#illegal-wildlife-trade

#illegal-wildlife-trade

Critically endangered animals are being advertised for sale as bushmeat on TikTok, a new study finds. The work, published recently in Nature Conservation, underscores the growing role social media plays in the global illegal wildlife trade. Bushmeatmeat sourced from wild animalsis commonly eaten in many African and some Asian countries. Though some people hunt for personal consumption, many hunters sell meat to regional traders, who may then sell it to families or restaurants.

By 10am on the midsummer Day of the Ox, the city of Narita smells of charcoal and sugar. The cobbled road is thronged with visitors lining up to buy grilled eel, a traditional delicacy believed to cool the body and keep spirits up in the humid weather. We'll be so sad if it becomes extinct and we can't eat eel any more, says a customer sitting on the tatami-mat floor in Kawatoyo, a popular restaurant specialising in grilled eel, which has been operating for more than 115 years.

Hoger points to a troubling legal loophole: "There's a thriving black market for trading protected species. Exotic animals are openly advertised in WhatsApp groups and at pet fairs even those strictly protected in their countries of origin. Because Germany doesn't recognize their protected status, these animals can be sold legally here, despite having been smuggled out illegally in the first place."