Selfish Wealthy Drive Illegal Trade in Wild Animals Over the Net: Poachers Get Rich and the World's Endangered Species Get Closer to Extinction Part I

Selfish Wealthy Consumers Drive Illegal Trade in Wild Animals Over the Internet: Poachers Get Rich and the World's Most Endangered Species Get Closer to Extinction Part I

Ah yes, the selfish rich. Again thinking their wants are more important than even life itself. Even so important as to fund poachers who kill and steal babies from their mothers.

Article:

End rare species web trade' call

Mr Pritchard said the internet trade was a 'serious problem'

Ministers have been urged to clamp down on the illegal trade in wild animals over the internet which is driving some species to near extinction.

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Tory Mark Pritchard said the "abhorrent trade" was estimated to be worth up to £3bn in the UK and £25bn worldwide.

Just by logging on, he could have purchased a leopard, a zebra, chimpanzees or an alligator, he said.

He called for the UK to take the lead in Europe to set up a code of conduct for all internet service providers.

Dead and alive animals

Introducing his Trade in Endangered Animals on the Internet Bill, Mr Pritchard told MPs: "The trade of endangered animals on the internet is a growing and serious problem.

"Independent commentators estimate that the trade is worth up to £25bn globally and up to £3bn involving UK websites and consumers.

We do not know where the animals involved in such sales come from, how they are transported, or the conditions in which they are kept

Mark Pritchard

"Those large figures include both live and dead animals and animal products."

In August, 2005, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) found that 9,000 endangered live animals were being offered for sale online in one week.

That same research found that 146 primates were available for sale, illegally, in the UK.

"All the animals were endangered, and all were being traded through UK-registered websites," he said.

"We do not know where the animals involved in such sales come from, how they are transported, or the conditions in which they are kept."

Legal desk

Mr Pritchard said a phone or e-mail hotline was needed so that illegal activity could be reported to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

That information could then be shared with wildlife officers and the police, he said.

A legal helpdesk could also be set up to give people advice about the law.

But Mr Pritchard said the "best and most immediate way" to deal with the illegal trade was to establish a code of conduct for all ISPs and those involved in the internet market place "to ensure that they do not facilitate the sale of endangered animals, directly or indirectly, through their products and services".

The bill, which has cross-party backing, is unlikely to become law without government support.