Wildlife group: Exotic pets trade activity rises on Facebook

A wildlife monitoring group says a research it conducted since 2016 has found a sharp rise in online trading of endangered animals in Thailand through Facebook.

The monitoring network TRAFFIC said its researchers found 1,521 animals for sale online in 12 Facebook groups in Thailand in less than a month of monitoring in 2016.

The follow-up research on the same 12 groups showed that at least nine were still active in July this year, with one becoming secret, and their overall membership had increased to 203,445 from 106,111.

Maethinee Phassaraudomsak, data and research officer for TRAFFIC in Thailand, said in an email Monday that the monitoring "shows how easy it is to carry out this business and market wildlife publicly while staying anonymous and out of reach of authorities."
In one example, an unidentified user posted a picture of a rare hornbill bird with a caption saying "a baby rhinoceros hornbill is available for purchase. Interested buyers, please contact by Facebook private message."
The TRAFFIC report recommended that "Thai authorities should establish a close working relationship with Facebook and develop joint strategies to tackle this problem."