Ads selling illegal wildlife products, animal parts thrive online in Vietnam

A new investigation by wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC has uncovered an “alarming” slew of online adverts offering illegal wildlife products for sale in Vietnam, despite pledges from multiple platforms to clamp down on such content.

The report, based on monitoring of social media groups and e-commerce platforms in Vietnam between June 2021 and July 2023, focuses on items made from body parts of elephants, rhinos, pangolins, tigers, tortoises and freshwater turtles.

Researchers identified 22,497 online posts by sellers based in Vietnam that overtly advertised products related to these species, with elephant ivory and tiger products each accounting for more than one-third of the total adverts. The authors note the actual number of items will be much higher, since the opacity of online groups curtailed the team’s ability to monitor the full range of adverts.

The brazen availability of products from threatened and protected species confirms the “continued alarming popularity” for such products in Vietnam, according to the report. “The consistent prevalence of wildlife trade online could suggest a persistent demand, requiring considerable effort to alter social values and discourage illegal wildlife-based purchases,” the report says.

Most of the listings were aimed at buyers looking for animal-based traditional medicines, exotic pets, wild meat, and jewelry and other decorative…

Read more