Internet is new foe of endangered species

• Mar. 23 by Louise Denny (0)

The internet has become one of the main threats to endangered species, according to conservationists.

The problem with our high-tech age of constant consumerism means that we can buy and sell anything we want – including live animals or their fur – through online auctions and chatrooms.

The BBC quoted Paul Todd, from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, as saying:

‘The internet is becoming the dominant factor overall in the global trade in protected species.’

According to recent findings, it is the anonymity of these online auction sites and chatrooms which causes such a problem – as the illegal activities of buying and selling either animals or their furs is severely difficult to trace back to the perpetrator.

Further bad news for endangered species

The BBC has also reported on the recent Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, in which 175 nations come together to discuss serious conservation issues.

This should have been a turning point for conservation issues of all kinds, but unfortunately numerous proposals to aid the protection of endangered species were rejected.

Conservationists’ attempts to ban the trade in polar bears, bluefin tuna and rare corals have all failed, leaving environmental activists dismayed.

There is clearly a need for these auction sites and chatrooms to be monitored more closely, as the illegal trading of live animals and their furs is having a serious impact on the conservation and protection of many endangered species.

This is an issue which surely needs to be considered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but with so many proposals for the continued protection of the world’s endangered species having already failed, it is hard to see a brighter future for the endangered species around the globe.