The illegal swop in wildlife isone of the largestblack markets in the man , third only to those in drugs and arms . The Internet has massively help this trade , allowing sellers to connect with buyer quickly and inexpensively , and with over one billion users , it might come as no surprise that Facebook is being used by some traffickers as an online marketplace .
Aftera five month investigationby the wildlife monitoring group Traffic , in which they spend around half an hour a day checking 14 Facebook radical , detective find a roaring barter in iconic and often menace animals . From sun bears and gibbons to otters and tortoises , the organization record over 300 groundless , becharm , resilient animal from 80 species being illegally sell over the social media site .
Traffic say that this trade – and its plate – has taken them by surprise because , unlike many other Southeast Asian countries , Peninsular Malaysia does n’t actually have open wildlife market . “ The rise of societal media appears to have enabled the creation of a flourishing market place for wild brute as pets where one previously did n’t exist in Malaysia,”explainsKanitha Krishnasamy , Programme Manager for Traffic in Southeast Asia and coauthor ofthe new reportpublished by the constitution .
Despite only monitor 14 groups , they contain a total of nearly 68,000 active members , with 106 identified unparalleled sellers offer the beast up for sale . All of these groups were “ shut , ” have in mind that member call for an invite to link up them which then countenance the user to view and swop within . The majority of the species ( 93 per centum ) line up for sale within these grouping have legal protection in Peninsular Malaysia , and 25 of the metal money are protect under external law .
Image in text : Critically endangered glow tortoise from Madagascar were also seen for sale . dealings
A baby white handed gibbon , sun bear cubs , and banded langur all for cut-rate sale in the Facebook groups . dealings
The most coarse species for sale was the leopard Caterpillar , used in both traditional medicine and preserve as dearie , with other frequently sold specie offered admit the Sunda dim loris and the crested snake eagle . While some endanger non - aboriginal species were being trafficked , notably the critically endangered radiated tortoise from Madagascar , many of the brute up for sales agreement were native , suggesting that there is a previously unknown thriving market place for local wildlife within Malaysia .
Being made aware of the report , Facebook emerge a program line : “ We are committed to work out with Traffic to help tackle the illegal online trade of wildlife in Malaysia . Facebook does not allow the cut-rate sale and patronage of endangered beast and we will not hesitate to remove any message that violates our Terms of Service . ” The wildlife system also shared their findings with Malaysia ’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks , who have already hold at least 53 illegal traders , saving 67 coinage from being traffic .
But still , too little is being done to moderate this on-line trade . A recent paper print inConservation Biologylooking into the scale of the craft in wildlife on the darknet , the clandestine “ Internet ” often used to deal drugs and weapon system , receive surprisingly few creature being sell , and concluded that since the cut-rate sale on the even Internet was so well-heeled and Pentateuch never enforce , that there was no demand to hide the deal .
Image in textbook : Sunda slow loris were the sixth most coarse animal being sell on Facebook . dealings
