Online Illegal Wildlife Trade Is Driving a Growing Threat to Biodiversity

The current mass extinction on Earth bears a clear human imprint.

People are driving the decline of other species through numerous pressures, and the situation continues to deteriorate as extinction rates keep climbing.

The principal causes are the destruction and deterioration of natural habitats, frequently compounded by invasive species introduced by humans. Yet animals, plants and fungi are also being taken directly from their remaining habitats, becoming victims of the illegal – yet flourishing – global wildlife trade.

The online illegal wildlife trade is expanding

A new review in Nature Reviews Biodiversity warns that the illegal wildlife trade is prospering online. Popular internet platforms provide anonymity, limited regulatory enforcement and straightforward links between sellers and buyers in almost any location.

According to the study's authors, thousands of wildlife species are traded illegally through social media, e-commerce websites and other digital marketplaces.

Some specimens are sold alive, commonly as pets, while others are killed for their body parts. Many of the species involved already face a risk of extinction.

The researchers found this activity on major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, eBay, Google, Alibaba, Shopee and Tokopedia.

"The online illegal wildlife trade spreads across many platforms, including popular social media platforms, and represents a growing and evolving threat to biodiversity conservation," says conservation scientist Enrico Di Minin from the University of Helsinki in Finland.

"What is particularly concerning is that many of the species found to be illegally traded online are either at high risk of extinction or had not previously been considered at risk from illegal wildlife trade."

Naturally, this is troubling for the species being sold, particularly those already threatened with extinction.

However, biodiversity loss harms everyone, humans included, even though its value is often overlooked until the damage cannot be reversed.

Even aside from the cruelty involved and the alarming loss of species, illegal wildlife trade would still pose problems for people by increasing the risk of invasive species and zoonotic disease.

Species, platforms and the scale of trade

Despite growing evidence that illegal wildlife trade is expanding online, the researchers say important details remain unknown. That uncertainty makes it harder to create effective plans to reduce the trade.

In their review, Di Minin and colleagues set out to compile current knowledge of precisely what occurs in online illegal wildlife trade, along with how, where and why it takes place.

The online market covers a huge range of animals, plants and fungi. The researchers note that the guarded wording often used in advertisements can make it difficult to determine both a specimen's origin and whether it is legal.

Even so, extensive evidence indicates that the issue is widespread.

The study found that much illegal activity occurs on the readily accessible surface web, including e-commerce sites, and on the indexed deep web, such as private sections of social media.

While many websites focus on particular kinds of wildlife, the sheer range of creatures for sale is remarkable. The products include body parts such as rhino horn and live primates marketed as pets, with a disturbing number of threatened and endangered species also appearing in the trade.

For instance, a six-week survey of 280 online platforms identified 33,006 specimens (54 percent live animals and 46 percent "derivatives") from species classified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as at risk of extinction or vulnerable.

The researchers note that online trade resembles its offline predecessors, but operates at a speed and scale that exceed most traditional forms of trade.

"The negative impacts on animal welfare and biodiversity mirror those of traditional offline illegal wildlife trade, but the reach and speed of online platforms are magnifying these harms," says co-author and conservation biologist Neil D'Cruze from Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK.

"Online illegal wildlife trade operates through complex, dispersed networks that cross national borders, expanding and, in some cases, replacing traditional trafficking routes."

Coordinated action against wildlife crime

The authors explain that their study clarifies the nature of the problem, although further work is required to turn these findings into solutions.

"This review sheds light on the urgent need for concerted, multi-level strategies to combat the online illegal wildlife trade," says co-author and wildlife crime researcher Annette Hübschle from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

"These strategies should not only strengthen species protection but also enhance regulatory and technological capacity, engage local communities meaningfully, and promote a whole-of-society approach to conservation."

The study was published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity.

This article was fact-checked by Rachel Garner and edited by Peter Dockrill. Although we take pride in our process, we are only human. If you notice an error, please let us know.