Tighter regulations are needed to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, environmental experts said at a major conservation congress in Abu Dhabi.
A trade that fuels organised crime and terrorism, while risking the spread of zoonotic disease, came under the spotlight on the opening day of the IUCN World Conservation Congress.
Despite mass disruption on a global scale caused by the Covid-19 pandemic – believed to have been caused by a virus that jumped from animals to humans – there was still a reluctance to enforce existing guidelines on wildlife movement, experts said.
Jamie Reaser, a scientist on the steering committee of the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade, said there was growing concern about the wider impact of the illegal wildlife trade.
“Following the advent of Covid-19, these concerns have been increasingly directed towards animals moving through the wildlife trade at both national and international scales,” she said. “By taking an interdisciplinary one health approach, the International Alliance seeks to bring members together for information exchange, for project implementation, and for advising national governments.”
The US-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has warned that the global pet trade in wildlife, both legal and illegal, is escalating, with devastating consequences for wildlife, ecosystems and human health.
Vast pet trade with global reach
The WCS said the global terrestrial pet trade is vast, often poorly regulated, and increasingly linked to organised crime, spanning everything from more common pets to endangered species coveted by collectors.
Millions of animals – from cheetahs to parrots, songbirds, turtles and tortoises, snakes, lizards and amphibians, as well as invertebrates such as tarantulas – are traded annually, often illegally and alongside other illicit activities.
The WCS said corruption and weak enforcement in some countries allow animals to be laundered back into markets, masking illegal activity as legal supply while undermining the good conservation efforts of other countries.
Dr Susan Lieberman, vice president of international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said there was an urgent need for tighter control and to dispel the aspiration associated with exotic pets.
“Certainly what we know about pathogen spillover, the pet trade particularly in birds and mammals, needs to be much more tightened,” Dr Lieberman told The National.
“Whether you call it pet trade or private zoos, they are really just collectors. If you look at the cheetah issue, seizures were constantly coming from the Horn of Africa where the cheetahs are critically in danger. No one should have a pet cheetah.
“Any commercial trade is banned, so any cheetahs coming here [to the Gulf] from the Horn of Africa are all illegally detained. It’s a risk to cheetahs in the wild, but it's also a health risk.
“For both reasons people shouldn't have cheetahs as pets.”
According to the latest On the Trail bulletin by Robin des Bois, a French NGO that monitors recorded international wildlife seizures, Russian airport officials recovered a major haul of illegal wildlife in 2023 from the UAE.
In December, a resident of Tatarstan was intercepted as he attempted to smuggle 177 leopard claws and six leopard teeth, with a black-market value estimated at around $16,900.
As leopards have 18 claws, the incident could have resulted in up to 10 leopard deaths.
During the Abu Dhabi congress, which runs until October 15, a key motion on guidelines for the wildlife trade is due to be heard.
Motion 108 calls for the development of IUCN guidelines to strengthen national laws and curb the commercial pet trade in terrestrial wildlife.
While not legally binding, IUCN guidelines carry significant weight with governments and the conservation community, often shaping national and international policies and best practices.
Enforcement measures
The UAE has strengthened its law enforcement against the illegal wildlife trade.
Through initiatives such as Emirates SkyCargo's IEnvA certification and collaboration with customs and police, greater powers have been granted to intercept illegal shipments.
The Emirates has also signed up to the Buckingham Palace Declaration, a landmark agreement committed to shutting down routes exploited by traffickers of illegal wildlife products.
The measure has already seen success.
Since China’s ban on the import and sale of ivory in 2018, there has been a substantial drop in elephant poaching and a decline in public consumption of ivory products. The price of illegal ivory has fallen sharply in countries where it was once prevalent, indicating a drop in demand.
Claire Cayol, a disease ecologist whose research focuses on host – parasite interactions, said the movement of wildlife around the world has already been responsible for serious public health concerns this century.
“The wildlife trade was associated with the Mpox outbreak in 2003 in the USA where the trade of wild rodents ended up spreading pathogens in humans and causing health issues,” she said.
“Salmonellosis is another quite common pathogen that can be transmitted with the trade of reptiles. That's an important, public health issue.
“Ebola is also associated with hunting, trade and consumption of wild animals. It's really a matter of worry for people in close contact with these infected wild animals, but also for the entire world. Focusing on the health risk in migrant trade is a really important topic.”
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The%20Hunger%20Games%3A%20The%20Ballad%20of%20Songbirds%20%26%20Snakes
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Francis%20Lawrence%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ERachel%20Zegler%2C%20Peter%20Dinklage%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Tom%20Blyth%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Results
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Aatebat Al Khalediah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Avenue, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: My Catch, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile (TB) Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
More from Neighbourhood Watch
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESteven%20Knight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMark%20Ruffalo%2C%20Hugh%20Laurie%2C%20Aria%20Mia%20Loberti%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
