It’s ‘whack-a-mole’: Alarming rise in pet trade fuels wildlife trafficking into California

Photo: A juvenile orange-fronted parakeet seized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in California. Photo credit Rebecca Fabbri / USFWS. Article by Spoorthy Raman. Mongabay – November 25, 2025.

• California has become a wildlife trafficking hotspot in the U.S., with a notable spike in live animals smuggled across the southern border to be sold as pets, from monkeys and exotic birds to venomous snakes.
• The state has three high-traffic border crossings with Mexico and millions of tons of cargo shipped through some of the nation’s busiest airports and seaports. With limited staff, resource-strapped agencies face serious challenges in policing the illegal import of protected plants and animals into California. […]

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