<p>This study explores the role actors in transit countries play in the global illegal wildlife trade. While much research has been conducted on source and destination countries, transit countries remain an under-researched link in this chain, even though actors in these countries play an integral role in channeling wildlife trade. This study utilizes the rational choice perspective, institutional theory, and network of power and corruption theoretical frameworks to examine the factors associated with transit countries' roles in wildlife trafficking. The findings, driven by social network analysis and regression modeling, indicate that traffickers in source countries take advantage of unique vulnerabilities of transit countries to traffic wildlife, suggesting that there is urgent need for international legal cooperation, as well as for strengthening of monitoring as a vital tool to combat wildlife trafficking.</p>