Killing with Keystrokes
IFAW’s recent investigation spanned three months and 11 countries and uncovered advertisements offering US$3,871,201 in selected CITES Appendix I protected species. Overall the results show a high volume, with thousands of potentially illegal items offered for sale on the Web every week. The United States was responsible for 70% of the trade while eBay platforms represented the largest market place with 63% of the trade. The species most affected in the survey were elephants and exotic birds, but a diversity of other protected species were also available, including primates, big cats and reptiles.
This report influenced one key actor to step up and take a leadership role in ending the trade in endangered species on the web. Hours before the report was launched, eBay banned the sale of elephant ivory on its web platform worldwide.
