One million animal species are at risk of extinction from climate change and habitat loss. But many animals—including elephants, rhinos, tigers, and pangolins—face a more urgent threat: people buying and selling them, dead or alive. Some say there's a magic fix: just make wildlife trade legal and the free market will put poachers out of business. Annecoos Wiersema explains why legalizing wildlife trade is not only naïve, but likely catastrophic.

Annecoos Wiersema is a Professor of Law and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Her research focuses on international environmental law, with an emphasis on international wildlife law and illegal wildlife trade. She is a member of the World Commission on Environmental Law of the IUCN, the Board of Editors of the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, and the Accountability Panel for the Wildlife Justice Commission. Originally from England, Annecoos enjoys traveling with her husband and son.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format, but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx