Illegal Cockfighting Spur Trade Threatens Critically Endangered Sawfish in Peru

A recent investigation published in Conservation Letters documents a clandestine trade in which the rostral teeth of critically endangered sawfish are carved into spurs used in cockfighting, a practice that can command prices of up to $5,600 per rostrum. Fieldwork involving interviews with cockfighting participants and officials in Peru, Mexico, Ecuador and Puerto Rico shows the market remains largely invisible to regulators, with many rostrums sourced locally and sold in small, concealed transactions.

Researchers Mariano Cabanillas-Torpoco and Mario Espinoza note that the high monetary return and cultural value of the spurs drive continued poaching despite international bans. The difficulty of tracking individual poachers and the trade routes hampers enforcement, threatening already fragile sawfish populations that reproduce slowly and inhabit shrinking habitats. Conservationists call for heightened monitoring, public awareness, and efforts to shift cultural preferences away from animal-based spurs. Without stronger action, the species faces an accelerating risk of extinction.