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Illegal wildlife trade detected on Telegram doubled from 2021 to 2023: Acres

2023-12-31 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - The illegal wildlife market in Singapore flourished on Telegram over the past three years, despite enforcement action taken against sellers, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) has found.

The number of banned wild animals that Acres found for sale on the messaging platform almost doubled from 333 in 2021 to 660 in 2023, according to the charity’s report released in December. The number of sellers offering prohibited wildlife for sale also rose from 66 in 2021 to 387 in 2023.

Indian star tortoises, leopard tortoises and scorpions were among wildlife that saw the greatest increase in demand among Telegram groups tracked.

For instance, advertisements for the most popular animal, the Indian star tortoise, grew from just four in 2021 to 21 in 2023. This came despite heftier fines and jail terms faced by those trading the species in Singapore since 2022.

Across the world, commercial sales of the reptiles – named after their striking star-patterned shells – have been banned, but they continue to be sought after as pets.

Prohibited wildlife had price tags ranging from $10 to about $3,000 on these platforms.

In compiling the report, Acres co-chief executive Anbarasi Boopal said the charity compared messages exchanged over 61 days on the three largest groups illegally peddling wildlife in 2021 against those of the three biggest groups in 2023.

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The charity chose to investigate Telegram, as reports from the public and Acres’ surveillance of these groups showed that the messaging service had become a hub for the illicit animal trade.

Ms Anbarasi said Acres alerted the authorities about the issue in 2021. The charity was told that the authorities were monitoring and taking action against these groups.

“The second surveillance was meant to see if these efforts had any effect, and whether more needed to be done in regulating online platforms,” she said.

Acres found that some sellers were aware that the authorities were monitoring these groups, yet known offenders continued to participate in them by sharing information on raids.

The report said: “Some users openly shared that their houses have been raided before, alerting the others to stay alert for a few days.”

Checks by The Straits Times found that sellers often flagged and weeded out potential snitches.

Members of these groups would also make requests to smuggle prohibited wild animals into Singapore.

In November, ST reported that buyers can pay for such delivery services from Malaysia, where scores of exotic animals that are banned in Singapore are sold legally.

The sellers appear undeterred by stiffer penalties for the illegal trade of wildlife protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). The report found that the number of Cites-listed wild animals listed for sale in Telegram groups had nearly doubled from 84 in 2021 to 165 in 2023.