Figure 2.
Wildlife licenses, wildlife crime and potential impact of a wildlife ban.
(A) The number of wildlife licenses and wildlife criminal cases in 2014–2019. Although more new farming and trade licenses are issued each year, poaching and illegal wildlife trade cases are still increasing, suggesting a potential failure of the current supply-side approach. (Data source: websites of national level and all provincial level Forestry Bureaus of China, China judgements online). (B) The current wildlife trade ban will cut the extra supply from farms (S1−>S2) and in the meantime suppress demand from D1 to D2 or D3 by adding stigma effect and raising the cost of consuming the species. If the demand was only suppressed to D2, the price will increase from p1 to p2 and the quantity consumed from the wild will increase from Q1W to Q2W. If the demand was further suppressed to D3, the price will decrease from p1 to p3 and the quantity consumed from the wild will decrease from Q1W to Q3W.