(Association of Zoological Horticulture, (n.d.

))
Gabriel Peralta

Preventing the Poaching of the Venus Flytrap

(San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Animals and Plants, (n.d.))

Contents
Abstract......................................................................................................................................... 2
Poaching in the Carolinas..............................................................................................................2
Impact and Prevalence of Venus Flytrap Poaching.....................................................................2
Current Measures to Prevent Poaching......................................................................................3
How Poaching can be Prevented.................................................................................................. 3
How Licensing and Record Keeping can Help...............................................................................4
Licensing.....................................................................................................................................4
Record Keeping.......................................................................................................................... 4
Why Protect the Flytrap............................................................................................................. 4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 5
References..................................................................................................................................... 6

Figures
Figure 1 Digging up wild Venus Flytraps (Purtell, 2020).................................................................2
Figure 2 Sign displaying that that poaching Venus flytraps is a felony (Spectrum Local News,
n.d.)............................................................................................................................................... 3

1
Abstract
The Venus flytrap is the most famous carnivorous plant in the world, but recently wild Venus
flytraps growing in North and South Carolina are on track to becoming an endangered species.
One of the biggest reasons behind its decreasing population is poaching. Poaching of wild Venus
flytraps is primarily concentrated in North Carolina, where poachers illegally dig up wild Venus
flytraps to sell often to resellers who sell them at a profit. Although laws have been put in place
in North Carolina making illegally digging up Venus flytraps a felony, these laws have failed to
properly target resellers who give poachers reason to continue to poach Venus flytraps. An
effective means of solving this issue would be to enact a state law in North Carolina requiring
that people have a license to sell flytraps as well as maintain records proving they have acquired
their flytraps from someone who is officially licensed to dig up flytraps.

Poaching in the Carolinas

Impact and Prevalence of Venus Flytrap Poaching
The Venus flytrap is currently facing endangerment, with its conservation status being
internationally listed as vulnerable internationally (National Wildlife Federation). In 2012 it was
estimated the carnivorous plant had been driven from 1.5 million acres of habitat in its native
region of Southeastern North Carolina and Northeastern South Carolina (Yearsley 52). One of
the biggest reasons for the decline of the Venus flytrap in the wild is poaching. Poaching is the
illegal practice of hunting and taking wild plants or animals from their native land, often for the
financial gain of the poacher. Poaching of the Venus flytrap is more prevalent in North Carolina
rather than South Carolina, since a comparatively smaller portion of the plant’s wild populations
grow there (Yearsley 54).

Figure 1 Digging up wild Venus Flytraps (Purtell, 2020).

2
Current Measures to Prevent Poaching
Being that the Venus flytrap is the most iconic carnivorous plant in the world, it is unsurprising
that there would be a high demand for them among buyers. This gives poachers the incentive to
dig up flytraps from public and private areas of land in the Carolinas to sell them to resellers.
Laws have been put in place to protect wild flytraps that grow on public and private property
from poaching. It is a felony to poach wild Venus flytraps in North Carolina (U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service). Although these laws have not completely prevented poaching, the demand for
flytraps persists among buyers and resellers regardless of the law. The majority of poachers are
often not even caught by law enforcement unless tipped off by other poachers they are
competing against. Even when poachers are caught, they often return to poaching when they
are released since the penalties given for poaching are typically not as harsh as other serious
crimes (Yearsley 54-55).

Figure 2 Sign displaying that that poaching Venus flytraps is a felony (Spectrum Local News, n.d.).

How Poaching can be Prevented

While making illegally digging up Venus flytraps a felony is a step in the right direction in
preventing poaching, it is not enough to effectively get rid of it on its own. This is because the
demand for poached Venus flytraps is still present among the resellers who buy from poachers.
To stop this an effective solution would be to pass a federal law in the United States forcing
sellers of Venus flytraps to have a license to sell Venus flytraps which must be consistently
renewed like any other license.
This law should also specify that if licensed sellers of the Venus flytrap are to buy Venus flytraps
from any of the Carolinas, official records should be maintained that can verify the people they
bought their flytraps from are properly licensed to dig up Venus flytraps legally. Enacting these
official licensing and proper record keeping requirements for sellers of Venus flytraps would
effectively get rid of resellers selling poached flytraps. This in turn would also help to remove
the incentive for poachers to continue to illegally dig up the plant (Outland 388).
3
How Licensing and Record Keeping can Help
Licensing
Requiring a license to sell Venus flytraps would help to target people reselling illegally poached
flytraps. A license allows everyone who sells flytraps to be accounted for and would make it
more difficult to sell poached flytraps. This would solve an issue that was overlooked in the law
that simply made digging up flytraps illegally a felony, since people selling flytraps illegally were
not affected by this. Making it more difficult to sell flytraps would help to decrease the poaching
of flytraps since poachers would have a harder time finding buyers to resell the illegally poached
plants.

Record Keeping
It is impossible for police and sellers of Venus flytraps to be able to distinguish between a wild
Venus flytrap and one that was grown. This unfortunately makes it extremely easy for people
who buy Venus flytraps off poachers to claim that they were unaware the person they bought
them from dug them up illegally (Outland 387). Making it a law for sellers of Venus flytraps to
have to keep a record that the people they are buying their plants from are licensed to dig up
Venus flytraps would make it impossible to make this excuse. The state of North Carolina
already requires permits for people who dig up Venus flytraps legally, so all that would be
needed would be proper records to verify that resellers were aware that the Venus flytraps they
bought were not illegally poached (Outland 388).

Why Protect the Flytrap

The Venus flytrap is a unique and rare plant, it only grows in the pine wetlands and coastal
plains of North and South Carolina and is a staple plant of the region (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service). Given this it is important to preserve the Venus flytraps presence in the wild so that
they can continue to contribute to the biodiversity and beauty of the Carolinas. Many people
also travel to the Carolina’s to see wild Venus flytraps every year which brings a good amount of
tourism that is good for the economy of the Carolina’s (Yearsley 56). Without the Venus flytrap
less tourism would be present which could deal a harsh blow to the economy of the Carolinas.
Making efforts to preserve the Venus flytrap is not only important in keeping the plant life of its
native region diverse and helping the economy of the Carolinas, as the Venus flytrap may also
have uses in medicine. While many of the compounds that have medical applications can also
be found in other plants, certain cancer preventing compounds can be extracted from the Venus
flytrap (Gaascht 8). Many of these anti-cancer compounds can help prevent cancer
by changing a specific cell-signaling pathway that cancers can develop from called the NF-κB
pathway. Although the NF-κB pathway is not the reason behind every type of cancer, the NF-κB
pathway does play a role in the development of many different cancers (Yearsley 60).

Conclusion
While the poaching of the Venus flytrap is a significant problem contributing to its possible
future endangerment, enacting laws requiring proper licensing and record keeping for sellers of

4
Venus flytraps is an effective solution to prevent poaching. This is because by targeting resellers
of poached Venus flytraps and making it impossible for them to unknowingly buy poached
flytraps will take away poachers ability to profit from illegally digging up wild flytraps, thereby
decreasing the prevalence of poaching as poachers will have no one to sell to. If a law could be
passed in North Carolina requiring. Combined with existing laws and licensing requirements
involving digging up wild Venus flytraps in North Carolina, poaching against the world’s most
beloved carnivorous plant can be better prevented.

References
Successful protection and management efforts keep Venus Flytrap off the Endangered Species
List: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. FWS.gov. (2023, July 24). https://www.fws.gov/press-
release/2023-07/successful-protection-and-management-efforts-keep-venus-flytrap-

5
 endangered#:~:text=Based%20on%20a%20review%20of,Endangered%20Species%20Act
%20(ESA)

Venus Flytrap. National Wildlife Federation. (n.d.). https://www.nwf.org/Educational-

Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Venus-Flytrap

Gaascht, F., Dicato, M., & Diederich, M. (2013). Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula Solander ex
Ellis) contains powerful compounds that prevent and cure cancer. Frontiers in Oncology,
3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2013.00202

Outland, K. (2018). Trapped in the goddess's mousetrap: equitable solutions for poverty
poaching of venus flytraps. Washington Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 8(2),
362-391.

Yearsley, C. (2017). VENUS FLYTRAP. Conserv. Carnivor. Curiosity, 14(5), 52-65.

Association of Zoological Horticulture - protecting plants – report from the Center for Plant
Conservation Annual Meeting. (n.d.). https://azh.org/Newsletter/7173385

Venus Flytrap. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Animals and Plants. (n.d.).
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/plants/venus-flytrap

Purtell, J. (2020, November 18). The trap. Oxford American. https://oxfordamerican.org/web-

only/the-trap

Venus flytraps: Carnivorous plants only found around southeast N.C. Venus flytraps: Carnivorous
plants only found around N.C. (n.d.).
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/environment/2021/07/07/venus-flytraps--
these-carnivorous-plants-are-only-found-around-southeast-n-c-

Fiorillo, S. (2016, July 21). General. MdE. https://mde-inc.com/the-importance-of-records-

management/