Joining forces to combat wildlife trade on the internet

20 November 2008

(Beijing, China) - IFAW (The International Fund for Animal Welfare) and Taobao (www.taobo.com.cn), China’s largest internet auction site, today jointly announced a series of online activities to counter illegal wildlife trade on the Internet.

In an unprecedented collaboration, IFAW and Taobao have launched a month-long campaign to raise awareness about the unsustainable trade of wildlife on the Internet. An IFAW e-store was opened on Taobo where consumers can report illegal wildlife trade activities in exchange for IFAW gifts and wildlife conservation information.

“Since 2005, IFAW has carried out many investigations into the online trade in wildlife in China which have received enormous support from government agencies and Internet companies,” said Grace Ge Gabriel, IFAW’s Asia Regional Director. “It is extremely satisfying to see the results of these investigations being used to combat the trade of wildlife on the Internet. 95% of the illegal wildlife items we found in online trade were eliminated by the website companies.”

“Taobao takes corporate social responsibility seriously,” said Yong Zhang, Chief Operation Officer of Taobao. “We want our clients to conduct trade in a safe, green and animal-friendly environment.”

Dr. Meng Xianlin, Deputy Director General of China CITES Management Authority, commended the collaborative efforts and urged participation by more auction sites.

According to the recent IFAW report, Killing with Keystrokes: An Investigation of the Illegal Wildlife Trade on the World Wide Web, Internet trade in wildlife poses a significant and immediate threat to the survival of many endangered species. The report followed a six-week investigation, conducted in 11 countries and tracked over 7,000 wildlife product listings on 183 Web. The results found that elephant ivory dominated the trade, making up 73% of all product listings tracked. Exotic birds were second, accounting for nearly 20% of the listings tracked. Primates, big cats and other animals are also falling victim to the e-trade in live animals and wildlife products, according to the report.

For media-related inquiries, contact:
Jeff He - IFAW China
Tel: +86 10 64643599
Email: jhe@ifaw.org

Kerry Glenn, IFAW Asia Pacific Communications Officer
Tel: +61 9288 4993
Mobile: 0437 414 329
Email: kglenn@ifaw.org