UK Wildlife Trade Survey 2005: Caught in the Web

Every single day thousands of wild animals and animal parts – from live chimpanzees and huge ivory tusks to tiny dried seahorses – are being traded in cyberspace. IFAW’s three-month investigation in 2005 showed how, in just one week alone, over 9,000 live animals or products were available for sale in online in chatrooms and on legitimate trading sites such as eBay. At least 70% of these were from species protected by international law. This figure was all the more alarming since the survey was conducted solely on English language sites and restricted to trade in just five categories of endangered species: live primates, elephant products, turtle and tortoiseshell products, other reptile products and those from wild cats. Clearly, the investigation uncovered merely the tip of an enormous iceberg.

IFAW UK’s report, Caught in the web: Wildlife Trade on the Internet, added to conservationists’ fears that the growing and largely unchecked Internet trade could spell disaster for endangered species. Many of these animals are being targeted by poachers to meet the demands of wealthy consumers around the world, as well as being traded as “pets.” The high profits and low penalties of illegal wildlife trade, coupled with the low risk of detection on the Internet, provides little or no deterrent to organized criminal groups.