Illegal trade of biodiversity in Italy. Evaluation of the data from 2004 to 2007

The phenomenon of the illegal trade of animals is very complex. Biodiversity at large and many diverse markets, are involved. In the period 2004-2007, data have been analyzed on 26,632 reports/seizures for illegal activities. It was found that the reports of illegality were made by Forces of Public Order (88%) or by witnesses (12%). The data we examined, showed a high incidence of poaching exerted on wildlife (86.03%). A high percentage of abuse has been identified in the trade for the food linked to typical gastronomy of "game" (63.10%), followed by the repopulation of wild animals (10.21%), then the sale of exotic birds (6.66%) or for the hobbies and amateur markets (4.60%). The true poaching is the smallest percentage (1.47). Even if dogs and horses are not wild animals, they are significantly represented in the percentages of fighting between them (0.68%) and the clandestine racing of horses (0.26%), indicating the presence of the barbaric phenomenon in Italy, with consistency over time. the illegal dogs trade is emerging (7%) and management of kennels (2%). A lower incidence was due to lawlessness for the illegal slaughter (2%) and for the breeding of animal species, covered by CITES but illegally held (1.76%). A lesser weight is represented by the irregularities related to the livestock (0.02%) and to the animal crimes (maltreatment, 0.08%; experiments, 0.17%).