Wildlife police in Italy in February 2020 found over 1,000 rare and stolen cacti from the Chile Atacama Desert in one of the largest-known cactus busts, according to a recent Associated Press report.
The Copiacoa and Eriosyce cacti were discovered in a locked room in the small port town of Senigallia. A passport, computer, and other documents were found in the space, which is assumed to belong to the suspected trafficker.
The suspect, identified as an Italian man in his 40s, reportedly made seven trips to Chile where he sent boxed cacti to Romania and Greece. The cacti would then be brought to Italy and sold. Many of the suspect's clients were believed to be in Asia.
Cacti have grown to become attractive as collectors’ items. The demand has been thriving in places like China, Japan and Thailand.
“I never imagined there could be a market like this. I never thought a cactus could be sent by post to Japan for 1,200 euros ($1,430)," a police official said, according to the Associated Press.
An Italian police bust leads to the discovery of over 1,000 rare cacti poached from Chile and an international operation to return the plants to their native land. https://t.co/jJWsfBzHam
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe)
The cactus market is in high demand due to cacti considered an endangered species. Many might not expect cacti to be endangered, but the plant faces the threat like animals such as pandas and tigers. Almost one-third of cactus species are under threat as a result of over-harvesting, illegal plant trade, and land-use change, according to a global study done by the International Union for Conservation.
Cacti are an endangered species in deserts all over the world. If cacti were to go extinct, it would take away the main food source for much desert wildlife.
“I think part of it is because plants are everywhere. So we take them for granted,” said Barbara Goettsch, co-chair of the IUCN's cactus and succulent plants group. “In the specific case of cacti, these are more threatened with extinction than birds or mammals.”
The alleged trafficker contacted Andrea Cattabriga, president of the Association for Biodiversity and Conservation, to have him confirm if the specimens he collected were in fact from the driest non-polar desert in the world, the Chilean desert.
Cattabriga legally grows his own collection of cacti, held in multiple greenhouses which he has located in the outskirts of Bologna.
He can determine if a cactus was from the desert or created in a lab since his work includes recreating the climate and environment the cacti need to live in, then using a cotton swab to repollinate the species.
Soon after visiting the trafficked cacti, Cattabrigia contacted the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The IUNC keeps a red list of endangered species. It was confirmed these cacti were indeed a part of endangered cacti species.
