An article published in the African Journal of Ecology suggests that hippos are under serious pressure due to demand for their teeth. The trade in hippo teeth is concentrated in and runs through Hong Kong according to the abstract.
As the global epicentre of wildlife trade, Hong Kong plays an important role in the preservation or demise of biodiversity, including species found continents away. If mismanaged, legal trade in threatened species can lead to unsustainable exploitation. Inaccurate and incomplete trade records from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) undermine the regulation of this trade. We examine the trade of hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) teeth to illustrate the extent of mismatched data between key trading nations. More than 90% of global hippo teeth trade is imported to, and re-exported from, Hong Kong. Of that imported, over 75% originated in Tanzania or Uganda, but there are notable disparities in declared trade volumes. In most transactions, Hong Kong declares more volume imported than the volume declared exported by Uganda. Overall, Hong Kong has reported the import of 3,176 kg more hippo teeth than declared exported by Tanzania. This indicates that actual trade levels may exceed internationally agreed quotas. In total, over 14,000 kg of hippo teeth is unaccounted for between Uganda and Hong Kong, representing more than 2,700 individual hippos—2% of the global population. This gross discordance in trade data undermines regulatory measures and challenges the persistence of hippo populations in Africa.
I’d like to quote more specifics from the study, but thankfully it is beyond a Wiley paywall, and the PDF would cost $38 to download.
One of the most important things when considering questions like “how do we preserve the hippo population from extinction” is to remember what really matters: how can Wiley maximize its profits.