host: welcomome to "global 3 3" today we start with some alarmi news. according to the latest rertrt byhe w wor biodiversity cocounl, up to one milon plant and anim spepecies are at risk of extinioion. the main causes are habitat loss, environmental pollution, and poaching, as well as the illegal wildlife trade. reporter: every year, millions of live wild a animals are s shd and flown across the wororld. a growing number are being sold online. some are in demand as exotic pets. others are sold for their body

parts, such as ivory for souvenirs, snake skin for the fashion industry, or fins and scales for use in traditional medicine. the trade in protected species is illegal, but very lucrative. every year, the business turns over an estimated $20 billion. organized along mafia-like lines, wildlife crcrime has grn into one of the world's biggest illicit trades, after narcotics, arms sales, and human trafficking. one shy creature is particularly valuable on the market, the pangolin, the only mammal with scales. that is what makes this anteater so valuable, even though its scales are made of keratin, just like fingernails or hair. one kilo of pangolin scales is worth $1000 on the black market. in asia, especially in china and

vietnam, pangolin scales are used in traditional medicine. the animal's meat is also a sought-after delicacy. the pangolin is the most trafficked mammal in the world, even though sales of all eight pangolin species are globally banned by the convention on international trade in endangered species, or cites. it regulates global trade in more than 36,000 animal and plant species, including many threatened by extinction, like the pangolin. new animals are regularly added to the list, and the trade in already protected species is further restricted or prohibited. for several years there have been many applications to protect species that are i demandnd as exotic petets, bute fashionsns keep changiging. reptiles have always been highly popular, such as pythons from malaysia, tortoises from kenya, and lizards from mexico.

buyers in the u.s. and the european union are the biggest purchasers of live reptiles. many of the traded animals die en route or through improper handling by their owners. tackling this predatory business is a tough undertaking. online trade is particularly difficult to control. at the same time, government bans on the trade of a domestic species often don't achieve much. once the animal is smuggled out of the country, it can be sold elsewhere if there is no international ban. and only few countries have an import ban on wild animals. ultimately, it all comes down to the buyers. if demand falls, then the business will no longer be worthwhwhile. host: the international fund for animal welfare conducted research into wildlife cybercrime in germany, france,

britain, and russia. over a period of six weeks, they found nearly 12,000 protected wildlife specimens for sale, including their body parts, all worth around $4 million u.s. germany was the main market for them. four times a year, the city of hamm hosts a reptile fair, where many such sales take place. reporter: getting ready for eupe's's larst repeptile trade fair, an event where journalists are not welcome. worst case we get kick o out, bubut realistically i think they're not goining to d do anye than that. but the e search that led us heretatarted aa cocomper. the illegal wildlife trade is the world's fourth-largest

criminal industry, and experts say it flourishes online. in germany, most wildlife offered online is of live animals, particulay reptililes. some arere protected under international law becacause thr populalations arare threatened. how easy is it for people like me, who can't tell a turtle from a tortoisese, to find animals r sale? most adverts we saw pointed to a reptilile trade fair called te terraristika, in the small german city of hamm, that takes place four times a year. here we met a biologist from animal rights organization pro wildlife, to talk us through what we'd found online. many species we saw for sale are prototected under internationl law,w, or are native to countrs where their export is banned. in one post, a furious buyer complained that the reptiles he'd ordered didn't arrive as expected.

katharina: the crocodiles weren't sent in any kind of appropriate container, but just in a box without any protection, and they were dead by the time they arrived. here you can see that animals weren't treated like animals, but were treated merely as goods. reporter: while wildlilife trae online is often legal, cases like this show a dark siside f these poorly-regulated markets. katharina: online trade is a big problem. a huge range of species can be made available to everyone. anyone can post an ad. an unbelievable range of species are on offer, and anyone can buy them, sight unseen. very often the animals are sent by post, or bought at reptile and animal trade fairs.

porter: even before the teararistikaas o opene animals are alreready changing hands. it's a more diversrse crowthan e clcliente i'd d seen online.. families with children, people chatting and drinking beer, teenagers. but inside, it's the animamals that grab your eye. manyny reptiles werere visibly distressssed, scratchihing agat the sidedes of their container d trtryingo escacape some w were kept in n small, ey boxexes, en thouough the terraristika guidelines require animal boxes to contain hiding places. the price tags reached into the thousands of euros. >> where's this from? >> asia.a. they comome from sri l lank.

reporter: : species likeke this criticallyly-endangered d peak tarantula were mostly descridd asaptitive bd, notot wd imports. but vefying this is tricky, bothth for buyers s and authori. once an animimal has arriviven the e.u., , it can be lelegally trtraded, even i if it were smsd out of its h home country. katharina: in germany, lawmakers haveve simply failed to protet animals that are protected in their home countries. the law here does not recognize that these animals are protected abroad and does not ban people from trading them. reporter: some animals brought to thehe terraristika are tradd away f from the eyeses of offic. ththe terraristitika organizerd not respond d to a request for cocomment. their guidelines require trarsrs compmply wh germrman l. but with deals takaking place n car pas anand unr tablbles,

policing t this is anothther mae ter r the fair, wewe showed or footage to pro wildlife, who identified protected species for sale, and told us a legal grey zone lets unregulated animal trade thrive. katharina: we have noticed in the past that shortly before the trade fair in hamm, the number of online ads increases dramatically. and very often, the parties agree that that's where the trade will take place. reporter: most adverts we saw leading to the terraristika were in closed facebook groups. facebook refused multiple requests to comment, but did delete some groups after we contacted them with screenshots of suspicious animals. many more groups are still active.

tech companies face challenges policing the wildlife trade. ebay struggles to keep sales of ivory out of its market. but animal welfare groups told us they haven't found live animals there. wolfgang: it's not like in a a social network where you have closed user groups that you can enter by invitation only. that's not happening on ebay. so anyone can check anytime any listing that is s listed on eb, and that is for bad actors, of course, a big risk. reporter: i was surprised by how littttle weight domestic laws carry internationally, and how that means prorotected animals slip through legal cracks. what was more surprising was how easy a b beginner can find anims online and pick up them up without supervision.

host: this week in global ideas, we head to the peruvian jungle. our reporter tanja blut travelled to iquitos to meet conservationists working to protect threatened species from extinction. reporterer: iquitos isis inaccessibley y road. yoyou can only getet therey y e oror boa the peruvian city with 400,000 inhabitants is tucked away in the middle of the amazonian rainforest. the people of the rainforest are only allowed to hunt for themselves and their families. in peru, commercial wildlife hunting is banned. and yet, it's possible to buy all sortrts of endangered wildlife, live or freshly cooked, at the famous belelen market.. gudrun: : i recently talked toa former wildlife trader and i said, "well, at least there's less illegal trade of bushmeat." and she said, "we just don't let the public see it." these days when someone says they want something specific,

then he makes sure to hide it away in his home. reporter: gudrun sperrer has lived in iquitos for 30 years. she runs a refuge for threatened species. at the market in belen she buys fruit and vegetables for her animals. the jungle surrounding iquitos has been over-hunted. these days, the wild animals killed by poachers are very young. gudrun: that's a tiny caiman on the table there, and you can see how small it is. dead, of course. probably two or three months old. it's terrible that people buy something like that. reporter: the animals are often killed before they've had a chance to reproduce. species are dying out. gudrun: this is ghastly. i don't know what sort of meat it is. sachavaca. that's even worse. that's tapir, which is threatened with extinction. it must have been very young because tapir grow to quite a size. they can weigh up to 300 kilos.

but the problem is they don't begin to reproduce until they're six or seven. reporter: she's in a hurry. the animals are waiting for feeding time. this is the western port of iquitos. gudrun sperrer has to cross the rio nanay to padre cocha. founded 24 years ago as a butterfly sanctuary, her refuge is in the middle of the jungle. today, the pilpintuwasi animal orphanage is also home to threatened birds and mammals. they live here in n conditions that are s species-approropri. this jaguar has lived here since it was a cub, when illegal traders simply threw it away. gudrun: it was in a wooden crate tied with barbed wire, and it wawathrown intnto the water in e harbor here by someone who was trading illegally with indigenous people and selling all sorts of animals.

but he didn't sell the jaguar and it couldn't even stand on its feet anymore. reporter: a jaguar requires a diet made of up to 70% of red meat, or it suffers kidney damage. gudrun: jaguars are endangered because they are losing their habitat. they're loners. both the male and the female of the species needs 50 square kilomemeters to itself to find what it needs to feed on. but nowadays there are too many streets and pipelines and they don't want to cross them. reporter: at the market in belen, traders sell slabs of tapir meat. gudrun sperrer has tapirs in her animal sanctuary. gudrun: chibolo was s ized by the environmental police because tourists had reported seeing him. he was held on a float in the river as an attraction. his keepers only gave him leftovers to eat, so he was suffering from a damaged liver. but he made a good recovery. he was still striped when he first arrived. when tapirs are young they look

like wild boar, even though they're a completely different species. they're actually most closely related to horses. reporter: tapirs need to live in areas with a g good source of water.r. these animals managed to survive the ice age. but within just 15 years, humans have made them an endangered species. in pilpintuwasi, visitors can take tours that raise awareness of the tapir's plight. a total of 55 monkeys live here, including 10 bald uakaris. their population is also declining rapidly in south america. woolly monkeys, meanwhile, make popular pets. gudrun: when a monkey is sold commercially, the traders kill its mother so that it's docile. this one, his name is kai, still has three bullets in his arm. you can feel them, but there's no need for an operation. so they shoot the mother and then they sell the infant. when they arrive here, they're in a terrible state.

they're malnourished, dehydrated, they often have broken bones. they've often suffered falls when their mother was shot. reporter: back in iquitos. the amazon rescue center works on species conservation, rescuing various threatened animals that are vital to the eco-system. including manatees, a marine mammal sometimes known as the sea cow. javier: manatees are the largest mammals in the amazon, but oddly enough, the least well-known. when we began n our work here, % of the inhabitants of iquitos were completely unfamiliar with this species. now and then a baby manatee would end up in their fishing nets and people would keep them as pets. but then the manatees would die in captivity. reporter: the amazon rescue center is the only place i in e

world where rescued manatees are raised and then released back into the wild. they take a lot of looking after. the calves need to be fed every two hours for the first t two years. they're lactose-intolerant so they're given a special milk imported from the u.s. one manatee costs the center $10,000 per year. the animals have a gentle, trusting nature. javier: hunters kill them when they come up for air by sticking wooden pegs up their snouts. a terrible death for a beautiful, good-natured creature that plays an important role in the ecosystem. reporter: once the manatees are weaned off milk, they can start to eat aquatic lettuce. javiermanatees feed on aquatic vegetation like this here, and other plants that cover the surface of the river. in the places where the manatees have died out, this vegetation

starts to proliferate. and the inhabitants suffer because they have less fish, and they can no longer go out on their boats because of all the plant growth clogging up the water. reporter: the rainforest of iquitos is a vast biotope. if its natural balance is threatened, it has consequences for wildlife and inhabitants in the whole region. host: rhinoceros horn is highly prized, especially in asia. one kilo can fetch up to $60,000 u.s. on the black market. meanwhile, the rhino itself pays with its life. over the last few years, poachers have killed an average of three rhinos every day. today there are believed to be only around 29,400 rhinoceroses left worldwide. but thanks to tough conservation measures, there's hope. in south africa, more than 1200 rhinos were poached in 2013. last year, just over half as many.

and elsewhere, too, the efforts of animal activists are paying off. reporter: they're safe here in this sanctuary. it covers 70 square kilometers and is sponsored by the rhino fund. the southern white rhinoceros has been wiped out in other parts of uganda. but here, 24 of them roam the savannah and woodlands. raymond opio is trying to find one for us. the ranger sometimes has to trek far into the bush to track one down. finally, we catch a glimpse of uhuru and her baby. the gestation period for the species is 18 months. we have to be cautious. rhino mothers are ferocious in defense of their young.

raymond: uhuru is like mother, like daughter. the mother i is the same chararacter.r. the mother will l hear just aa small stick breaking, , she is very alert. she is already facing that area, that direction. that is what uhuru is. uhuru is a no nonsense lady. anything coming around, she will attack. reporter: three rhinos cross our path. the driver is getting a little nervous. raymond: she is just coming to check. reporter: the safest move when you see a rhino is to freeze. then it understands you don't represent a threat. raymond: ok, we can continue. reporter: about 90 rangers work here. angie genade is in charge. she's been running the rhino fund since 2008, and has brought

a lot of new staff on board. and the number of animals in the sanctuary has almost doubled under her direction. angie: the situation of the rhinos has been dire for a long time. there was a short period, maybe inin the 1970's, early 1980's, where the rhinos were pretty secure, and then the poaching spiked. the problem is it doesn't just spike in one country, it spikes all over. reporter: poachers haven't killed any animals in the sanctuary. the rhino fund has been breeding them here e r 18 yearsrs now. the first t was brought in frm kenya, others from various zoos. when out in the bush among the rhinos, it's important to remain quiet. walkie-talkies can make the rhinos restless. the rangers observe the animals' behavior during the day and at night, documenting where they graze, sleep, and wander. the data are shared with researarchers and zoos all ovr the world.

martin lokiru is more involved with the rhinos than he is with his own family. he only sees them twice a year. martin: the rhinos are my second family. they are the one paying my school fees, they are the ones helping my family, keeping them safe and free. reporter: the rhino fund is financed largely by tourists, who come here from around the globe. the sanctuary is one of the few places they have a chance to see rhinos in a natural habitat. karen: we've been all over africa, western africa and southern africa, and the rhino is the one thing that we have not seen. so, anywhere where we have been seseen to see the big five we'e seen them, but the rhino have just evaded us. so thihis looked like the one opportunity to be able to see them. reporter: the rhinos are only safe in the sanctuary because so many rangers work here. raymond opio explains their strategy.

raymond: the thing is we are very successful up to today because of the community around. because we work hand in hand with the community around. for this kind of project to stand, the first people is the community. a poacher cannot come from china area, anywhere, to come and poach rhinos right from where they are. they have to use the local people. and if the local people are your friends, it is the best. now the local people are our informers. reporter: and that includes the farmers in the area. they are allowed to graze their cattle in the sanctuary, up to 40 animals each per day. daniel: this sanctuary, they help us to graze our animals. they have enough grass, which hehelps the animals to increrean

the amount of milk. reporter: and the children in the area can now also attend school. it's financed by the rhino fund. the rangers regularly come to talk to the kids about the rhinos, and explain why they're so important. raymond: all of you know what a rhino is. what do rhinos have on their head? >> horns. raymond: how many horns? >> two. raymond: rhinos use their horn to protect themselves. how do they? they fight using their horn. if the enemy comes, they will use their horn and fight. when we started here, people within this area, they were like, "it's fine to kill an animal, to kill a wild animal." it's fine to do anything to the wild, cutting trees -- it was fine for them. and when we came to be here, it was a big tug of war to get a grassroot person to understand

why we should conserve. reporter: raymond opio spends a lot of time out on patrol. he hopes that one day rhinos will again be able to live free, without need of protection. raymond: it will happen that the rhinos will go back in the wild in uganda, but we need a very tough law for that, and also we need people that are very much committed to conservation. my dream is to see the rhinos being put back in the national park and multiplying in numbers in the national park of uganda. reporter: but that will take at least 20 to 30 more years. only then will the organization have bred so many southern white rhinos that some can be released from the sanctuary to roam free in uganda's national parks. host: that's all from global "3000" this week.

don't forget, we really love hearing from you. so do write to us at global3000@dw.com. take care. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

we visit oil-rich communities in california's san joaquiuin vally and along alaska's arctic slope, where residents are asking tough questions about the consequences of fossil fuel extxtraction. it's bebeen the bedrock of ththr econonomic livelihoods foror des but is now fracturing communities and threatening the planet. [camera's shutter advancing]