Abstract Illegal wildlife trade threatens iconic species, such as elephants, rhinos or giraffes, on which poaching pressure has increased in recent times. By poisoning the carcasses of poached megafauna to prevent the early detection of poachers, this illegal activity is contributing to push African vultures to the brink of extinction. But poisoning vultures at poached carcasses of megafauna can also boost belief-based trade of vulture body parts by facilitating access to otherwise difficult-to-reach species. Since increased vulture availability through megafauna poaching could stimulate not only domestic, but also international trade, we call for transboundary coordination to effectively track the real dimension of this pervasive synergy. Existing monitoring schemes of megafauna poaching (e.g. CITES Monitoring of the Illegal Killing of Elephants, MIKE) and wildlife poisoning (e.g. African Wildlife Poison Database) can be a promising starting point. For example, by counting the number of vultures with missing parts at each megafauna carcass, while guiding the implementation of similar monitoring for other species threatened by poaching. Besides straightforward impacts on target species, illegal wildlife trade affects non-target species, with collateral damages being increasingly highlighted. Pervasive synergies such as the one we describe here deserves further international attention to prevent that poaching will spread for other purposes.

中文翻译：

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毒害偷猎的巨型动物可以促进非洲秃鹰的贸易

摘要 非法野生动物贸易威胁着大象、犀牛或长颈鹿等标志性物种，近来偷猎压力增加。通过对被偷猎的巨型动物的尸体施毒以防止早期发现偷猎者，这种非法活动正在将非洲秃鹰推向灭绝的边缘。但是，在被偷猎的巨型动物尸体上毒害秃鹫也可以促进秃鹫身体部位的基于信仰的贸易，因为它促进了对其他难以到达的物种的接触。由于通过大型动物偷猎增加秃鹫的供应量不仅可以刺激国内贸易，还可以刺激国际贸易，我们呼吁进行跨界协调，以有效追踪这种普遍协同作用的真实维度。大型动物偷猎的现有监测计划（例如 CITES 对非法杀害大象的监测，MIKE）和野生动物中毒（例如非洲野生动物毒物数据库）可能是一个有希望的起点。例如，通过计算每个巨型动物尸体上缺失部位的秃鹰数量，同时指导对受偷猎威胁的其他物种实施类似的监测。除了对目标物种的直接影响外，非法野生动物贸易还会影响非目标物种，附带损害越来越受到重视。普遍的协同效应，例如我们在此描述的协同效应，值得国际社会进一步关注，以防止偷猎行为为其他目的而蔓延。同时指导对受偷猎威胁的其他物种实施类似的监测。除了对目标物种的直接影响外，非法野生动物贸易还会影响非目标物种，附带损害越来越受到重视。普遍的协同效应，例如我们在此描述的协同效应，值得国际社会进一步关注，以防止偷猎行为为其他目的而蔓延。同时指导对受偷猎威胁的其他物种实施类似的监测。除了对目标物种的直接影响外，非法野生动物贸易还会影响非目标物种，附带损害越来越受到重视。普遍的协同效应，例如我们在此描述的协同效应，值得国际社会进一步关注，以防止偷猎行为为其他目的而蔓延。