# what does 'wildlife trade' mean to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084 "2019-02-06T20:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/21 "2019-02-08T00:57:41Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > How is a possum worth any of that? When’s the last time you saw a possum cap or had possum dumplings? Opossums are worth way more than that! They eat literally thousands of ticks over a single season, inhibiting the spread of tick borne illnesses like lyme disease. They are also all but immune to rabies and very resistant to a number of other diseases. They can keep your area clear of poisonous snakes as they are immune to venom. Opossums ROCK! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/22 "2019-02-08T01:49:42Z")
To me, it means illegally hunting and selling wildlife (mammals, birds and fish) for their meat, or body parts for taxidermy/display. I’ve been involved in court cases where people have been charged with wildlife trade. ---
**Author:** ![Leonard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@Leonard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leonard)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/23 "2019-02-08T11:55:33Z")
It just occurred to me that the sale of timber is probably a huge part of it. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/24 "2019-02-08T12:06:50Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > How is a possum worth any of that? When’s the last time you saw a possum cap or had possum dumplings? Mmmm…posthumous possum. “Now, that’s just good eatin’.” – Jed Clampett ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/25 "2019-02-08T13:09:09Z")
Colour me stunned at the number of people unfamiliar with the phrase ‘wildlife trade’! How is that possible? I read it, and hear it, in almost every discussion of conservation from illegal trade in wild animals, to legal trade in animal skins and byproducts. How do you cross an international border and not encounter it? It’s in the literature and on the signage usually, describing what can and cannot cross the border, be imported etc. I would have guessed otherwise, so I def learned something today! Thanks for that! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/26 "2019-02-08T13:47:47Z")
I, personally, live so far away from any international borders that I’ve never had a compelling enough reason that would lead to crossing one. Remember, not _every_ country is the size of a roomy shoebox. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/27 "2019-02-08T15:17:08Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > How do you cross an international border and not encounter it? An awful lot of Americans (who predominate on this board) rarely, or never, travel outside of the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/28 "2019-02-08T15:30:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > An awful lot of Americans (who predominate on this board) rarely, or never, travel outside of the U.S. I looked at a map after my earlier post–I’m around 1,000 miles from the nearest part of Mexico. I was suprised to see that the nearest part of Canada (the dangly bit between Great Lakes) was only around 500 miles away–I would have assumed further. Neither of those are exactly casual Sunday drives. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084/29 "2019-02-08T15:47:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I, personally, live so far away from any international borders that I’ve never had a compelling enough reason that would lead to crossing one. Remember, not _every_ country is the size of a roomy shoebox. The US is roughly 10 million square km. It is literally twice the size of the entire EU and roughly the same size as the entire continent of Europe. Not leaving the US is actually not that difficult in the same way that most Europeans likely never leave the continent. What has made it more difficult is passports. Pre-9/11, travel to Canada and Mexico was trivial. You’d pop in on your way somewhere else or cross for the day. I have been waved through the border in and out of Canada probably dozens of times. Now though, everyone gets stopped and questioned and everyone has to have a passport or card that costs 100 bucks, so lots of people just don’t bother. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-wildlife-trade-mean-to-you/829084.md?page=1)