- Data Points
Graphic Shows Who’s Buying and Selling Animals Globally
See how animals, and their body parts, are traded around the world in the first of a new series of information graphics from National Geographic.
Data Points is a new series where we explore the world of data visualization, information graphics, and cartography.
Tiger claws are sold to treat insomnia, and the skin of tiger noses is bought to heal wounds. Along with “tiger wine” made from ground-up bones, these are just a few of the ways that nearly 1,700 tigers were bought and sold around the world in 2013.
The graphic draws its data from CITES, the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. According to its secretary, John E. Scanlon, “We regulate international trade in wildlife to ensure it is legal, sustainable, and traceable and that it is not detrimental to the survival of species in the wild.”
What does CITES mean to National Geographic? A lot. We focus much of our storytelling and fund
