Armed conflicts add another dimension to the trade in wildlife and its products that is regrettably well-developed in peacetime. The implementation and compliance mechanisms for preventing and combatting wildlife trafficking, as foreseen in the respective international treaty regimes or developed in practice, are in general not well suited to promote and ensure the protection of animals in conflict-affected countries. Some lessons can be learnt from more recently emerging instruments dealing with conflict minerals. Their focus on the whole supply chain might even potentially result in a more effective prevention and suppression of the illegal trade in wildlife outside the context of war