By Chris
BaraniukTechnology reporter
10
September 2018
More than
1,500 listings of live animals for sale have been found on Facebook in Thailand
by a wildlife trafficking watchdog.
Traffic,
which monitors such activity, said many of the species, despite having
international protection, were not native to the country, and so trading them
was unregulated.
The
listings were found on 12 Facebook groups during one month in 2016.
Facebook
said it did not allow the trade of endangered species.
Among the
200 different species listed for sale were two non-native species banned from
international commercial trade - the Eurasian otter and the black spotted
turtle.
Some of
the animals for sale which are banned from international commercial trade are
native to Thailand, such as the helmeted hornbill and Siamese crocodile - which
are both critically endangered - and the Asiatic black bear.
Although
only one helmeted hornbill was discovered for sale, Traffic said the critical
status of the species meant that any number taken out of wild populations would
have "serious implications" for its survival.
Traffic's
findings are to be published this week in a report on the use of Facebook for
animal trading in Thailand.
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