The global poaching vortex (Vanda Felbab-Brown, Bradley S. Porter, Brookings)

As the world celebrates World Wildlife Day on March 3, the planet is experiencing alarming levels of species loss—caused, in large part, by intensified poaching. Wildlife trafficking and its associated activities affect national and international security in a myriad of ways: They can provide support to criminal groups, increase risks of health epidemics, and further degrade the already fragile ecological systems on which humans depend. Efforts to combat wildlife trafficking, meanwhile, provide new opportunities for cooperation between the United States and China, among other countries.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2016/03/02-wildlife-trafficking-felbabbrown-porter