Vietnam grapples with ‘alarming popularity’ of online illegal wildlife trade
Carolyn Cowan, Mongabay
January 27, 2025
See link
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/vietnam-grapples-with-alarming-popularity-of-online-illegal-wildlife-trade/
for photos.
A new investigation by wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC has
uncovered an “alarming” slew of online adverts offering illegal wildlife
products for sale in Vietnam, despite pledges from multiple platforms to
clamp down on such content.
The report, based on monitoring of social media groups and e-commerce
platforms in Vietnam between June 2021 and July 2023, focuses on items made
from body parts of elephants, rhinos, pangolins, tigers, tortoises and
freshwater turtles.
Researchers identified 22,497 online posts by sellers based in Vietnam that
overtly advertised products related to these species, with elephant ivory
and tiger products each accounting for more than one-third of the total
adverts. The authors note the actual number of items will be much higher,
since the opacity of online groups curtailed the team’s ability to monitor
the full range of adverts.
The brazen availability of products from threatened and protected species
confirms the “continued alarming popularity” for such products in Vietnam,
according to the report. “The consistent prevalence of wildlife trade
online could suggest a persistent demand, requiring considerable effort to
alter social values and discourage illegal wildlife-based purchases,” the
report says.
Most of the listings were aimed at buyers looking for animal-based
traditional medicines, exotic pets, wild meat, and jewelry and other
decorative curios. The researchers also uncovered an emerging trend for
products not previously seen for sale online, such as glues made from ivory
and rhino horn, as well as products made from elephant skin, hair, bones
and teeth.
The research team also found 23 of the 26 species of tortoise and
freshwater turtles native to Vietnam advertised online, mainly as pets and
for their meat. This included critically endangered species protected under
Vietnam’s wildlife laws and listed on CITES, the international wildlife
trade convention, such as elongated tortoises (Indotestudo elongata),
Indochinese box turtles (Cuora galbinifrons), and yellow-headed temple
turtles (Heosemys annandalii).
A major hurdle facing law enforcers is the relative anonymity of online
transactions and the range of tactics sellers use to avoid detection
algorithms. Tracking the digital footprints of traffickers can turn into a
game of whack-a-mole, for instance, whereby suspect traders quickly
reemerge in new social media groups or platforms after their accounts have
been deactivated elsewhere. Sellers also increasingly use newly coined code
words, slang phrases or emoticons in listings to evade tracking systems.
Another emerging challenge identified in the report is a new trend for
wildlife-derived “glues” containing mixtures of threatened species, such as
tigers, rhinos, seahorses and geckos. These products — often advertised as
having perceived, but medically unproven, health benefits — are
particularly onerous for law enforcement, according to Nga Thuy Bui, senior
program manager at TRAFFIC Vietnam.
“When multiple species are combined in a single product, it becomes
technically challenging to identify all components, especially if they’ve
been heavily processed,” she told Mongabay in an email. “This can make it
challenging [for] the police to build a case.”
The vogue for processed wildlife-derived products also heightens the
chances of consumers unwittingly buying illegal wildlife products that are
contributing to the demise of species in the wild.
Raising awareness about the risks of engaging in the online wildlife trade
is crucial, the authors note. The trade in elephants, rhinos, pangolins,
tigers and their products is prohibited or heavily regulated under several
laws and decrees in Vietnam. Several national e-commerce laws also make it
illegal to advertise and trade products such as ivory and rhino horn
online. What’s more, in 2018, authorities raised the penalty for trading
CITES-listed species to carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The new evidence that online buyers and sellers continue to operate openly,
seemingly with little fear of repercussions, indicates more measures are
needed to control the trade, said Nga Thuy Bui. “Social media platforms and
law enforcement should formalize their cooperation to strengthen detection
and investigation efforts,” she said, noting these improvements would
enable agencies to build stronger criminal cases that could lead to
prosecutions.
The researchers uncovered some evidence that tighter moderation of online
content can help. Facebook and Zalo were found to be the main platforms
linked with the trade. However, the number of adverts posted on Zalo
dropped significantly toward the end of the study period, the report says,
coinciding with the platform’s implementation of a “community policy” that
involved locking accounts associated with the illegal wildlife trade. The
Zalo dip was, however, accompanied by a spike in adverts on Facebook — a
pattern the authors attribute to traffickers switching to less scrupulous
platforms.
The report also calls on traditional medicine traders and practitioners in
Vietnam to report protected species products to authorities and remove them
from their practices. The authors also urge NGOs and civil society
organizations to hold companies and government agencies accountable for
their commitments to curb the trade, such as an October 2024
government-mandated order instructing social media and e-commerce platforms
operating in Vietnam to report online illegal wildlife trade violations.
Nga Thuy Bui said the persistence and rapidly evolving nature of the online
illegal wildlife trade means tracking user trends and emerging markets that
stoke demand is also an essential part of the solution. She said TRAFFIC is
looking into “social listening” tools to help monitor the online sales of
certain species in addition to its routine use of market surveys, research
papers, media reports and seizure data to monitor the trade.
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/vietnam-grapples-with-alarming-popularity-of-online-illegal-wildlife-trade/
Vietnam grapples with ‘alarming popularity’ of online illegal wildlife trade
Carolyn Cowan, Mongabay
January 27, 2025
See link
<https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/vietnam-grapples-with-alarming-popularity-of-online-illegal-wildlife-trade/>
for photos.
A new investigation by wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC has
uncovered an “alarming” slew of online adverts offering illegal wildlife
products for sale in Vietnam, despite pledges from multiple platforms to
clamp down on such content.
The report, based on monitoring of social media groups and e-commerce
platforms in Vietnam between June 2021 and July 2023, focuses on items made
from body parts of elephants, rhinos, pangolins, tigers, tortoises and
freshwater turtles.
Researchers identified 22,497 online posts by sellers based in Vietnam that
overtly advertised products related to these species, with elephant ivory
and tiger products each accounting for more than one-third of the total
adverts. The authors note the actual number of items will be much higher,
since the opacity of online groups curtailed the team’s ability to monitor
the full range of adverts.
The brazen availability of products from threatened and protected species
confirms the “continued alarming popularity” for such products in Vietnam,
according to the report. “The consistent prevalence of wildlife trade
online could suggest a persistent demand, requiring considerable effort to
alter social values and discourage illegal wildlife-based purchases,” the
report says.
Most of the listings were aimed at buyers looking for animal-based
traditional medicines, exotic pets, wild meat, and jewelry and other
decorative curios. The researchers also uncovered an emerging trend for
products not previously seen for sale online, such as glues made from ivory
and rhino horn, as well as products made from elephant skin, hair, bones
and teeth.
The research team also found 23 of the 26 species of tortoise and
freshwater turtles native to Vietnam advertised online, mainly as pets and
for their meat. This included critically endangered species protected under
Vietnam’s wildlife laws and listed on CITES, the international wildlife
trade convention, such as elongated tortoises (Indotestudo elongata),
Indochinese box turtles (Cuora galbinifrons), and yellow-headed temple
turtles (Heosemys annandalii).
A major hurdle facing law enforcers is the relative anonymity of online
transactions and the range of tactics sellers use to avoid detection
algorithms. Tracking the digital footprints of traffickers can turn into a
game of whack-a-mole, for instance, whereby suspect traders quickly
reemerge in new social media groups or platforms after their accounts have
been deactivated elsewhere. Sellers also increasingly use newly coined code
words, slang phrases or emoticons in listings to evade tracking systems.
Another emerging challenge identified in the report is a new trend for
wildlife-derived “glues” containing mixtures of threatened species, such as
tigers, rhinos, seahorses and geckos. These products — often advertised as
having perceived, but medically unproven, health benefits — are
particularly onerous for law enforcement, according to Nga Thuy Bui, senior
program manager at TRAFFIC Vietnam.
“When multiple species are combined in a single product, it becomes
technically challenging to identify all components, especially if they’ve
been heavily processed,” she told Mongabay in an email. “This can make it
challenging [for] the police to build a case.”
The vogue for processed wildlife-derived products also heightens the
chances of consumers unwittingly buying illegal wildlife products that are
contributing to the demise of species in the wild.
Raising awareness about the risks of engaging in the online wildlife trade
is crucial, the authors note. The trade in elephants, rhinos, pangolins,
tigers and their products is prohibited or heavily regulated under several
laws and decrees in Vietnam. Several national e-commerce laws also make it
illegal to advertise and trade products such as ivory and rhino horn
online. What’s more, in 2018, authorities raised the penalty for trading
CITES-listed species to carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The new evidence that online buyers and sellers continue to operate openly,
seemingly with little fear of repercussions, indicates more measures are
needed to control the trade, said Nga Thuy Bui. “Social media platforms and
law enforcement should formalize their cooperation to strengthen detection
and investigation efforts,” she said, noting these improvements would
enable agencies to build stronger criminal cases that could lead to
prosecutions.
The researchers uncovered some evidence that tighter moderation of online
content can help. Facebook and Zalo were found to be the main platforms
linked with the trade. However, the number of adverts posted on Zalo
dropped significantly toward the end of the study period, the report says,
coinciding with the platform’s implementation of a “community policy” that
involved locking accounts associated with the illegal wildlife trade. The
Zalo dip was, however, accompanied by a spike in adverts on Facebook — a
pattern the authors attribute to traffickers switching to less scrupulous
platforms.
The report also calls on traditional medicine traders and practitioners in
Vietnam to report protected species products to authorities and remove them
from their practices. The authors also urge NGOs and civil society
organizations to hold companies and government agencies accountable for
their commitments to curb the trade, such as an October 2024
government-mandated order instructing social media and e-commerce platforms
operating in Vietnam to report online illegal wildlife trade violations.
Nga Thuy Bui said the persistence and rapidly evolving nature of the online
illegal wildlife trade means tracking user trends and emerging markets that
stoke demand is also an essential part of the solution. She said TRAFFIC is
looking into “social listening” tools to help monitor the online sales of
certain species in addition to its routine use of market surveys, research
papers, media reports and seizure data to monitor the trade.
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/vietnam-grapples-with-alarming-popularity-of-online-illegal-wildlife-trade/