IFAW: Wanted - Dead or Alive, Grisly Wildlife Cybertrade Exposed

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A murky multi-million dollar trade in wild animals and their parts is booming over online marketplaces, with questions being asked as to the legality of many advertisements offering endangered species for sale.

A shocking report released today by the IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) shows how thousands of endangered species are bought and sold online, many advertised without any form of supporting documentation.

Wanted – Dead or Alive, Exposing Online Wildlife Trade reveals that, in early 2014, an intense six-week investigation found a total of 33,006 endangered wildlife and wildlife parts and products for sale via 280 online market places across 16 countries.

"As poaching reaches alarming levels, wildlife cybercrime poses a sinister, silent threat to endangered species, including elephants, reptiles and birds, enabling criminals to go about their grisly business with anonymity," said Azzedine Downes, President and CEO of IFAW.

Downes said more than 100,000 elephants had lost their lives to ivory poachers in the past three years; while in 2013 more than 1,000 rhinoceros were killed by poachers for their horns in South Africa alone.

"This new IFAW report found that ivory or suspected ivory made up more than 32 per cent of all wildlife animals and products for sale, while reptiles came in a close second at over 26 per cent. Live animals for sale featured in 54 per cent of the adverts, and 46 per cent were for parts and products of wildlife. The value of the items investigated totaled nearly US$11-million," said Downes.

IFAW found the legality of almost 13 per cent – 1,192 - of the 9,482 advertisements investigated was sufficiently doubtful to warrant turning these over to law enforcers for further examination. However this may only be the tip of the ice-berg as investigators were careful not to deluge enforcers with reports of potential wildlife crime. The IFAW investigation focuses on the "surface-web" namely open-source websites commonly referred to as online marketplaces, where products are freely available to the public.

Tania McCrea-Steele, IFAW Global Internet Wildlife Trade Team Leader, who spearheaded the investigation, said the number and demand for live animals, parts and products found by the Wanted – Dead or Alive, Exposing Online Wildlife Trade investigation greatly varied from region to region.  

"What is clear is that online market places should protect endangered wildlife by working with police and customs to catch wildlife cybercriminals, banning the sale of goods made from endangered wildlife and informing their customers about the poaching crisis and the laws against illegal wildlife trade. We recognize the efforts made by some marketplaces in using the information provided by IFAW, running enforcement programs and by cooperating with the authorities.

"At the same time governments need to introduce stronger legislation that specifically targets online wildlife crime and must encourage and support their enforcement agencies in making sure wildlife cybercriminals are apprehended and prosecuted," she said.

eBay has introduced even tougher preventative measures on its site as a result of cooperation with  IFAW and other organizations, and this year will take tougher sanctions against sellers who flout eBay's policies on wildlife products.

eBay director Wolfgang Weber commented: "eBay does not tolerate the sale of illegal wildlife trade on its site. In addition eBay policies regarding ivory are stricter than the law and generally prohibit all ivory products. eBay is committed to an ongoing program of strict enforcement working closely with IFAW as well as law enforcement.  

"Acting on information from IFAW and other organizations, we have been able to put new measures in place to prevent sellers from listing items of concern on the site, and in very many cases we are able to remove listings before a sale is made, and then take action against the seller.  The sellers who list these type of items intentionally try to circumvent the controls in place for instance by listing items using code words, but nonetheless we have been able to significantly reduce the number of items that they actually have been able to sell. In order to even better address this issue we will apply stricter sanctions against sellers who intentionally circumvent our enforcement," said Weber.

IFAW's investigation specifically targeted the sale of species listed on Appendix I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which regulates and restricts the trade in wildlife and their parts and products. Many of the 280 online sites monitored either didn't ask customers to demonstrate that their trade met with national laws, or else the provisos were hidden to the extent that customers simply wouldn't be aware of them.

Worldwide, the illegal wildlife trade is not only a threat to wildlife but also to national and global security, and to social and economic development in the countries where it occurs. Wildlife crime ranks among the most serious, dangerous and damaging of international crimes along with human trafficking, drug running and illegal arms sales. Illegal wildlife trade generates an estimated US$19-billion a year.

The IFAW report, Wanted – Dead or Alive, Exposing Online Wildlife Trade can be downloaded from www.ifaw.org. To learn more about the ivory trade, download IFAW's digital magazine Unveiling the Ivory Trade

In the U.S.
The U.S. is one of the world's largest ivory markets.  To determine the role the auction industry plays in the domestic sale of ivory, IFAW undertook a nine week investigation of two of the largest U.S. aggregate auction websites, and concurrently carried out an undercover investigation of 14 bricks and mortar auction houses.  The results of the investigation, which included over 4,000 pieces of ivory items documented for sale, are outlined the previously released IFAW report:  Bidding Against Survival:  The Elephant Poaching Crises and the Role of Auctions in the U.S. Ivory Market.

About IFAW
Founded in 1969, IFAW rescues and protects animals around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, IFAW rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals, and advocates for the protection of wildlife and habitats. For more information, visit www.ifaw.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Photos are available at www.ifawimages.com

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SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare

Related Links

http://www.ifaw.org