Report: Facebook Has Become Hotbed for Illegal Animal Trading

Facebook has become a hotbed for illegal animal trading, which includes endangered species banned from trade internationally, according to a report.

The BBC reports that over 1,500 illegal animal listings were discovered through twelve Facebook groups in one month alone, despite the platform’s policies against such trade.

Animals included the Eurasian otter, the black spotted turtle, the helmeted hornbill, the Siamese crocodile, the Asiatic black bear, the palm civet, and the slow loris — which was the most common listing.

According to the BBC, the helmeted hornbill and the Siamese crocodile are both “critically endangered.”

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) claimed the helmeted hornbill is “declining as they have been affected by the removal of their large nesting trees,” while “urgent action is necessary” for the Siamese crocodile “to prevent the loss of this species from its natural range in Southeast Asia.”

“Facebook does not allow the sale or trade of endangered species or their parts, and we remove this material as soon as we are aware of it,” declared a Facebook spokesman to the BBC. “We are committed to working with Traffic and law enforcement authorities to help tackle the illegal online trade of wildlife in Thailand.”

Facebook’s policies clearly prohibit the sale of live animals, pets, livestock, and pelts on their platform, however, the site’s Marketplace has previously been used to trade drugs, weapons, sex, and even humans before the social network eventually discovered such listings and shut them down.