The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) today issued a new report charging that users of eBay.com are behind two thirds of the online trade in endangered animals worldwide, specifically, ivory made from tusks ripped from poached elephants. The report comes just months after IFAW accused eBay, Inc., of failing to clamp down on the illegal animal sales and a day after the San Jose, Calif., company announced a global ban on the sale of most types of ivory (with the exception of "antique" items made before 1900 that contain small bits of ivory, such as antique piano keys or tables with ivory inlay).

EBay in June 2007 had agreed to remove any ivory products from its site that offered international shipping, and alerted sellers that they could only sell ivory in their own countries if it was legal to do so and, in some cases, only after getting government approval. Richard Brewer-Hay, an eBay spokesperson, said that move was an attempt to "balance the protection of endangered and protected species while also providing a way for sellers to offer legitimate ivory products legally allowed for sale within domestic markets."

But he now admits the policy did not go far enough—and was almost impossible to enforce.

"We simply can't ensure that ivory listed for sale on eBay is in compliance with the complex regulations that govern its sale," he wrote on his blog last night announcing the new, more comprehensive ban. "Global demand for ivory has long been a significant factor in the poaching of African and Asian elephants, driving these species towards extinction—to such a degree that both types of elephants are now considered endangered or protected species."

IFAW says it tracked more than 7,000 wildlife product listings on 183 Web sites in 11 countries in compiling its report. Ivory obtained from elephants dominated the investigation, comprising 73 percent of all Internet listing tracked by IFAW investigators.

The $20-billion wildlife black market contributes to the deaths of animals and park rangers worldwide, Barbara Cartwright, IFAW Canada campaigns manager, said at a press conference today held in San Francisco to release the report, entitled, "Killing with Keystrokes: An Investigation of the Illegal Wildlife Trade on the World Wide Web." The organization found that eBay sites in six countries were selling endangered wildlife products, including elephant ivory and hides, turtle shells, and skins from leopards, cheetahs, ocelots, lizards and crocodiles; two thirds of all endangered species products listed on eBay had U.S. sellers.

IFAW says it compiled these statistics by visiting public Web sites. (They did not investigate password-protected sites or chat rooms.) Cartwright said that even though IFAW's estimates are conservative, "you will find these numbers shocking."

IFAW is hoping that eBay's ban will help law enforcement officers identify and stop illegal animal trading. Still, Jeff Flocken, director of IFAW's Washington, D.C., office, conceded at the press conference that the online marketplace is "ungovernable" by one entity and that eBay cannot end the illegal trade without the help of law enforcers, buyers and sellers.

Although it remains to be seen whether eBay can effectively police its users, the company does keep a running blotter on eBay.com chronicling its efforts to help law enforcement catch people who use the site for illegal transactions, including selling counterfeit items, peddling illegal drugs or fencing stolen goods.

EBay has already banned the sale of bullets, guns and pornography on its site and plans to crack down on endangered animal sales with the help of software filters that flag words such as "ivory" and prevent sellers from posting listings of illegal items, Cartwright said. The company will also have go through its existing listings and clean out any that include illegal ivory and other illegal animal products.

2 Comments

1. 1. TrueMorgana 07:24 AM 11/10/08

   On the topic of endangered species the mountain gorillas are often overlooked.There are only around 750 mountain gorillas left in the world and with none of these magnificent animals on captivity there threat of extinction is great. The majority of these gorillas live in the Bwindi National Forest which has fallen prey geo-political turmoil in the region (the park is surrounded by Rwanda, Uganda, and the Republic of Congo)as well as poachers.This alongside Africas ever growing population threaten to destroy not just the gorillas' habitat but also the gorillas themselves. With this in mind EDUN LIVE and VBS with camera and curiosity in hand made the journey and shot the story. After all, if we can't save the closest evolutionary ancestor we humans have, what does that say about our own future?
   Watch VBS.tv trip to Bwindi National Forrest: Gorillas In The Midst
   See additional stories we shot in Kampala, Uganda at www.edun-live.com.
   
   

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2. 2. J.Izzo 12:07 PM 5/28/09

   It is still too early to assess the success of eBay's ban on ivory. I have still seen some questionable "antique" ivory on the website. But this is better than the 300 ads I found in October 2008.
   
   The problem of online animal trafficking is not going away. It is necessary that the world deliver an international response to the problem using legislation instead of relying on non-governmental organizations, like IFAW.
   
   This is why I have written an article on the subject. Please see:
   
   http://elpr.org/2009/05/20/pc-pets-for-a-price-combating-online-and-traditional-wildlife-crime-through-international-harmonization-and-authoritative-policies/
   
   for an abstract of the article before publication.
   

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