The dark web trades wildlife, but mostly for use as drugs

First published: 03 May 20231. Contemporary wildlife trade is massively facilitated by the Internet. By design, the dark web is one layer of the Internet that is difficult to monitor and continues to lack thorough investigation. 2. Here, we accessed a comprehensive database of dark web marketplaces to search across c. 2 million dark web advertisements over 5 years using c. 7 k wildlife trade-related search terms. 3. We found 153 species traded in 3332 advertisements (c. 600 advertisements per year). We characterized a highly specialized wildlife trade market, where c. 90% of dark-web wildlife advertisements were for recreational drugs. 4. We verified that 68 species contained chemicals with drug properties. Species advertised as drugs mostly comprised of plant species, however, fungi and animals were also traded as drugs. Most species with drug properties were psychedelics (45 species), including one genera of fungi, Psilocybe, with 19 species traded on the dark web. The native distribution of plants with drug properties were clustered in Central and South America. A smaller proportion of trade was for purported medicinal properties of wildlife, clothing, decoration, and as pets. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results greatly expand on what wildlife species are currently traded on the dark web and provide a baseline to track future changes. Given the low number of advertisements, we assume current conservation and biosecurity risks of the dark web are low. While wildlife trade is rampant on other layers of the Internet, particularly on e-commerce and social media sites, trade on the dark web may still increase if these popular platforms are rendered less accessible to traders (e.g., via an increase in enforcement). We recommend focussing on surveillance of e-commerce and social media sites, but we encourage continued monitoring of the dark web periodically to evaluate potential shifts in wildlife trade across this more occluded layer of the Internet.Oliver C. Stringham, Jacob Maher, Charlotte R. Lassaline, Lisa Wood, Stephanie Moncayo, Adam Toomes, Sarah Heinrich, Freyja Watters, Charlotte Drake, Sebastian Chekunov, Katherine G. W. Hill, David Decary-Hetu, Lewis Mitchell, Joshua V. Ross, Phillip Casse

Strengthening protection of endemic wildlife threatened by the international pet trade: the case of the Australian shingleback lizard

OnlinePubl.Unsustainable wildlife trade threatens an increasing number of species globally. Australia has a particularly rich and endemic herpetofauna, which is coveted on the international pet market. While Australia implements domestic protection of most of its native species, there is little to no regulation of international trade once live animals have been smuggled out of the country. This is a threat for a variety of rare, unique and/or range-restricted species, subspecies and locality morphs. One of these species is the shingleback lizard (Tiliqua rugosa). We compiled Australian seizure data and international online trade data pertaining to shinglebacks. We found all four subspecies in trade across Asia, Europe and North America. Here we provide evidence that all four shingleback subspecies are illegally extracted from the wild in Australia and smuggled to international destinations, where they are sold and distributed globally. While shinglebacks are a protected species in Australia and can only be exported legally under a federal permit, their import into, and trade between, other countries is often not illegal, even in the absence of such a permit. These contradictory legal frameworks apply to the majority of nationally protected native fauna and must be addressed by each importing country on an individual basis; that is, by changing their legislation to cover and protect species that are nationally protected in their native range. Meanwhile, however, we argue that listing T. rugosa in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is a meaningful way to provide other countries with the legal means to confiscate illegally exported shinglebacks from Australia. Our findings and recommendations are directly relevant for potential future Appendix III consideration of other nationally protected species that are found in international trade.S. Heinrich, A. Toomes, C. R. Shepherd, O. C. Stringham, M. Swan, P. Casse

Drivers of the Australian native pet trade: the role of species traits, socioeconomic attributes and regulatory systems

First published: 14 February 20221. The pet trade is a major driver of both biodiversity loss and the introduction of invasive alien species. Building a comprehensive understanding of the pet trade would improve prediction of conservation and biosecurity threats, with the aim to prevent further negative impacts. 2. We used South Australia’s native wildlife permit reporting system as a data-rich example of a vertebrate pet market, spanning 590 distinct taxa across 105 families of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians). Using a piecewise structural equation modelling (SEM) approach, we tested the influence of 11 a priori variables relating to pets (e.g. species traits), pet owners (e.g. socioeconomic metrics) and regulatory systems (e.g. permit requirements) on the quantities of captive pet keeping, breeding, trading and escapes into the wild. 3. Birds and reptiles with higher annual fecundity were more likely to be kept in captivity and birds with larger adult mass were more likely to be sold. Species with more stringent permit requirements were possessed and escaped, in lower abundances. Pet keeping was weakly correlated with regions of lower human population densities and higher unemployment rates, yet all socioeconomic variables were ultimately poor at explaining trade dynamics. 4. More escapes occurred in regions that possessed larger quantities of pets, further emphasising the role of propagule pressure in the risk of pet escapes. 5. Synthesis and applications. Species traits are a strong determinant of native pet trade dynamics, yet permit systems also play a key role in de-incentivising undesirable trade practices. While our research highlighted the positive potential of trade regulatory systems, we recommend that consistent permit category criteria are established to reduce trade in threatened species as well as invasive alien species of high biosecurity risk. Implementation of such systems is broadly needed across a greater diversity of wildlife markets and jurisdictions.Adam Toomes, Pablo García-Díaz, Oliver C. Stringham, Joshua V. Ross, Lewis Mitchell, Phillip Casse