What happened to those animals later did not generate as many headlines, says Jan Schmidt-Burbach, head of wildlife research and animal welfare at World Animal Protection.
Half of the tortoises died soon after their rescue — a surprise, he says, because the animals are tough and should have been able to survive. The rest went to a government rescue center in Thailand, only to end up among a group of animals that later disappeared and were suspected stolen. That second suspected crime was possible, in part, because there was resistance from center managers, he says, to marking the tortoises' shells to make them traceable.
Cases like this illustrate two of the biggest problems with the fight against the illegal wildlife trade: the scarcity of regulations for the treatment of animals after they've been rescued, and the lack of data regarding what happens to them.
"That lack of transparency with confiscated wild animals opens doors to laundering and just inappropriate handling," says Schmidt-Burbach.
International pressure to tackle the illegal wildlife trade has increased in recent years. But a resulting increase in successful seizures of live wildlife also means authorities are often overwhelmed with animals, including species that require specialized care or are dangerous.
A trafficked falcon seized in Spain during Operation Thunderbird. Interpol / USFWS
A recent paper published in the journal Animals examines what happens to these creatures, and why. Focusing on Southeast Asia, a wildlife trading hot spot, the researchers found that illegally traded wildlife are often not handled in a way most beneficial to the animals due to a combination of corruption, exploitation, and lack of policy, funding, expertise and capacity.
"Yes, they were essentially rescued," says conservation scientist Shannon Noelle Rivera, the paper's lead author. "But seizure does not mean rescue by any means, and a lot of times they end up right back in the trade."
Handled correctly, some of these animals could be successfully returned to their home habitats and help replenish populations of threatened species. Instead, they are often kept in captivity, in centers that lack the expertise, funding or the will to care for them properly.
Others disappear back into the wildlife trade. Sometimes it's because corrupt officials sell them back into the illegal wildlife market. Other times it's because directives to care for seized animals often lack the resources to do so. Many are released en masse, whether the environment is suitable or not, because that's the easiest thing to do.
As Rivera's research found, large amounts of lizards, snakes and birds are being released haphazardly and not in their native habitats: "The wrong species are getting dumped all over the place," according to a source quoted in the paper. This puts the animals at risk of dying, becoming invasive, overwhelming the ecosystem, or carrying new diseases to other fauna and humans.
The Vagaries of "Disposal"
Other researchers say the paper, although limited to Southeast Asia, reflects a global problem.
"The key themes they've identified definitely ring true," says Neil D'Cruze, global head of wildlife research at World Animal Protection and an academic visitor at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford. The best outcome, he says, is not just about following laws but ensuring the animals' wellbeing.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement to regulate wildlife commerce, has guidelines for what it terms the "disposal" of rescued animals. The three options include returning them to wild, captivity or euthanasia, with the latter, as the CITES resolution states, "the simplest and most humane option available."
But tracking which option countries choose has been difficult. D'Cruze co-authored a study in 2016 that found 70% of CITES signatory countries didn't provide any data on animal disposals on their mandatory animal trade reports because they weren't required to do so at the time. CITES finally added a field for this information in 2018, but it's still not compulsory. Indeed, more recent research found that only 32% of CITES signatory countries had even submitted the mandatory reports.
Once an animal is trafficked, it's often considered lost to conservation, says Rivera, who also points out that the term "disposal" comes with the connotations of discarding.
"Just ethically looking at the exploitation and corruption that can continue after the confiscation is really important," she says. "We're trying to stop [wildlife trafficking] through a lot of enforcement measures," but what happens to the animals next "just kind of slips under the radar."
Many animals end up in various forms of captivity of extremely varying quality of care. Some sites that position themselves as true sanctuaries are actually little more than thinly veiled tourist attractions, or are reliant on tourism dollars for funding, which can create a cycle of keeping animals in perpetuity. There is also a lack of transparency about the source of these animals — some facilities have been linked to the illegal wildlife trade.
"Trying to understand where these facilities are getting their animals is extremely difficult," says Rivera.
Stronger legislation, political support, a reduction in demand, global participation, and wildlife seizure management are among Rivera's recommendations. A registry of rescue centers, with licensing, oversight and inspections would be a good start, she says.
D'Cruze agrees that any care centers must have strict guidelines to follow that mean they are genuine sanctuaries and lifetime care facilities.
"That means no selfies and cuddling with the cubs, no performances or tricks or unnatural behaviors, no walking with them on a leash," he says.
The Complexity of Releases
Of course, if at all possible, an animal rescued from the wildlife trade should be returned to its native habitat.
But releasing a trafficked animal is much more complicated than finding an open field or a forest. These animals are often wounded, malnourished or dehydrated, or they've potentially been exposed to pathogens when they were held in close contact with other animals and species. They often require quarantine or specialized veterinary care, expensive prospects that require expertise and commitment from governments.
"Even if there is expertise and funding, the next biggest hurdle tends to be doing it properly and mitigating the risks of harming wild populations," says D'Cruze. That includes minimizing other animals' exposure to diseases and releasing animals in areas with enough territory to sustain populations. Also, some captive animals have imprinted on humans to the extent that they can't take care of themselves in the wild, can be come nuisance animals, or are particularly vulnerable to hunters.
One success story is the Wildlife Alliance's work with the Cambodia government to create a protocol for animals from seizure through to release or lifetime care. Thomas Gray, former director of science at the nongovernmental organization, calls the repopulation of native animals around the UNESCO World Heritage site Angkor Wat "a fantastic success story." But, he cautions, "only a tiny proportion of the animals from the wildlife trade have been able to be released there."
Over the years, says Gray, thousands of snakes, turtles and other reptile species have been released into the wild in Cambodia by the Wildlife Alliance and the government. Yet there is no post-release information on whether they survived and what, if any, effects they had on their environments.
Snakes awaiting release in 2008.Wildlife Alliance
"We're assuming that they are surviving," he says. "We're assuming that we're returning them into the right places ecologically. And we're assuming that they're not having an impact on the ecology of the places where they are released. And I think those are all safe assumptions, but there's no hard data that supports that."
Can This Problem Be Solved?
Much of the burden to manage the results of the illegal wildlife trade is on the countries where these animals were seized or sourced, says Rivera. But the market demand for these exotics comes overwhelmingly from elsewhere. According to recent research, wealthy nations are driving this trade — the so-called WEIRD countries: western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic. The biggest market by far is the U.S., with France and Italy trailing.
That's why one of Rivera's recommendations is for global participation in managing seizures, particularly when the source or intervening countries don't have the resources. "We can't just leave this up to countries that are doing the most seizures, or countries that have the most wildlife trade demand."
D'Cruze agrees. If countries allow the legal importation and trade of exotic animals, he says they should help manage the consequences, especially as the legal and illegal trade are linked with, for example, poached animals being passed off as legal, captive-bred animals.
And law enforcement and seizures alone aren't enough — what happens afterwards is equally, if not more, important, according to the experts.
"All interventions need to be designed in such a way that the care of any live animals are explicitly built into your interventions," says Gray. And it's particularly important for any entity funding this work to encourage governments to create protocols for these animals, he says.
The process of developing those protocols starts with better information. The current lack of data means we're missing the opportunity to develop and refine approaches for post-seizure release into the wild, and for finding ways to repopulate endangered species' populations.
"I think if we were able to show how to do it successfully, or even how to do it unsuccessfully, then we can start rehabbing these animals a lot better and have that be a more viable option," says Rivera.
Danielle Beurteaux is a science writer based in Montréal.
Reposted with permission from The Revelator.
How We Review Probiotics
Whenever we review a probiotic supplement, we evaluate six specific categories.
- Number of active strains - How many types of bacteria are included?
- AFU (Active Fluorescent Units)/ CFU (Colony Forming Units) - These units of measurement tell you how many billions of bacteria are estimated to be within each supplement dose.
- Storage Requirements - Some probiotics are shelf-stable, while others require refrigeration.
- Ingredient Transparency – does the company disclose where it sources its active strains and provide clinical research for their efficacy?
- Value - How are the probiotics priced? Can you purchase them without an auto-ship program?
- Sustainability - Does the company show ways its supplements are better for the environment through sustainable ingredient sourcing or packaging?
Let's evaluate these criteria for Seed.
About Seed Probiotics
Seed is an e-commerce supplement brand with a single product—the DS-O1 Daily Synbiotic probiotic. The company got its start in 2018 when cofounders Ara Katz and Raja Dhir determined that the current probiotic supplements available weren't hitting the mark.
Katz's experiences of pregnancy and breastfeeding as a new mom led her to develop a deeper appreciation of the body's microbiome and its role in overall health. She joined forces with Dhir, who had the scientific experience to understand what could be improved within the probiotic industry.
Together, they strove to create a supplement that "raised the bar on bacteria" by giving the body what it needed for all its systems to operate most effectively. They collaborated with a large team of entrepreneurs, artists, and scientists to develop a probiotic known as DS-01 Daily Synbiotic.
The Seed DS-01 Daily Synbiotic
Seed DS-01 Daily Synbiotic
seed.com
- Active Strains - 24
- AFU - 53.6 billion AFU
- Storage Requirements - Shelf-stable for 18 months after opening
- Ingredient Transparency - Clinical data available for each strain
- Sustainability - First order ships in reusable glass canisters and subsequent orders arrive in compostable biofilm.
- Value - $49.99/60 supplements (30-day supply subscription)
The DS-01 Daily Synbiotic is a broad-spectrum probiotic that combines 24 probiotic strains with a non-fermenting prebiotic concentrate of Indian pomegranate for better delivery. Of these strains, 23 are human-derived, and one is isolated from fruit and added to promote healthy cholesterol levels.
These strains work synergistically to support the 38 trillion bacteria that make up your microbiome. They will purportedly help the body digest food, minimize inflammation, and better synthesize nutrients.
This supplement contains four distinct probiotic blends:
- Digestive Health/ Gut Immunity/ Gut Barrier Integrity: 37.0 Billion AFU
- Dermatological Health: 3.3 Billion AFU
- Cardiovascular Health: 5.25 Billion AFU
- Micronutrient Synthesis: 8.05 Billion AFU
(See strain-specific studies here)
How It Works
With these multiple strains, the company claims to take a 'Microbe-Systems Approach' through microbes that impact specific physical functions beyond the digestive system. These include skin and heart health, better immune system functioning, and micronutrient synthesis.
In other words, DS-01 goes beyond digestive issues to support full-body health. The company claims it's even one of the first probiotic formulations able to synthesize folate and increase its production.
Seed's DS-01 Daily Synbiotic probiotic also stands out with its delivery system. The supplement utilizes "nested capsule technology" along with a patented algae delivery system. This two-in-one capsule design houses the probiotic formula within a prebiotic casing made from Indian pomegranate to ensure these fragile bacteria survive both sitting on store shelves and the perilous journey through stomach acid to your colon.
Through this method, Seed claims to average a 100% delivery rate of the probiotic's starting dose to your colon. According to internal testing, DS-01 probiotics will exceed the living cell counts listed on the label even after ten days of constant 100º F exposure.
Usage Instructions
Adults can take two Seed probiotic supplements per day, preferably at the same time. It's best you do so on an empty stomach to limit the capsule's exposure to digestive enzymes that start to break it down. However, those with sensitive stomachs may want to eat something first. While you'll get optimal results from taking the supplements daily, it's not a problem if you occasionally skip one.
If you're new to probiotics, start by taking one per day for the first three days and then increasing your dosage to two per day. You may feel its effects on your digestive system within 48 hours, though long-term improvements to the cardiovascular system take more time and might not be noticeable to you.
Seed probiotics don't need require refrigeration. They are shelf-stable for 18 months at temperatures up to 78℉ and are safe to take when expired. Just note that the company can't guarantee their potency at this point.
How to Buy
Seed DS-01 Daily Synbiotic probiotics are only available on a subscription basis. They cost $49.99 per month and ship free throughout the US (international orders include a $10 shipping fee).
You will receive a 30-day supply (60 capsules) when you order through the company website, and the first order includes a reusable glass canister and travel vial. Each subsequent order arrives in compostable biofilm so you can transfer the capsules to the reusable ones.
All first orders are covered by a 30-day risk-free trial, during which you can return the probiotics for a full refund. It's possible to cancel the subscription at any time by contacting customer service at [email protected].
Note: At publication, these probiotics were sold out. They are available for pre-order and expected to ship again in 2-4 weeks.
What We Like About Seed
As a product within the largely unregulated supplement industry, Seed broad-spectrum probiotics earn major points from us for both transparency and abundant clinical research. The company shares detailed information about every bacterial strain within the supplement and links out to the scientific studies highlighting their effectiveness.
Customer reviews on Facebook and other review sites show that Seed probiotics work as described for many users. Some shared they experienced positive improvements in their digestive system within 48 hours and noticed better-looking skin within a month.
Those with allergies or food sensitivities will also appreciate these supplements are soy-free, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free, and free of binders and preservatives.
From a consumer standpoint, Seed makes taking probiotics simple. The shelf-stable formula means you won't have to store them in the fridge, and each 30-day supply is guaranteed to remain viable for 18 months after opening. Likewise, the nested capsule delivery system should improve how many billions of bacteria make it into your digestive system intact.
Equally noteworthy, we love Seed's commitment to environmental sustainability. By sending each customer two reusable glass containers at the start of their subscription, the company minimizes the packaging waste for each subsequent order.
What We Don't Like
Despite these positives, Seed broad-spectrum probiotics have some downsides. To start, they are pricier than many competitors. You will pay $1.66 per day's dose, which is more than some want to pay for supplements.
It's also not possible to try them without committing to a monthly subscription. While it will take several weeks or longer to start noticing their effects, some customers might not want to be locked into an auto-ship program so early in the experimenting process.
Likewise, some customer reviews complained of unexpected side effects such as breakouts and rashes. It's not clear whether these went away for users after a few weeks of use.
Finally, it's currently only possible to pre-order these supplements. If you're dealing with digestive distress today, you may want to try a probiotic brand that's available right now for faster relief.
Seed Safety & Side Effects
Seed DS-01 Daily Synbiotics are considered safe for adults over 18. Each supplement is vegan and free of common allergens like gluten, dairy, soy, and corn. They have undergone extensive third-party testing and adhere to the highest global regulatory standards for safety.
As with all probiotics, you might notice unpleasant side effects when you start taking them. Many people experience bloating, increased gas production, constipation, and other gastrointestinal problems for the first few days.
This can be discouraging, as many users take probiotics precisely to combat these symptoms in the first place. However, your system should adjust to the new bacteria within two weeks, and this digestive distress should diminish accordingly.
The DS-01 Daily Synbiotic is classified as safe for women who are pregnant and breastfeeding, although the company recommends speaking with a medical professional before starting them. As will all probiotics, you should not take these supplements if you have a weakened immune system, recently underwent surgery, or if you have a serious illness. Speak with your doctor before starting any dietary supplement if you have concerns or questions.
Takeaway: Are Seed Probiotics Worth It?
The Seed DS-01 Daily Synbiotic is well-formulated and shows clinical evidence of improving your gut biome for far-reaching health benefits. The company solves the tricky problem of selling a live product with its innovative delivery system that keeps the bacteria within the supplement safe both on the shelf and through the digestive process.
If you are dealing with digestive problems, or are looking for a way to improve your general health, then this broad-spectrum probiotic might be one worth trying.
Just keep in mind that you might feel worse for a few days before the microbes will take full effect in your gut and that giving it a try means you are committing to a monthly subscription.
Lydia Noyes is a freelance writer specializing in health and wellness, food and farming, and environmental topics. When not working against a writing deadline, you can find Lydia outdoors where she attempts to bring order to her 33-acre hobby farm filled with fruit trees, heritage breed pigs, too many chickens to count, and an organic garden that somehow gets bigger every year.
The majority of that ancient medical repertoire is contained solely in the languages of indigenous peoples. These cultures primarily transmit information orally, generation-to-generation, so if and when these languages die out, the unique knowledge they contain could also be lost forever.
For example, in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, a locally renowned Esa Eja Shaman, Don Ignacio, had been using traditional medicine from the jungle to treat and heal the local indigenous community for decades. Recently, the Infierno community of Tambopata compiled a book of this elder's knowledge about indigenous medicine and plants, conservation photographer Mohsin Kasmi reported on his Instagram. Shortly after the book's completion, the healer succumbed to COVID-19 at the age of 92. If not for that book, a tangible record of Don Ignacio's irreplaceable knowledge, it likely would have been lost with him.
"[L]anguage allows indigenous societies to use the biodiversity that surrounds them as a 'living pharmacy' and to describe the medicinal properties of plants," a University of Zurich press release explained. A new study by researchers from the university found that each indigenous language provides "unique insights" into the medicinal applications of plants. The study, published in PNAS, also set out to quantify to what degree indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants is associated with individual languages and how much indigenous knowledge may vanish as languages and plants go extinct, the study abstract explained.
"Here, we find that most medicinal knowledge is linguistically unique — i.e., known by a single language — and more strongly associated with threatened languages than with threatened plants," the study's authors, Rodrigo Cámara-Leret and Jordi Bascompte, wrote. "Each indigenous language is, therefore, a unique reservoir of medicinal knowledge — a Rosetta stone for unraveling and conserving nature's contributions to people."
The UN predicts that more than 30 percent of the world's 7,400 languages will disappear by 2100, The Guardian reported. More than 1,900 of the languages spoken today have fewer than 10,000 speakers, the news report continued.
Additionally, multiple crises continue to threaten the existence of indigenous peoples and cultures around the world — including the climate crisis, coronavirus, deforestation and the loss of traditional lands for development. In some populations, many of the speakers are aging, and real concerns about linguistic longevity after them are surfacing, The Guardian reported.
The research team focused on three regions with high "biocultural diversity," the study noted. The researchers surveyed 12,495 medicinal plant services in total and found that 75 percent of them are "linguistically unique," meaning they are only known to one language. The knowledge about how to use these plants as medicine is preserved in just one language within one culture, and it is precisely those cultures and those peoples that are most threatened, Bascompte told Swiss Info.
"This is a tragedy because there's no way to 'recover' these languages once they have disappeared," Bascompte warned, Swiss Info reported
Cámara-Leret predicted that the loss of this irreplaceable medical knowledge will be "even more critical to the extinction of medicinal knowledge" than the loss of the actual plants themselves, the university press release said. This is because "whereas most plant species associated with linguistically unique knowledge are not threatened, most languages that report linguistically unique knowledge are," the researchers found.
The areas with languages most at risk are northwest Amazonia, where 100 percent of unique medical knowledge was supported by threatened languages, in North America, where it is 86 percent and in New Guinea, where 31 percent of languages are at risk. If the indigenous languages in those areas become extinct, the medicinal expertise contained within them likely will too.
Traditional knowledge of medicines made of natural elements could be at risk due to indigenous language loss. Daniel Lloyd Blunk-Fernández / Unsplash
Cámara-Leret told The Guardian that the impact of language extinction on the loss of ecological knowledge is often overlooked. The biologist noted that while "much of the focus looks at biodiversity extinction... there is a whole other picture out there which is the loss of cultural diversity."
The study coincides with the United Nations proclamation of the next 10 years as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022 - 2032) to raise global awareness of the critically endangered status of many indigenous languages.
"The next steps, in line with the vision of the UN, will require mobilizing resources for the preservation, revitalization and promotion of these threatened languages," Bascompte said in the university press release. The ecologist also recommended that communities begin to document endangered medicinal knowledge into more tangible records.
According to Swiss Info, Bascompte said, "The most important thing is to recognize the beauty and value of the diversity of languages, to let human beings speak their mother tongue and to document the languages that are threatened with extinction."
- 15 Indigenous Crops to Boost Your Immune System and Celebrate ... ›
- Why Indigenous Knowledge Matters to the Future of Fisheries ... ›
- Indigenous Peoples Hold the Past and Future of Food in Their ... ›