The WWF have claimed (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/16/conservation.uknews ) that UK holiday makers have more than 163,000 imports confiscated by customs officers because they involve illegal wildlife trade. Many of the species involved are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The expressed fear is that even unwitting purchases by people on package holidays abroad (particularly Thailand, China and Africa) may help drive some species to extinction. Of particular concern are snake and lizard skin goods, elephant ivory carving and traditional Chinese medicines (more than 500 kg) containing materials from tigers, rhinoceros and seahorses etc. It is also pointed out that customs seized more than 1000 illegally imported wild reptiles including snakes, tortoises and chameleons . Caviar, unless it comes from a licenced source, can also be problematic (26 kg was deemed illegal last year) as can coral which can be live (destined for aquaria), decorative or in jewellery(last year UK customs seized more than 1250 kg of such material). Rather obviously, Queen conch shells, animal skin products and stuffed animals can also be confiscated but, less obviously, customs seized more than 158000 illegal plants (mainly orchids, cycads and cacti) last year. The WWF is hoping that tourists will be careful in what they purchase from markets and will report suspicious items to it. This is obviously a real problem (and has been going on for years) but I do think its scale is somewhat inflated as illegal importation, rather than material arriving in tourist hand baggage, account for many of the recorded items. One might also ask how much material arrives undetected? What about 'bush meat'?
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