Within Australia, a multitude of actors engage in wildlife trafficking. This includes criminals acting undercover in the legal wildlife industry, opportunists and overseas syndicates, some acting alone or in small semi-organised groups.

The specificity and variety of wildlife involved in seizures suggests that wildlife is illegally procured by specialist hunters to fulfil specific orders from local collectors, dealers and overseas syndicates. Unscrupulous licensed wildlife breeders launder wild-caught animals though their facilities and illegally export “designer breeds”, including morphs of common species.

International syndicates likely interact with urban dealers who direct poaching activities and coordinate with unscrupulous breeders, consolidating wildlife for packaging and onward shipment via mail or air passenger luggage.

Australia’s largest seizure of illegal wildlife occurred in April 2018 and included 198 reptiles, 58 venomous snakes, 16 marsupials, two spiders and three cockroaches across various species. This illustrates the breadth of wildlife targeted by traffickers.

Traffickers receive payments for wildlife with transactions in the thousands of dollars either via wire or through bank transfers, and in some cases barter Australian species for other exotic species. The criminals hide money in overseas accounts and launder illicit proceeds through front companies. As in wildlife crime more generally, repeat offenders are common, even after multiple convictions.