“Each year, it is estimated that up to 30,000 primates, five million birds, 10 million reptile skins and 500 million tropical fish are traded. The illegal wildlife trade is only third behind weapons and drugs as the most profitable illegal business in the world.

Photographer Patrick Brown has spent a decade traveling the world and documenting the effects of the rampant demand for animal products for his project Trading to Extinction.

Brown’s photography has been compiled in a book of the same name, which he hopes will go some small way to educating people about a cruel and ruthless industry.

‘Investigating the trade in its depths is a shocking tale of cruelty, crime and human greed. As with drug trafficking, money fuels the animal trade. Its tentacles wrap around the world, from the remote forests of Asia to the trafficking hubs of Beijing, Bangkok, London, Tokyo and New York,’ Brown says.

Brown’s work has been lauded and the photographer decorated with prestigious awards such as the 3P, the NPPA’s Photojournalism award and a second prize in the World Press Photo Awards for Nature but still had trouble getting his book published, opting to crowd-source the money himself. ”

Author: Alex Greig

Source: Mail Online

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