According to NOAA Fisheries, more than 25 coral species are considered endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and are thus protected by federal law. Internationally, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora restricts the trade of around 1,900 coral species, including black corals, red and pink corals, blue corals, stony corals, organ pipe corals and fire corals.
Worse still, by the time these animals reach American shores, they are often sick.
“When corals are stressed, a lot of times what they’ll do is create a heavier mucus layer for protection,” said Kim Stone, director of fish and invertebrates at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, which has helped federal wildlife authorities care for seized coral.
This otherwise protective measure fouls the coral’s small reserve of water, altering the pH and oxygen levels, which in turn triggers more stress in the animal, creating what Ms. Stone calls a “downward spiral.” It is not uncommon for a shipment of coral to contain animals that have already died.
“If the water’s not clear, you need to move quickly,” Ms. Stone said.
As wildlife officials work to reduce the demand for illegal coral and choke off supply, they face major dilemmas about what to do with the imperiled animals they seize.
Confiscated animals must be housed and looked after, both for their own welfare, but also because they become evidence once they are taken into custody. This means that they must be cared for either until charges against a defendant in a trafficking case are dismissed, or they are permanently seized by the authorities. And even then, returning corals to the wild is usually not possible, because it’s not clear where the animals originated, or the countries from which they were extracted won’t take them back.
To address this problem, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has worked with zoos and aquariums near airports and ports to house corals on a case-by-case basis. But the closest facilities have usually taken the brunt of this traffic and become inundated.
