A tangled Web for rare species
March 22, 2010, Monday
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THE Internet was one of the greatest threats to rare species, fueling the illegal wildlife trade and making it easier to buy everything from live baby lions to wine made from tiger bones, conservationists said in Doha, Qatar, yesterday.
The Web's impact was made clear at the meeting of the 175-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Delegates voted overwhelmingly yesterday to ban the trade in Kaiser's spotted newts, which the World Wildlife Fund says have been devastated by Internet sales.
A proposal from the United States and Sweden to regulate the trade in red and pink coral - which is crafted into expensive jewelry and sold extensively on the Web - was defeated. Delegates voted the idea down mostly over concerns the increased regulations might impact upon poor fishing communities.
Trade on the Web posed "one of the biggest challenges facing CITES," said Paul Todd, a campaign manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The IFAW has done several surveys of illegal trade on the Web and found that thousands of species are sold on auction sites, classified ads and chat rooms, mostly in the US but also Europe, China, Russia and Australia.
Most of what is traded is African ivory but the group has also found exotic birds along with rare products such as tiger-bone wine and pelts from protected species like polar bears and leopards.
A separate 2009 survey by the group Campaign Against the Cruelty to Animals targeted the Internet trade in Ecuador, finding offers to sell live capuchin monkeys, lion cubs and ocelots.
"As the Internet knows no borders, it causes several new problems regarding the enforcement of the protection of endangered species," the group said in its report.
The newt is an example of what can happen to one species through trade on the Web. According to a study by the WWF, the black and brown salamander with white spots - numbering only about 1,000 - is coveted in the pet trade.
About 200 annually have been traded over the years, mostly through a Website that was operated out of Ukraine.
"The Internet itself isn't the threat, but it's another way to market the product," said Ernie Cooper, who spearheaded the investigation into the newt.
"The Kaiser's spotted newt, for example, is expensive and most people arenot willing to pay US$300 for a salamander. But through the power of the Internet, tapping into global market, you can find buyers," Cooper said.
The Web's impact was made clear at the meeting of the 175-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Delegates voted overwhelmingly yesterday to ban the trade in Kaiser's spotted newts, which the World Wildlife Fund says have been devastated by Internet sales.
A proposal from the United States and Sweden to regulate the trade in red and pink coral - which is crafted into expensive jewelry and sold extensively on the Web - was defeated. Delegates voted the idea down mostly over concerns the increased regulations might impact upon poor fishing communities.
Trade on the Web posed "one of the biggest challenges facing CITES," said Paul Todd, a campaign manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The IFAW has done several surveys of illegal trade on the Web and found that thousands of species are sold on auction sites, classified ads and chat rooms, mostly in the US but also Europe, China, Russia and Australia.
Most of what is traded is African ivory but the group has also found exotic birds along with rare products such as tiger-bone wine and pelts from protected species like polar bears and leopards.
A separate 2009 survey by the group Campaign Against the Cruelty to Animals targeted the Internet trade in Ecuador, finding offers to sell live capuchin monkeys, lion cubs and ocelots.
"As the Internet knows no borders, it causes several new problems regarding the enforcement of the protection of endangered species," the group said in its report.
The newt is an example of what can happen to one species through trade on the Web. According to a study by the WWF, the black and brown salamander with white spots - numbering only about 1,000 - is coveted in the pet trade.
About 200 annually have been traded over the years, mostly through a Website that was operated out of Ukraine.
"The Internet itself isn't the threat, but it's another way to market the product," said Ernie Cooper, who spearheaded the investigation into the newt.
"The Kaiser's spotted newt, for example, is expensive and most people arenot willing to pay US$300 for a salamander. But through the power of the Internet, tapping into global market, you can find buyers," Cooper said.
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