The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) study of ‘cyber-crime’ wildlife trafficking: France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom:
“The internet is now the world’s biggest marketplace, open all hours for buyers and sellers to exchange goods. With such a huge volume of transactions taking place daily, relatively low trading costs and the possibility for traders to hide their identities, the internet provides a vast platform for the sale of both legal and illegal items, including wildlife and their products.”
“Researchers recorded 11,772 endangered and threatened wildlife specimens offered for sale over a period of six weeks via 5,381 advertisements and posts on 106 online marketplaces and four social media platforms, worth approximately US $3,942,329″ – Almost 20% of the adverts were for ivory…..
“Disrupt: Wildlife Cybercrime,” IFAW, May 2018
Further Reading:
“Illegal online sales of endangered wildlife rife in Europe,” The Guardian, 23 May 2018