TY - JOUR
T1 - Wildlife Trafficking via Social Media in Brazil
AU - Wyatt, Tanya
AU - Miralles, Ophelia
AU - Masse, Francis
AU - Lima, Raulff
AU - Vargas da Costa, Thiago
AU - Giovanini, Dener
N1 - Funding Information:
This article documents a pilot study funded by Northumbria University's Global Challenges Research Fund in 2020 exploring the as yet uninvestigated use of private messaging groups to facilitate wildlife trafficking for companion animals in Brazil.
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - The trafficking of non-human animals is having a profound effect on biodiversity and conservation efforts. This is also the case in Brazil where it is estimated that millions of wild animals are sold each year, particularly for the pet market. The increasing use of social media and private messaging services (i.e., Facebook and WhatsApp) facilitate this illegal activity to a degree that has not yet been explored. This paper shares the findings of a pilot study analysing the patterns and trends from 500 messages containing at least 1682 individual animals in Brazil via social media and private messaging services. We found the vast majority of the wildlife advertised are Brazilian reptiles and birds. All the trade observed was illegal since it was not happening through certified breeders. This means that it is likely tens of millions of wildlife are being illegally traded each year in Brazil, which has conservation and public health implications in Brazil, but also globally. Efforts to reduce the demand for wildlife in and from Brazil and to support law enforcement agencies and technology companies in combating wildlife trafficking are needed.
AB - The trafficking of non-human animals is having a profound effect on biodiversity and conservation efforts. This is also the case in Brazil where it is estimated that millions of wild animals are sold each year, particularly for the pet market. The increasing use of social media and private messaging services (i.e., Facebook and WhatsApp) facilitate this illegal activity to a degree that has not yet been explored. This paper shares the findings of a pilot study analysing the patterns and trends from 500 messages containing at least 1682 individual animals in Brazil via social media and private messaging services. We found the vast majority of the wildlife advertised are Brazilian reptiles and birds. All the trade observed was illegal since it was not happening through certified breeders. This means that it is likely tens of millions of wildlife are being illegally traded each year in Brazil, which has conservation and public health implications in Brazil, but also globally. Efforts to reduce the demand for wildlife in and from Brazil and to support law enforcement agencies and technology companies in combating wildlife trafficking are needed.
KW - Brazil
KW - Illegal wildlife trade
KW - Pet market
KW - Social media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122494124&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109420
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109420
M3 - Comment/debate
VL - 265
SP - 1
EP - 4
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
SN - 0006-3207
M1 - 109420
ER -