NEW DELHI: World Environment Day is observed every year on June 5 to raise awareness of environmental issues and concerns such as marine pollution, global warming, wildlife crimes. The day aims to encourage people to protect our planet in our own little ways. This year, the United Nation (UN) has called for a worldwide campaign to take strong action to curb illegal trade of wildlife products that are threatening biodiversity. The theme is called Go Wild for Life.
Poaching, smuggling and illegal trade in wildlife products are driving various wildlife species to the brink of extinction.
Here are some pictures that show the horrifying effects of the illegal trade in wildlife:
A wildlife department official holds a rescued Malayan sun bear in Kuala Lumpur, March 24, 2015. (Reuters photo)
Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau personnel inspect preserved green turtles and hawksbill turtles. (Reuters photo)
Man pulls a seal into his boat after shooting it in a fjord south of Tasiilaq in eastern Greenland. (Reuters photo)
Forest officials bust a deer poaching racket near Boluvampatti, Tamil Nadu.
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Veterinarians apply bandage and stitches to a poached de-horned rhinoceros that was left to die by poachers on a ranch in Southb Africa's Bela Bela. (AFP photo)
A trained, chained monkey in eastern Jakarta. (Reuters photo)
A puppy tries to touch a woman's hand inside the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Santiago. (Reuters photo)
A lion sits inside his enclosure a day before a relocation of wild animals in captivity at the Zoo in Bucharest. (Reuters photo)
An animal rights activist carries a dead duck in Barcelona. (Reuters photo)
