongside Thai milk tea vendors and mango sticky rice stalls, visitors need only veer a few steps from the tourist path to end up in the market’s “Pets” zone — an arguably liberal use of the term. This section of the market hosts a menagerie of domestic and wild animals alike, often crammed into cages with little water and no respite from temperatures that soar beyond 32° Celsius (90° Fahrenheit).
