Personally, I strongly believe this is also one of the driving forces behind illegal wildlife trade in the region. We can no longer claim illegal wildlife trade is simply a problem involving animals when humanity is lying in the heart of the problem.

global-extreme-poverty-presentation-3-728

Photo Credits: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/globalextremepovertypresentation-100711211323-phpapp01/95/global-extreme-poverty-presentation-3-728.jpg?cb=1278882872

Photo Credits: http://globalmissionforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Worldwide-poverty-facts-southeast-asia1.gif

Photo Credits: http://globalmissionforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Worldwide-poverty-facts-southeast-asia1.gif

SE Asia remains as one of the developing areas in the globe. Even though population in SE Asia has been steadily increasing over the decades, the same cannot be said for the income levels of these people.

According the World Bank, “the region accounts for approximately half of the world’s poor.” and out of a population of 1.3 billion, more than 70% still live on less than $2 a day.  This represents a majority of people living in Southeast Asia who are hovering along poverty lines and barely making ends meet. Furthermore, there is also a wide income gap in the region, where the rich can be ostentatiously rich while the poor remains impoverished. It comes as no surprise that under such underprivileged situations, some individuals will ultimately turn into engaging in illegal wildlife trade for the sake of additional income. More often than not, they are also the ones manipulated by criminal syndicates with little or no option to break free. Thus, poverty represents another hurdle we need to overcome in order to ameliorate the problem of illegal wildlife trade in the region.