FW: Fighting Wildlife Crime on the Internet

[Guest guest]

One month ago, IFAW's new report " Killing with Keystrokes --An Investigation of

the Illegal Wildlife Trade on the World Wide Web " was released, coinciding with

eBay's announcement that it will ban ALL ivory trade starting January 1, 2009.

For information about the report, please visit: www.ifaw.org

 

As part of the IFAW global campaign to reduce wildlife crime on the Internet, we

are partnering with the Chinese government agencies and Internet auction sites

to collect online wildlife trade crime information, increase law enforcement and

site self regulation. One of the illegal wildlife products we have helped

eliminate from online trade sites, is tiger bone wine.

 

On November 20th in Beijing, IFAW jointly with China's largest Internet trade

company, Taobao launched a month long campaign to raise consumer awareness about

the illegal trade of wildlife on the Internet and reject online trade of animals

and their products. On www.taobo.com IFAW opened an e-store to collect

information from Taobao users about wildlife crime. The event was endorsed and

participated by China's CITES Management Authority and Forestry Police Agency.

 

Please see IFAW's press release below and links to some of the media coverage.

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/21/content_10389323.htm

http://chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/21/content_7226246.htm

IFAW Press Release

Contact Jeff He IFAW China Tel: 86-10-64643599 or Fax: 86-10-64643522

jhe

 

Multi-Agency Approach to Counter Wildlife Trade on the Internet

 

(November 20, 2008 Beijing The International Fund for Animal Welfare

(IFAW-www.ifaw.org.cn) and Taobao (www.taobo.com.cn) China's largest internet

auction site jointly announced a series of online activities to counter illegal

wildlife trade on the Internet.

 

The rise of the Internet is contributing to the rapid growth of illegal trade in

wildlife, which is having a devastating effect on animals and ecosystems. Fast,

convenient and anonymous, trading of wildlife on the Internet is posing a major

challenge to wildlife conservation and law enforcement.

 

According to a recently published report by IFAW, " Killing with Keystrokes " An

Investigation of the Illegal Wildlife Trade on the World Wide Web, Internet

trade in wildlife poses a significant and immediate threat to the survival of

many endangered species. The report, which followed a six-week investigation

that tracked more than 7,000 wildlife product listings on 183 Web sites in 11

countries, found that elephant ivory dominated the trade, comprising 73% of all

product listings tracked. Exotic birds were second, accounting for nearly 20% of

the listings tracked. Primates, big cats and other animals are also falling

victim to the e-trade in live animals and wildlife products, according to the

report.

>

>In an unprecedented collaboration, IFAW and Taobao jointly launched a

month-long campaign to raise awareness about the unsustainable trade of wildlife

on the Internet. Taobao site initiated a series of online activities to

encourage consumer participation in combating the illegal trade in wild animals

and their parts and products. An IFAW e-store is opened on Taobao, where

netizens can report online illegal wildlife trade activities in exchange for

IFAW gifts and wildlife conservation information.

>

>“IFAW has conducted numerous investigations of online trade in wildlife since

2005 in China and has received enormous support from government agencies and the

Internet companies.†Said Grace Ge Gabriel, IFAW’s Asia Regional Director.

“It is extremely satisfying to see that the results of our investigation were

used to enhance law enforcement, and 95% of the illegal wildlife items we found

in online trade were eliminated by the web site companies.â€

>

>“Taobao takes corporate social responsibility seriously>†Said Yong Zhang,

Chief Operation Officer of Taobao. “We want our clients to conduct trade in a

safe, green and animal friendly environmentâ€.

>

>Dr. Meng Xianlin, Deputy Director General of China CITES Management Authority

commended the collaborative efforts and urged participation by more auction

sites and the public.

>

>

>Grace Ge Gabriel >葛芮

>Asia Regional Director 国际爱护动物基金会

>International Fund for Animal Welfare 亚洲地区总代表

>290 Summer Street, Yarmouth Port, MA, USA

>www.ifaw.org

>

>

 

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