Australian wildlife can increase in value exponentially once exported. For example, shingle back lizards purchased locally for AUD 100 can be sold for AUD 5,000 in Asia, and when paired can fetch AUD 20,000.

Alongside growing markets in China and Japan, the EU is a primary market for wildlife smuggled out of Australia (Crook & Van der Henst, 2020). Loopholes in EU legislation facilitate species laundering and enable green-collared crime (ENDCAP, 2012; Musing, 2020):

• Species not native to the EU or listed by CITES can be freely traded within the EU, even if they are threatened or strictly protected in their native range.
• Animals identified as captive bred, even those listed under Appendix I (or A for EU legislation), can also be freely traded within the EU.
• Some of the most expensive animals traded in Europe are protected by national laws in their country of origin but have no legal protection in the EU. The rarity of these species outside of their homelands drives up prices, while the absence of penalties for selling them creates a cover of legality (Auliya, 2016).

Other law enforcement challenges include varying and weak laws across member states, lack of knowledge on wildlife trafficking amongst law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary, the low priority afforded to wildlife crime, and a lack of cooperation amongst law enforcement agencies (Sina et al, 2016).

Once again, the message for private firms and financial institutions is that relying on the criminal justice system alone is not enough to tackle the illegal pet trade.