Illegal wildlife trade in Croatia mostly affects songbirds such as the goldfinch, tortoises, and marine species such as the sea cucumber and the date shell, which can be found on restaurant menus, the World Wildlife Fund has said. Pročitaj više

Besides the illegal trade, another big problem in Croatia is poaching and the killing of protected species. Poaching mostly affects wolves, bears, and lynx, which are often hunted as trophies, but also birds of prey such as the golden eagle and the Griffon vulture, the WWF warned.

Crimes against nature and the environment are the fourth most lucrative organised crime activity in the world, after trafficking in humans, drugs, and weapons, and the damage is estimated at $258 billion a year globally, the WWF said.

To point to those problems, WWF activists organised a performance in downtown Zagreb on Tuesday, thereby launching a campaign to discourage and reduce the number of crimes against wildlife.

“We chose the bear as the symbol of the wild species which are victims of crimes against nature,” said Ivona Stanic of WWF Adria.

Killing bears illegally and out of control damages not only bears but the entire forest ecosystem, she added.

The WWF will conduct the campaign via the “Successful wildlife crime prosecution in Europe”(LIFE SWiPE) project, which was launched three years ago and includes the police, park rangers, nature protection inspectors, prosecutors, and judges.